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Show 123. "No, no, no!" She shook her head and waved her hands in agitation. "Don't say that, JD. Chic asked first thing about you. 'Is JD okay?' he wanted to know." "But it was stupid. What I did was so stupid!" "The others told me how it happened. It was just kids. And sometimes kids don't have good sense. That's what I told your mother. She came over to sit the little ones at two o'clock this morning when the hospital called and said Chic had come to." Then they went back to their worrying, with Mrs. Wilcox staring into the hospital hallway that led to Chic's room and JD going over the accident again and again in his mind. Finally, JD stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I'll ask at the desk." He had to do something. "Maybe they know more this morning." "He's resting," the nurse answered crisply. "I believe . . ." she pulled at a chart on the rack, "he's scheduled for surgery on his leg tomorrow at 9:00 A.M." "What about his eyes? Can you tell me anything?" "No, I'm sorry. We may have a specialist in." "When can I see him?" JD's hands gripped the edge of the desk. "The doctor may allow visitors this afternoon. I couldn't say." She suddenly became very busy with an aide who'd just walked in, leaving JD holding onto the desk feeling foolish. By two o'clock that afternoon JD still hadn't eaten anything. Un-shaved and in the same jeans and shirt he'd worn the night before he knew he wasn't easy to look at. Mrs. Wilcox hadfaiade him have a cup of coffee with her about eleven, then she'd gone on in to be with Chic. He'd hoped she'd come back out or that Dr. Burke, in and out of Chic's room, would stop to tell him something. Chic's dad arrived about noon and even he passed by JD without saying a word. When the official visiting hours finally came, JD was glad to see Stephanie and Carol Sue come into the waiting room. "The nurse said on the phone he wouldn't be allowed visitors," Stephanie told JD in whispers, then, biting her lip, "she said he was on the critical list. Mom says you should come on home." |