By the beginning of June, 2009, however, Jack was getting a bit worried. He knew the signs well enough.
Then it happened.
For once, he was glad that what seemed like every kid in the neighborhood was hanging around their back yard. For some reason, a bunch of boys had tagged home with Mark after school on Friday, and Ariel had let them stay to play. She had whipped up some lemonade, even though she knew that Jack would disapprove. When Mark lost his handhold on one of the top branches in the disease-ravaged elm in the corner, and the branch beneath gave way under his weight, there must have been ten kids standing around.
Great.
Witnesses.
This time, when he took Mark into the ER at Oak Glen Hospital, none of those goddamn know-it-alls would look at him that way. This time, he had witnesses that would swear that he hadn’t laid a hand on the kid, that he wasn’t even in the yard when it happened.
He was, in fact, sitting in the recently converted garage that now served as a family room, watching a replay of a Lakers’ game on the tube, drinking a cool one and wondering if this was the summer that he would finally break down and get rid of the old thirty-six incher and go for broke and buy a window-sized flat screen. The Lakers were even ahead for a change when he heard Mark’s piercing shriek.
Shit, it would have to happen right now-whatever the hell was going on out there. Right in the middle of a game. And with Ariel out gallivanting somewhere, God knows where that woman gets to even though she always claimed it is only to Albertsons or Sav-on, so he would have to take care of whatever was wrong. Probably just a squabble among the brats and Mark had lost. Jack got up and hitched his pants to his waist and made his way through the kitchen-not too fast, don’t let the kid think he can control you, even if he is still screaming bloody murder.
But even Jack knew with one glance that there was more wrong here than just a backyard fight. The bone stuck maybe an inch through Mark’s forearm, white and gleaming and stained with red. The boy was on his feet, but wobbly and white and looking like shit warmed over.
Okay, hospital time.
By the time Jack had buckled in and cranked the ignition, Mark was seated on the passenger side. Jack had grabbed a towel in the kitchen as they rushed through and wrapped it around Mark’s arm, so there shouldn’t be any blood on the seat.
“Hang on, kid.”
Mark didn’t answer. Jack glanced over. The kid’s eyes were squeezed shut and he was sweating like a pig.
Jack floored the accelerator.
He knew the way to Oak Glen, so it wasn’t more than a few minutes before they screeched to a halt outside the ER. An attendant was right there with a wheelchair, and Mark disappeared into the urgent-care rooms before Jack had time to follow.
When he got to the admissions desk, the receptionist glanced up. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed.
“Mr. Merrick?”
“Yeah, it’s my son.”
“Mark or Clark.”
“Mark. He fell out of a tree. Broke his arm.”
She nodded. “We’ve got him inside. You can go on back when you finish signing this.” She slid a form toward him.
“Yeah, him and a bunch of kids were playing out back and Mark fell. I was watching TV.”
She nodded again but still didn’t speak.
“A Lakers’ game.”
He slid the paper back to her.
She barely glanced at it. “Go on back. You know the way.”
He was told which examining room they had taken Mark to. When he entered, there was Mark, laying back on the bed, eyes still closed and breathing heavily. The doctor was there-what was his name, Raja-badda-bing-bang or something foreign like that. They always seemed to be foreign any more. Like the hospital couldn’t afford to hire a good old American doc. And there was another person, a grim-looking heavy-set woman in a business suit standing just inside the door.
Jack crossed the room and laid one hand on Mark’s other arm.
“How’s he doing.”
“Compound fracture. But you probably guessed that. Doesn’t look terribly serious but we’ll have to keep him here at least over night to stitch him up and set the arm. Then keep him under observation. Infection, you know.”
At least they got the one that was fairly easy to understand, Jack thought. Spoke decent English.
The doctor had not looked up but kept his attention riveted on what he was doing.
“He fell out of a tree,” Jack said. “Bunch of kids were out back playing in the tree. He fell.” Jack ended weakly. He’d already said that. Enough.
The doctor shook his head slightly, up and down just sufficiently to indicate that he’d heard but not enough to invite further discussion.
“Mark?” the doctor said. “How does it feel now. I’ve given you a shot that should help.”
The boy still kept his eyes closed. “Okay, I guess. Numb now.”
“Mark, what happened?”
“I just told…,” Jack began.
The doctor held up one hand. Jack shut up.
“What happened?”
“I was up in the top of the old tree and slipped. Fell onto another branch. It broke and I fell all the way down. It hurt.”
“Mr. Merrick?” The voice came from behind Jack.
He stood and turned to face the woman. Hatchet-faced old broad.
“Would you step out into the hall with me, please?”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Please step outside, Mr. Merrick. We can talk more freely there.”
Jack patted Mark’s good arm, then stalked out of the room.
“Okay, what the hell is this about? Who are you?”
“Orinda Washington. Hospital liaison with County Child Services.”
“Child… I don’t have to talk to you.” Jack turned and began opening the door to Mark’s room.
“Yes, I’m afraid you do, Mr. Merrick. Here and alone with me, or in my office with a security officer.”
Jack stared.
“What do you mean. Mark fell! A dozen kids saw it!”
“That’s what the boy said. Before you came in. It’s what we expected him to say, that he fell from something. Of course, we’ll have an officer at your home shortly to verify what happened.”
“Then what…!”
She held up a hand, not to placate him but to stop him.
“Your son’s file was flagged, Mr. Merrick. Both your sons’ files, as a matter of fact. And your wife’s. In fact, you are the only member of your family whose file in the ER is not flagged.”
“This was an accident! How many times do I have to tell you people that. Mark is clumsy, he climbed too high, and he fell. End of story.”
“This time, perhaps. But we’ve established a…what shall we call it…a cut-off point, where the signals become too obvious to be missed. This time might have been an accident. The last time also. But so many times in less than three years? That worries us.”
“Worries you? What the hell have you got to be worried about?”
“Actually, Mr. Merrick, perhaps you are the one that should be worried.”
“Are you threatening me? Because if you are, I’ll sic my lawyer on you-and this dipshit hospital-so fast that…”
“Not a threat, Mr. Merrick. Not even a warning. Just a word of advice. We are worried about Mark and Clark…and Ariel, as well. We just wanted to know that their files are flagged.”
“Yeah, well you’re not the only hospital that…”
“There are only two hospitals in Tamarind Valley. Oak Glen and County. We share information about certain cases. All of our information. It would be wise if we never saw…”
Jack turned his back on the woman and slammed through the door.
“When can he go home, doc?”