Trail of Secrets(7)
Dan’s eyes drifted closed, and the nurses pushed the gurney down the hall. When it disappeared through the doors that led to the elevators for the surgery floor, Callie began to sob.
Seth searched his mind for something to offer her comfort. Finally, he decided she needed to get out of this area and to a place that might offer some peace. He reached out and touched her arm. She jerked her head up and stared wide-eyed at him.
“It’s not going to be easy waiting,” he said. “Why don’t we go down to the hospital chapel? Maybe being in that quiet room will help calm you down some.”
She frowned. “I’m not very religious.”
He nodded. “I know. That was something else we never saw eye to eye on, but like I tried to tell you then, it’s not about being religious. It’s about finding some peace in life. How about it? You might find it helps to be in a more soothing place for a while.”
She brushed her hands across her eyes and glanced around the stark emergency room. “Okay. I guess it can’t hurt.”
A nurse stepped out of an adjoining exam room at that moment, and Seth told her where the doctor could find them before he led Callie out of the emergency room and into the hospital proper.
When they arrived at the chapel, he opened the door and held it for her to enter. As he stepped into the room behind her, he closed his eyes for a moment and let himself relax into the peace that being in this place evoked in his soul. A table with a cross and an open Bible on it sat at the front of the room, and he led her to seats directly in front of the display.
They sat without speaking for a while until she finally broke the silence. “This is much better than the E.R. It’s quieter and more peaceful. Thank you for bringing me here.”
“I’ve been in this room a lot in the past few years.”
She turned her head, a questioning expression on her face. “Oh? How so?”
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “This is where we bring families when they’re waiting to hear if their loved ones will survive after a violent crime. It’s a peaceful place, and we hope it can afford the families some measure of comfort.”
Tears pooled in her eyes. “Is that why you brought me here?”
“Partly. But I wanted to ask you about the shooting, too. I don’t want to cause you any more stress than you’re already under, but I thought it might be easier to talk about it here than in the hustle and bustle of the emergency room.”
She nodded. “I think it is, but there’s something I need to know, too.”
“What’s that?”
She inhaled a deep breath. “From the moment Uncle Dan picked me up I could tell something was wrong. He kept looking in the rearview mirror, and it seemed he almost suspected something was about to happen. When the EMTs were loading him in the ambulance, he opened his eyes long enough to tell me to call you. He needed to tell you something.”
Seth frowned. “Did he say what it was?”
She shook her head. “No. But he had to be restrained on the gurney because he was so determined there was something important he had to tell you about the case, he said. Has he been helping you with a case you’re working on?”
Seth’s stomach curled with fear at Callie’s words. After a moment he shook his head. “No, I’ve been helping him with a case for the past year or so.”