She bit her lip. Her eyes darted in all directions. Then she spotted a small sign on the wall that read PUSH TO ENTER. Beneath it was a doorbell.
She pushed.
Nothing happened.
She pushed again.
The door opened. A man in blue scrubs and a white coat, his mouth donned with a blue mask, stood in the doorway, blocking her view of what lay within. He asked how he could help.
“Rex Winsted,” she cried. “Is he okay? May I see him?”
“He’s being treated and is in good hands,” the masked man replied.
“Please,” she said. “I must see him.”
“No disturbances. Doctor’s orders.”
“But …”
“Are you a family member?”
“Yes. Well, I’m his fiancée.” She pulled back her cape, her baby bump quite visible.
His brown eyes didn’t reveal if he believed her. “Sorry. If you’d like to leave your phone number, we’ll contact you when his doctor says you can see him.”
“Any idea how long it will be?”
“No. Sorry.”
She shoved her hand into her purse and whisked out a piece of paper and a pen. She quickly wrote her name and phone number on it and handed it over.
“I’ll wait downstairs in the main entrance until I hear from someone. Please don’t let it be too long.”
“We’ll do our best.” He took a step back into the ICU; the door shut behind him and beeped twice, as if it had locked.
Maddie stared at it a moment, foolishly hoping it would open again. When it did not, she decided that she and the baby had had enough exercise for one day. So she walked toward the elevator.
She stepped inside and touched “L” for lobby. After an irritating pause, the door crawled to a close and started its unhurried descent. Maddie hugged her middle, her tears falling faster than the elevator.
Then, when Maddie thought this day couldn’t get any more miserable, the elevator stopped, the door opened, and Grandma and Joe stood there.
“What the devil’s going on?” Grandma barked, her voice bigger than her frail body.
“They told us he’s in ICU?” Joe, the calmer of the half siblings, spoke softly yet with concern.
“Don’t bother going up,” Maddie said, wiping her tears. “I have no idea what happened, why they moved him so … suddenly … from Windemere. But they won’t let you in. I already tried. We’re not family.”
“The hell we aren’t,” Grandma said and marched around Maddie, called for the elevator, and stepped right in. “Are you two coming or not?”
They rode to the second floor in silence.
“I’m Rex Winsted’s grandmother, and I demand to know what’s going on with my boy,” Grandma Nancy snapped at the greeter—the same man who’d turned Maddie away.
The man held up a finger. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
The door shut. Followed by the two beeps.
And the three of them waited.
