I told the intake nurse exactly what happened. I told her who did it. I said the words out loud even though they made me sick to say them.
The nurse looked at Carol. Then she looked at me, at my vest, at the gray in my beard. And she smiled a little and said, “Sir, we see a lot of falls at this age. Let’s just put it down as a fall.”
Carol tried to speak. The nurse patted her hand and said, “It’s okay, honey. Stairs are tricky.”
Then she laughed. Not a big laugh. Just a little one, under her breath, like the whole thing was funny.
I stood there in that lobby with my hands shaking. I’m 66 years old. I’ve been in bar fights. I’ve buried brothers. I’ve never wanted to hit a woman in my life, and I didn’t that night either.
I walked outside instead. I made one phone call. Then I went back in and sat next to my wife and held her good hand.
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Forty minutes later the automatic doors opened and they didn’t close again for a long time.
Doors & Windows
They came in quiet. No shouting. No engines revving in the parking lot. Just boots on tile, one after another, until the whole lobby was leather and gray hair and nobody was saying a word.
