Page 84 of Paging Dr. Breakup
Hospital staff fake-booed, then everyone laughed together. Deirdre peered out at the crowd. Friends and coworkers gathered, smiling and shouting encouragement. Butch and Aggie joined the group and waved. Mav and Lee cheered. A swell of happy community support flowed around Deirdre.
Amberlyn ponied up some tickets and threw the balls halfheartedly.
“You can do better than that!” Deirdre called out, secretly glad that the nurse missed the target.
“I don’t want to add a hypothermic patient to the ED census!” Amberlyn shouted back.
Deirdre swung her legs, feet not quite touching the water. “Is no one brave enough to risk my wrath?”
Tuli, leaning on a cane, stepped up. Where had he come from? The crowd had really grown. He handed a wad of tickets and glanced over at Louise, who stood near her parents and her bundled-up brother Gordy who grinned from a wheelchair. After leaning his cane against the chair and giving Gordy a fist bump, Tuli made a big show of warming up his throwing arm. “This is for all of those seven a.m. meetings!” He lifted his arms, urging the crowd to cheer louder.
Deirdre stuck her tongue out at Tuli but eyed the water warily. She glanced at the digital clock to the side of the tank. She had ten more minutes. What were the chances she would escape dry?
Tuli tossed the ball up and caught it a few times with the obvious skill of someone who had played baseball and the showmanship of a former team captain. He cocked his arm back, but Dr. Burmeister emerged from the tent and stopped him.
“Ah, ah, ah. Former state champions have to stand back farther,” he said.
“Aww,” the crowd mumbled.
Tuli shook his head and limped back another ten feet as indicated. Then he turned toward the crowd. “Hey, folks, do we want this to go viral for a good cause?”
Everyone cheered as Tuli pulled out his phone and hit a few buttons. Handing the phone to Lee, he posed, then spoke into the camera. “A warm welcome coming to you live from Yukon Valley’s world-famous Breakup Festival. We’re here at Yukon Valley Hospital’s dunk for hospice. Don’t forget to like and share my video to support this good cause! Now, let’s see if the best pitching arm in Yukon Valley High School history can still do the job.” He squared up on the arbitrary line Dr. Burmeister had drawn.
First throw—wide.
Some people heckled; others groaned.
Deirdre unclenched her hands from the thin metal seat and took a deep breath.
Dr. Burmeister goaded him. “State champion? What position did you play? Statistician?”
Everyone laughed.
Calvin cheered along behind her. “You’ve got this, Deirdre! Show him who’s boss. Literally.”
Tuli peered at the target and wound up.
The ball glanced off the target but did not activate it.
It was hard to hear the shouts of the crowd over the hammering of her heart. One more ball to go and she might be safe.
Lee held up the phone and panned from the booth back to Tuli.
“Hey, hey. I missed on purpose with that last one. A false sense of security,” Tuli said with a cheeky grin. He winked. “Right, Lou?”
The EMT blushed crimson.
Once again Tuli wound up and fired.
Clang!
The seat dropped out from under Deirdre, her stomach following.
In an instant, ice and water surrounded her, frigid and heavy, stealing her breath, compressing her lungs. Was this what it felt like for her parents, still in the plane and deep in the river? Not able to breathe. Frozen.
She splashed, then stood up, her head breaking the surface, small bits of ice floating nearby. “So cold!” She gasped.
She was alive.
