Page 21 of A Winter of Discontent for Henry Milch
“No, she’s sitting.”
“Great,” he said as he pushed through the automatic doors.
Behind him I said, “It’s the Escalade.” Not that there were many other choices. I mean, I’d parked right in front, and I could see my grandmother wincing at us through the passenger window.
Once the orderly had gotten Nana Cole into the wheelchair, she moaned loudly but managed not to swear again. He wheeled her directly into the emergency room. He took us to an exam… bay? Is that what they’re called when there’s no actual room just a bunch of spaces defined by thin curtains? I should know, I’d been there enough… But you know, no one gives you a tour. Anyway, we went right in. Like the pretty people at an LA club.
There was a chair, so I sat down and took Emerald out of the car seat so she wouldn’t fuss. I got her onto my lap, and she immediately started pulling on my sweater—determined to complete the misshaping Nana Cole had started. Once the orderly wrangled Nana Cole onto the exam table, he said, “The nurse will be here in a minute.”
“Thanks for your help,” I said, as my sister tried to put her hand into my mouth.
As soon as he left, Nana Cole said, “He wasn’t gentle.”
“Do you want to leave?”
She glared at me for a moment before saying, “I don’twantanything. I’m just telling you.”
While we waited, Emerald and I stared at each other. Frequently, she had a dubious look on her face. I know babies at her age can’t form sophisticated thoughts, but I could see that ideas were floating around, trying to connect, and I expected that her first full sentence would be ‘What the fuck?’
Then Edward walked in. I was speechless for a moment. I often was with him. He probably thought I was an idiot. And in that moment, I probably was.
“Hello.” He looked at the baby and said, “So, this is the result of your visit last fall, I assume?”
“This is Emerald.”
“Hello, Emerald.”
She smiled flirtatiously. Clearly, we were related.
Turning to my grandmother, he asked, “Now, what happened to you?”
Before she could answer, I said, “She took a fall with the baby, even though I told her?—”
“I had an accident,” she interrupted. “The kind people have. And the nurse hasn’t been in yet. You’re early.”
“It’s all right. I remember how to do vitals.” He walked over to her and began taking them. He held her wrist for a half a minute then said, “You fell while holding the baby. Did the baby hit her head?”
“No,” I said. “I don’t think so.”
“I was careful. I didn’t drop her.”
He stopped and looked the baby over quickly. That meant he was very close to me. His smelled amazing. I was tempted to toss the baby aside and just grab him.
Then, to Nana Cole he said, “You did a good job. Though you may have made things worse for yourself.”
My mood changed quickly. Was she going to come out of this a hero? She was explicitly told not to—I would have made that point, but Edward was checking her heart with his stethoscope. He looked like he was having trouble finding it.
Apparently he did though, because he announced he was going to exam her hips. “Did you fall on one side? Or did you fall flat on your back?”
“More on the left.”
Emerald maintained her balance by pulling on my hair. I really needed to give her a toy or something. Unfortunately, the diaper bag was on the other side of the exam table.
To me, Edward said, “I thought your mother was just visiting. When do she and the baby go back to California?”
“I guess you’ve missed the gossip. She disappeared.”
Nana Cole squeaked. He’d found her left hip.
