“Do you want me to call a nurse?” Elvira asked.
Sonny briefly closed his eyes. “I’ve had a lot of visitors. Maybe you should go.”
“Okay.” Elvira patted his arm. “Take care and get well soon.”
He clutched his bedsheet, pulling it tighter. “Yeah. Call the nurse. I’m not feeling so good.”
Carlita ran into the hall and jogged to the nurse’s station. “Mr. Skidz is feeling ill.”
“We’ll send someone to his room.”
Elvira appeared, a pensive expression on her face. “Sonny isn’t looking too hot. They got a bunch of people running into his room.”
The overhead speakers blared,Code Blue 8212.
Things moved fast as a group of hospital workers swarmed the hallway, all running into Sonny’s room.
A chill ran down Carlita’s back. “What does Code Blue mean?”
The woman seated behind the desk lowered her voice. “It means a critical, life-threatening emergency.”
Chapter 7
Agonizingly long moments passed as hospital staff rushed in and out of Sonny’s room. As quickly as the hallway filled, it emptied.
Carlita’s feeling of dread grew with each person who walked past. Somber faces. Grim expressions. Slumped shoulders.
Unable to stand it any longer, she stopped one of them. “How…is Mr. Skidz?”
“Gone.”
“Gone?” Elvira clutched her throat. “As in dead?”
“I can’t say for certain, but it appears he went into cardiac arrest.”
“For having a bout of possible food poisoning?” Carlita asked incredulously.
A security guard arrived, ushering the women out of the corridor. “You’ll need to clear the area.”
In stunned silence, Carlita followed Elvira into the elevator and down to the main lobby.
“I can’t believe he’s dead,” Elvira finally said. “How could he have gone downhill so quickly?”
“I have no idea.”
During the ride home, the women threw out different theories about what had transpired. Perhaps Sonny had been misdiagnosed. Maybe they mistook a more serious condition, one involving his heart, for food poisoning. Whatever thereason, he had been alert and talking one minute and gone the next.
Elvira pulled into the Parrot House Restaurant’s parking lot and stopped near Carlita’s apartment door. “I still can’t believe Sonny is gone.”
“Neither can I. Something isn’t adding up.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait for official word. I had better let Dernice know. She’s going to take it hard. She and Sonny were friends.”
“Along with all the others who were members of the Thursday Riding Club.” Carlita thanked her for the ride and slowly climbed the apartment stairs. She stepped inside and found Pete seated at the kitchen bar, his open laptop in front of him.
He turned, giving his wife his full attention. “Well? How did it go?”
Carlita set her purse and keys on the table. “He’s dead.”
