blinked back tears. “I’m so sorry, Paavo.”
His hands clenched. “Damn it! I should have thought of Aulis when they hit your place, then mine!”
“Don’t! You can’t blame yourself for this. Any connection between you and me makes some sense. Or between you and Aulis. But you and me and Aulis? There isn’t any. It’s got to be chance coming up all wrong—one of those horrible, random things, so much a part of city life, that end up touching all of us.”
“I’ve worried about him living alone at his age.”
She rested her hand atop his. “He’s surrounded by friends and longtime neighbors, as he’s told you whenever you’ve brought the subject up. He’s happy in his home. This isn’t your fault!”
He pulled his hand away and clenched it. “I’ll know if that’s true, once I know what caused this to happen to him.”
“He’s going to be all right.” She tried desperately to give her voice conviction, but she failed. Like Paavo, she knew Aulis’s age was against him. A head wound…She shuddered.
Needing to do something more than sit helplessly and wait in the excruciating silence of the waiting room, she went in search of coffee. Near the waiting room, a canteen area held a coffee machine. On the first floor was a large, busy cafeteria. The coffee tasted weak and oily in both.
Paavo was talking on his cell phone when she returned. He soon hung up and eyed the Starbuckslabel on the paper cup she handed him. “I was wondering where you’d gone off to.”
She offered some lemon tarts and almond bear-claws, but he shook his head.
“Has the doctor talked to you yet?” she asked, sitting in a plastic chair beside him.
“No one has,” he said bitterly, “except to say the doctors are with him. I tracked down the patrolman who took the call to go to Aulis’s place. He said the apartment had been pretty well trashed, and that Aulis had lost a lot of blood.”
Angie’s outrage nearly spilled over, but she forced it in check. Paavo had always been her Gibraltar. She was the one who got emotional, and he would rationally calm her down. Now he was the one hurting, and she had to help him. She wasn’t sure what to say or do, so she placed her arm across his broad back and silently held him.
After a while, a buxom, middle-aged nurse entered the waiting room and walked toward them. Paavo’s face paled. He slowly stood.
“You’re Mr. Kokkonen’s son?”
“Yes.”
“I understand no one has given you much information yet. I’m sorry.”
He nodded quickly.
“Fortunately, the bullet did not enter Mr. Kokkonen’s brain. But it did graze the skull and caused some bone damage and considerable swelling from the impact. We will have to see how much trauma the brain suffered. He’s in a coma. With his age, and this type of wound, I’m afraid the situation is extremely critical. You need to prepare yourself for that.”
He nodded again, not answering. Angie watched his hopes fall when the nurse said there was swelling.
“The doctor will probably be with him another hour or so. You might want to grab a bite to eat, then come back later when we’ll be able to tell you something more substantial.”
“I see,” Paavo murmured.
“Also, we’ll need Mr. Kokkonen’s insurance papers. Medicare will cover some of the expenses, but you might want to know all that he’s entitled to and what it will cost. I suggest you bring his policy into the hospital as soon as possible so that our billings staff can go over your options with you.” She shoved a set of papers as thick as the city’s phone book into his hands. He just stared at them as she walked away.
“Christ almighty!” Paavo collapsed into the chair again, then slapped the papers onto the empty seat beside him. “He might be dying and she wants me to worry about insurance forms.”
“The world is going crazy.” Angie reached over, grabbed the papers, and stuffed them into her tote bag.
“You go and eat,” Paavo said.
His hands clenched. “Damn it! I should have thought of Aulis when they hit your place, then mine!”
“Don’t! You can’t blame yourself for this. Any connection between you and me makes some sense. Or between you and Aulis. But you and me and Aulis? There isn’t any. It’s got to be chance coming up all wrong—one of those horrible, random things, so much a part of city life, that end up touching all of us.”
“I’ve worried about him living alone at his age.”
She rested her hand atop his. “He’s surrounded by friends and longtime neighbors, as he’s told you whenever you’ve brought the subject up. He’s happy in his home. This isn’t your fault!”
He pulled his hand away and clenched it. “I’ll know if that’s true, once I know what caused this to happen to him.”
“He’s going to be all right.” She tried desperately to give her voice conviction, but she failed. Like Paavo, she knew Aulis’s age was against him. A head wound…She shuddered.
Needing to do something more than sit helplessly and wait in the excruciating silence of the waiting room, she went in search of coffee. Near the waiting room, a canteen area held a coffee machine. On the first floor was a large, busy cafeteria. The coffee tasted weak and oily in both.
Paavo was talking on his cell phone when she returned. He soon hung up and eyed the Starbuckslabel on the paper cup she handed him. “I was wondering where you’d gone off to.”
She offered some lemon tarts and almond bear-claws, but he shook his head.
“Has the doctor talked to you yet?” she asked, sitting in a plastic chair beside him.
“No one has,” he said bitterly, “except to say the doctors are with him. I tracked down the patrolman who took the call to go to Aulis’s place. He said the apartment had been pretty well trashed, and that Aulis had lost a lot of blood.”
Angie’s outrage nearly spilled over, but she forced it in check. Paavo had always been her Gibraltar. She was the one who got emotional, and he would rationally calm her down. Now he was the one hurting, and she had to help him. She wasn’t sure what to say or do, so she placed her arm across his broad back and silently held him.
After a while, a buxom, middle-aged nurse entered the waiting room and walked toward them. Paavo’s face paled. He slowly stood.
“You’re Mr. Kokkonen’s son?”
“Yes.”
“I understand no one has given you much information yet. I’m sorry.”
He nodded quickly.
“Fortunately, the bullet did not enter Mr. Kokkonen’s brain. But it did graze the skull and caused some bone damage and considerable swelling from the impact. We will have to see how much trauma the brain suffered. He’s in a coma. With his age, and this type of wound, I’m afraid the situation is extremely critical. You need to prepare yourself for that.”
He nodded again, not answering. Angie watched his hopes fall when the nurse said there was swelling.
“The doctor will probably be with him another hour or so. You might want to grab a bite to eat, then come back later when we’ll be able to tell you something more substantial.”
“I see,” Paavo murmured.
“Also, we’ll need Mr. Kokkonen’s insurance papers. Medicare will cover some of the expenses, but you might want to know all that he’s entitled to and what it will cost. I suggest you bring his policy into the hospital as soon as possible so that our billings staff can go over your options with you.” She shoved a set of papers as thick as the city’s phone book into his hands. He just stared at them as she walked away.
“Christ almighty!” Paavo collapsed into the chair again, then slapped the papers onto the empty seat beside him. “He might be dying and she wants me to worry about insurance forms.”
“The world is going crazy.” Angie reached over, grabbed the papers, and stuffed them into her tote bag.
“You go and eat,” Paavo said.
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