to learn his routine. He parked down the street from Yates’s house early in the morning and watched him tend his flowers before it got too hot. He followed Yates to the hospital three afternoons and parked in the front while Yates manned the volunteer desk just inside the entrance. He attended the First Baptist Church on Sunday. Even sitting on the back row he could see the joy in Yates’s face as he sang
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
. He watched as Yates took his grandkids to the park and felt a pang of regret that they soon would no longer have their grandfather.
Jacob had returned from babysitting, warmed up some pot roast for a sandwich and popped open a Coke while he watched the ten o’clock news. He had no way of knowing that Hawk was watching from behind his garage.
Hawk waited thirty minutes after the last light was out and approached the back door. As expected, he found it unlocked. He blew the pilot out on the gas stove and turned the four burners to high. Next he walked around the stove to a closet that housed the gas water heater. After confirming that the pilot light was on, he left the closet door open and crept out the way he came, silently closing the door behind him. Hawk circled the garage and walked three blocks up the street to his pickup. He lighted a cigarette, lowered a window and waited. Before he finished his cigarette, he saw and heard the explosion as the house erupted in flames. Satisfied that no one could live through that inferno, he started his pickup and slowly drove away. As he did so he said a silent prayer for Yates’s family.
17
Colby greeted Ruth at the reception desk and hurried back to the room. She had an appointment to show a house in an hour but had not stopped by the nursing home in a week. When she entered the room, she found the same sterile, antiseptic environment. The smell told her that someone had scrubbed down the room that morning, something that was very important to prevent infections from attacking Rob’s weakened immune system. As usual, she kissed Rob on the cheek and received no response.
“Hi Rob. It’s me. You doing okay?” She didn’t expect a response but continued to try to treat him as a human being. “You know that big house I sold in Rivercrest, I got hired by the new owner to decorate it. He’s a nice guy. Maybe one of these days you can meet him. I’m occasionally seeing him for coffee or lunch or something like that. Nothing serious you understand, but I don’t have a lot of friends these days. I can’t stay long. Let me check you over before I go. It’s been a couple of weeks, and I want to make sure they are doing their job.”
Colby pulled back the cover and evaluated his body. Next, she unfastened his diaper. “Okay, I’m going to turn you over on your side just to check your buttocks. The last thing we want is another ulcer forming on your butt.”
Colby gently turned Rob to his right. When she looked at his buttock, she gasped in horror. A decubitus ulcer was forming, at least a stage two. She mentally kicked herself since she hadn’t checked in a couple of weeks.
Dammit
, she thought,
I got too comfortable with this facility.
She stormed out of the room to the nurses’ station.
“Dammit all, Irene,” she yelled. “Rob’s got an ulcer forming on his butt. You guys haven’t been doing your job.”
Irene was taken aback, but quickly recovered. “Ms. Stripling, you know that we turn him every two hours. Sometimes these things can’t be avoided. Please try to calm down.”
“I’m not about to calm down. Let me see his chart.”
Irene reluctantly turned to retrieve Rob’s chart and handed it to an irate Colby.
Colby flipped through the pages until she found the page she was looking for. The staff was required to turn Rob every two hours and document that it had been done. If they didn’t do their job, ulcers could form that mushroomed into ugly open sores that were breeding grounds for multiple infections,
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
. He watched as Yates took his grandkids to the park and felt a pang of regret that they soon would no longer have their grandfather.
Jacob had returned from babysitting, warmed up some pot roast for a sandwich and popped open a Coke while he watched the ten o’clock news. He had no way of knowing that Hawk was watching from behind his garage.
Hawk waited thirty minutes after the last light was out and approached the back door. As expected, he found it unlocked. He blew the pilot out on the gas stove and turned the four burners to high. Next he walked around the stove to a closet that housed the gas water heater. After confirming that the pilot light was on, he left the closet door open and crept out the way he came, silently closing the door behind him. Hawk circled the garage and walked three blocks up the street to his pickup. He lighted a cigarette, lowered a window and waited. Before he finished his cigarette, he saw and heard the explosion as the house erupted in flames. Satisfied that no one could live through that inferno, he started his pickup and slowly drove away. As he did so he said a silent prayer for Yates’s family.
17
Colby greeted Ruth at the reception desk and hurried back to the room. She had an appointment to show a house in an hour but had not stopped by the nursing home in a week. When she entered the room, she found the same sterile, antiseptic environment. The smell told her that someone had scrubbed down the room that morning, something that was very important to prevent infections from attacking Rob’s weakened immune system. As usual, she kissed Rob on the cheek and received no response.
“Hi Rob. It’s me. You doing okay?” She didn’t expect a response but continued to try to treat him as a human being. “You know that big house I sold in Rivercrest, I got hired by the new owner to decorate it. He’s a nice guy. Maybe one of these days you can meet him. I’m occasionally seeing him for coffee or lunch or something like that. Nothing serious you understand, but I don’t have a lot of friends these days. I can’t stay long. Let me check you over before I go. It’s been a couple of weeks, and I want to make sure they are doing their job.”
Colby pulled back the cover and evaluated his body. Next, she unfastened his diaper. “Okay, I’m going to turn you over on your side just to check your buttocks. The last thing we want is another ulcer forming on your butt.”
Colby gently turned Rob to his right. When she looked at his buttock, she gasped in horror. A decubitus ulcer was forming, at least a stage two. She mentally kicked herself since she hadn’t checked in a couple of weeks.
Dammit
, she thought,
I got too comfortable with this facility.
She stormed out of the room to the nurses’ station.
“Dammit all, Irene,” she yelled. “Rob’s got an ulcer forming on his butt. You guys haven’t been doing your job.”
Irene was taken aback, but quickly recovered. “Ms. Stripling, you know that we turn him every two hours. Sometimes these things can’t be avoided. Please try to calm down.”
“I’m not about to calm down. Let me see his chart.”
Irene reluctantly turned to retrieve Rob’s chart and handed it to an irate Colby.
Colby flipped through the pages until she found the page she was looking for. The staff was required to turn Rob every two hours and document that it had been done. If they didn’t do their job, ulcers could form that mushroomed into ugly open sores that were breeding grounds for multiple infections,
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