He’d missed that.
He and Statler walked out.
“I’ll be back as soon as possible,” Statler told him, digging in his coat pocket to extract his truck keys.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Julian assured him, and pointed to a spot between two windows in the hallway that was directly across from Petula’s room. “I’ll be right there.”
Statler gave him a satisfied nod, then jogged off down the hall.
Julian relaxed against the wall and dialed his phone, then turned his body to gaze out one of the windows. It looked like a nice day. Finally. The rain had stopped, the sun was out, and if they were lucky, it would be warm. That would make Petula’s walk from the ubiquitous wheelchair to Stat’s truck, easier and more comfortable.
His call connected.
“Diver Downeast. Sheila speaking.”
“Hi Sheils. This is Julian.”
“I know. Caller ID. I know who it is. It’s Julian. What do you want?”
Julian held back a snicker. Sheila was always direct and to the point.
“Is Tabbi there? I’d like to speak with her.”
Clunk.
The phone hit the desk before he heard…
“Tabbi. Julian is on the phone.”
Now Julian did chuckle. He was used to Sheila’s ways, but her abruptness still amused the hell out of him.
“Hey Jules. What’s up?” Tabitha questioned, not five seconds later. “How’s Petula doing?”
“She’s good,” Julian confirmed. “We’re waiting for her discharge papers to be signed, then I’ll be accompanying her back to Statler’s house. I hope I’m not needed for anything there?”
He’d go in if he had to, but he preferred being by Petula’s side, at least for the rest of the day, and the balance of the following, after his closing. His skin still crawled, thinking ofwhat had happened to her. Being within touching distance for a while was the only thing that would assuage his anxiety.
“Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered,” Tabitha told him. “We haven’t had any call-outs this morning, unless you count the one we received a few minutes ago. Mrs. Jenks’ cat, Nippers, is out in the middle of her pond again.”
“Don’t tell me,” Julian chuckled. “The little rascal swam to that beaver damn for the second time, and she’s refusing to budge.”
“Got it in one,” Tabitha confirmed. “Buck’s taking the call. He’s going to try out the new Zodiac.”
Damn.Julian had hoped to christen the craft, but it had only been delivered late yesterday afternoon, but he’d been a little busy since then.
“This time, however,” Tabitha continued, “Buck will be wearing protective gloves and a helmet shield so the little terror won’t dig the hell out of him like last time.”
“Swear jar!” Julian heard in the background, and laughed at Sheila’s demand while recalling the incident between Buck and the cat.
A few weeks ago, the tiny furball—while being “rescued” by Buck who was in his drysuit at the time, had scratched the begeezus out of his brother’s chin, and ruined the sleeves of what had been a perfectly good piece of equipment.
“I hope it goes better for him, this time.”
“Yeah. You and me both. But to be prepared, he’s also bringing a cage, so we have high hopes.”
Andwere probably taking bets.
He wanted in on that.
