Malabarista

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
chapter 19

“Hello.” Lane picked up the phone by the bed and looked at the time.

“I know it’s early. I can’t find my son.”

Lane heard apology and worry in the woman’s voice. “Who’s your son?”

“Daniel. He didn’t come home last night. I thought maybe he and Christine…”

Please don’t finish that sentence. Lane sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ll go check.” He slipped on a pair of sweats and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

Roz got up and whined at the door.

After letting the dog out, Lane went down into the family room, where he found Daniel sleeping on the floor and Christine sprawled on the couch, snoring, with one leg on the floor.

Lane went back into the kitchen and picked up the phone. “He’s here, asleep in the family room.”

“Thank you! Please get him to call when he wakes up.” She hung up.

Arthur lay on the couch in the living room. “Who was that?”

Lane walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. “Dan’s mom. How are you feeling?” He looked at the plastic containers draining from Arthur’s incisions and safety-pinned to the pockets of his pajamas. The containers were filling with a pinkish liquid.

“Tired.”

“I need to change your dressings and empty those drains,” Lane said.