Sooner or later, she’d hear something. If not from Rex, maybe from Kevin, who might be more inclined to be in touch than his wife.
Determined to relax, Maddie made it up the hill surprisingly smoothly, then she was struck by a bolt of inspiration. Yanking the steering wheel into Cronig’s parking lot, she made a sharp U-turn. If she hurried, she might make it to the hospital in time to see the EMTs roll the gurney out of the ambulance.
Because it was off-season, and it wasn’t far, Orson got her there in record time despite the misty air. She deftly steered under the portico for the Emergency Room, where it was empty. Because no ambulance was there.
She stopped, snapped off the ignition, and jumped out of the bright red pickup, not caring if her wool cape wasn’t hiding her swollen belly.
The waiting area inside was empty, too, except for a lone man sitting behind an intake window, his eyes fixed on a computer screen. Maddie approached him.
“Did the Boston ambulance arrive?” She tried to sound as if she knew one had been en route.
He pulled his gaze from the screen. “From the boat?”
She forced a smile. “Yes. It got off the ferry ahead of me.”
He glanced at the screen again, then back to her. “Sorry. No ER check-ins tonight from Boston or anywhere.”
Her half-baked grin morphed into a scowl. “But I saw it drive off the freight deck …”
“Sorry,” he repeated.
Staring at the floor, Maddie knew there was nothing left to do. So she turned and started to leave.
“Wait,” the intake man said. “I can try Windemere for you.”
Maddie said she thought that was a nursing home.
“They also have a wing for short-term recuperation for residents coming back from off-island hospitals and rehab. I was on my break and might have missed it; they turn around fast this time of night. Especially if they’re worried about fog cancelling the last boat. Hold on …” He tapped something into his keyboard. Then, speaking into his headset, he asked if a new patient arrived in the past few minutes. He thanked the person on the line, then looked at Maddie.
“It was here.” He told her how to get to the hospital annex and into Windemere.
Maddie’s sneakers pumped down the hallway; she made it to the door at the same time Kevin and Taylor came in from a different direction.
“Maddie!” Kevin exclaimed as if surprised to see her. “He’s back!” His words were hurried, as if he was a six-year-old at the Vineyard’s renowned Ag Fair.
Taylor kept moving toward the entrance, while her husband stood next to Maddie.
“He texted me last night and said his plane would land at three, but not that he’d be in an ambulance.”
Taylor entered a door; it closed behind her.
Kevin sighed. “Yeah, he still has to do rehab. But he’s here, back in one piece. Almost.” He smiled, then added in a whisper, “Have you told him?”
Maddie said no. “So please don’t.”
“My lips are sealed ’til you say otherwise.”
She nodded thanks. Then she glanced to the door where Taylor had disappeared.
“Why don’t you go in, Kevin,” she said. “Rex must be exhausted from the trip, and you should be there with Taylor. I’ll check on him tomorrow.” She should receive an Oscar for acting so composed.
Kevin frowned. “But …”
Maddie hoisted her purse strap onto her shoulder and started to turn away. “It’s fine. I have lots of time. Especially since now, as you said, he’s back in one piece. And please don’t tell him I was here. Just say I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
With that, she made her way outside to Orson, who, in his snazzy red coat, looked much happier than Maddie felt. She climbed inside and sat, only a gentle hill up from the water, staring at the lampposts, where the misty fog now cloaked itself around the rays of light.
The only thing that might have made the past hours more upsetting would have been if Maddie got back to the cottage and found another note; thankfully, she did not. Instead, she was greeted by tantalizing aromas of Grandma’s fresh-baked rosemary bread and chowder.
