Chapter Fifteen
The late afternoon sun streamed into the hospital room. Paul eyed the Connect Four game board sitting on the bedside table. The black and red pieces filled the entire chute. The stalemate from last night stood.
Madison hadn’t returned last night. She hadn’t come in this morning during rounds. He listened hard for the clacking of her heels on the linoleum floor. But he was greeted at each turn with the squeaking protests of visitors’ soled sneakers, the tapping superiority of doctor’s loafers, and the quiet calm of nurses’ mules.
When two sets of loafers stopped outside his door, Paul slumped down in the bed. He slumped even further when Chief Pena and Dr. Lamb came inside.
“How are you feeling today, Major Hanson?” asked the chief.
“Like I could dance the merengue.”
T
