Bestial by Ray Garton Read Free Book Online

pocket of his white coat, then went to find Maggie, the ER charge nurse. They almost collided in the doorway that led to the office.
    “Maggie, I’m going down to the cafeteria for—”
    “I don’t think so, Dr. Dinescu,” she said. “We’ve got incoming.” She was a short, slender woman in her forties who always moved rapidly and spoke in clipped, staccato rhythms, as if constantly in a hurry. Her eyes were bright behind her large glasses. She held a clipboard. “The call just came in. Motorcyclists.”
    Abe sighed, took the granola bar back out of his pocket.
    “Seems a moving van blew a tire, lost control, swerved into the other lane and ploughed into four motorcycles. The driver of the van wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and went through the windshield when he hit a tree.”
    “What’ve we got?” he said, then took another bite of the bar.
    Maggie looked at the clipboard. “Two of the bikers weren’t too severely injured, mostly minor stuff. The other two are in bad shape. Severe abrasions, lacerations, blood loss. Possible ruptured spleen and other internals. One of them lost consciousness for awhile, then regained consciousness but is disoriented and incoherent. The other is experiencing respiratory distress, numbness in the right arm, compound fracture of the femur, and has—”
    Abe listened to Maggie read off the list of injuries as he ate his granola bar. He wished he were at home. Claire had fixed chicken parmesan, one of his favorites. She was a school teacher, off for the summer. She loved to cook, and she was good at it, a collector of recipes, a regular viewer of the Food Network, always trying out new dishes or improving old favorites. If he were home now, he’d be in front of the TV with Claire and Illy, his belly full and warm, sipping some wine, maybe watching an old movie, letting the day flow out of him.
    A year before they’d left San Bernardino, Claire’s first pregnancy had ended in a miscarriage. They’d waited longer than most to have a child, wanting to make sure their financial security and home situation were firm. By the time Claire became pregnant, they’d already begun to grow tired of San Bernardino. It was an ugly city in a hot desert. They’d spoken often of living near the ocean in a small town, someplace quiet and clean. During a vacation, they’d taken a long coastal road trip and had fallen in love with the northern California coast. After the miscarriage, Claire had become depressed. She’d admitted to Abe that their surroundings did not help at all. They’d reached a quick decision. Abe immediately went to work making the arrangements. Since moving to Big Rock, Claire’s spirits had climbed. The area was very therapeutic. Abe vastly preferred his job at Sisters of Mercy—it was smaller, quieter, and less stressful.
    He finished the granola bar, tossed the wrapper into a nearby waste can and brushed off his hands. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when Winona, the receptionist who worked the front window, stepped up to them.
    “I reached Dr. Rodriguez and he’s on his way in.” She turned and headed back to her station.
    “Good,” Abe said with some relief. To Maggie, he said, “Okay, let’s get ready for them.” When he turned to go back into the treatment area, he found there was no time to prepare. The EMTs rushed in pushing the gurneys ahead of them. Suddenly there was blood everywhere—on the EMTs, spattering onto the pale tile floor—and someone cried out in agonizing pain. As he headed toward the mess, Abe heard another voice speak behind him.
    “Just got a call from a mother on the way in with her son. He was mauled by an unidentified animal.”
    Abe stumbled slightly as he looked back at Winona, thinking, another animal attack? What the hell is out there?
    He faced front and walked toward all that wet, spattering red.
     
    Grandma whimpered in the passenger seat as Bob Berens drove up the hill to the hospital. Long accustomed to her