The Right Life
Calling Ted
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“Any I.D. on her?” a doctor asked.
“Purse is in the rig,” the EMT
answered.
“Amy Rainey,” Mort said without
thinking. “Her name’s Amy.”
The doctor stayed behind.
Mort nodded.
should. “She’s my ex-wife.”
“The police will probably want to
talk to you.”
“Is it serious?”
“Once I know more, I’ll be able to
tell you. I believe she’ll be fine
though.”
Mort rubbed his temple with his
free hand. “O.K.
the waiting room. Once there, he asked
if Karen and Steven would mind taking Julia, which they gladly did, then
explained what he knew of the latest drama.
He gave the unconscious Julia a kiss, then returned to Alex’s room.
He was far more than grateful to
find Alex asleep – the last thing he wanted was to have to tell her about
Amy. Unfortunately, that relief was
very short-lived. an>Wan>Within five minutes,
a short – and rather pudgy – officer entered the room.
“Mr. Rainey?” the officer said
quietly, taking note of Alex. Mort got
up and left the room. The officer began
to speak again when he was just outside the door. “I’m Officer Higgins, I’m here because…”
“She has a fiancé,” Mort
blurted. “He should probably be here.”
“Mr. Rainey, I’ve been told that
the woman is your ex-wife. Is this
correct?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Rainey…”
“Mort, please,” Mort asked, tired
of hearing his last name.
The officer nodded.
would wish to take her life?”
Mort slumped against the wall.
eyes. “The very pregnant woman in that
room is my wife. Amy came here looking
for me, not knowing about any of it.
She said that she had another miscarriage…” His voice trailed. “Look,
I don’t know what her life’s been like over the past couple of years.
“Ted?”
Mort sighed.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a
number, would you?”
He has to be kidding me.
his number’s in there.” He peered in
the door and saw that Alex’s eyes were open.
“I need to get back to my wife.”
“Of course.”
the room.
Alex looked away, but Mort saw the
look in her eyes. “Baby, I…”
Alex shook her head.
please?”
Mort sat on the edge of the
bed. “Are you feeling all right?”
“Call him, Mort.
about…everything.”
Mort felt like a child.
things up and…please, Mort. It would
make me feel a hell of a lot better.”
Knowing that Alex would, indeed, be
more at ease, he kissed her forehead, then said, “Anything to ease your
mind.” He brushed her hair away from
her face and took a deep breath. “I’ll
be right back.” Mort went to one of the
payphones and dialed information. (His
cell phone was left at home amid the rush to get to the hospital.an
an
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> After a few minutes, he was connected to
Ted’s line. It was almost two A.M.
“Hello?” Ted’s voice was drenched in sleep.
Mort’s voice was soft as he
answered. “Uh, Ted, it’s Mort.”
“Mort?” Ted asked, unsure of who he
was talking to at first.
How many Morts do you know?
annoyed.
“Mort? What the hell…Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?”
“Why is…” He controlled his flaring temper and decided that he needed to be
cordial. “Amy…Amy came to see me today,
Ted.”
“She what?”
“That was my worry earlier,
however…Ted, there’s been an accident.
Amy’s in the hospital.”
Ted jumped to conclusions, his
temper rising. “What the hell did you
to do her?”
“Whoa, I didn’t do a thing, Ted.”
“Bullshit!
“Ted, shut up and listen to
me. They think it was an attempted
suicide and…”
What are you talking about?”
“Look, you need to get here, all
right?” Mort began to spout off the address
of the hospital before Ted could say another word. He quickly hung up, knowing that Ted was looking toward either a
long car ride or an expensive, short notice plane trip.
Mort returned to Alex’s room once
again, this time she was wide awake.
“Did you talk to him?”
He nodded.
could before I hung up, but yeah, I talked to him.”
“Sorry, honey, I just…”
Mort took his place on the bed
again. “Shh,” he said, putting his
finger to her lips. “Believe me, I want
him here too. I’d really like to know
what’s going on. However, I want you to
go to sleep, O.K.”
“I…”
He smiled at her.
pull away quickly, but found that he couldn’t.
The kiss turned into a passionate one and Alex sunk into it, quite
happily.
“Mort,” Alex said, pulling
away. “Stay here?”
Hn'>He smiled and pulled his body fully
onto the bed. It was a tight squeeze,
but once he had his arms around his wife, both were comfortable.
hold things that he didn’t want to deal with, but, for the time being, all of
his world was sound asleep next to him.