Broken Promises by Terri Reid Read Free Book Online Page A

course,” she said. “We just won’t be able to help you very much. We’re all needed to distribute the meds.”
    “Well, if we need you, I’ll just poke my head out and find someone,” Becca said. “Come on, Clarissa, let’s have you stand over there by the aquarium.”
    Becca guided Clarissa over to a group of residents sitting near a large tropical aquarium.
    “Are you my granddaughter?” an elderly woman in a wheelchair asked Clarissa.
    “No,” she responded, shaking her head. “But I don’t have a grandma, so we could pretend.”
    The woman cackled with delight. “I’d like that just fine. You can call me Mami Nadja, that’s Grandma Nadja from where I come from.”
    “Mami Nadja,” Clarissa repeated.
    “Very good,” Mami replied. “So, what are you doing here with all us old people?”
    “I came to sing to you,” Clarissa said. “Is that okay?”
    “What did you say?” a white-haired man lying in a recliner asked.
    “She’s going to sing to us, Charlie,” Mami yelled. “Pay attention.”
    “I don’t sing very well, but I could try,” Charlie replied.
    “Charlie, turn up your hearing aids,” she yelled in response.
    “They is turned up,” Charlie yelled back. “They just ain’t in my ears.”
    Mami rolled her eyes and winked at Clarissa, she giggled in response.
    “Well, for goodness sake, man, stick them in your ears,” she said.
    Charlie positioned his hearing aids in his ears and turned to Clarissa. “Now, what did you say you were going to do?” he asked.
    Her smile widened. “I’m going to sing to you,” she said. “I learned lots of songs in school and from listening to the radio. Can I sing to you now?”
    “Well, certainly, you go right ahead,” Charlie encouraged.
    Becca bent down and whispered into Clarissa ear. “You go ahead and start, sweetheart. I have to find a bathroom, but I’ll be right back.”
    Becca let herself out of the door in the back of the recreation room, the door that led to the residents’ rooms. She walked purposely, as if she belonged there and was just visiting a family member. She greeted those passing by with a friendly nod, although her heart was hammering in her ears.
    Knowing it was not uncommon for family members to visit the home on Sunday, Becca has purposely chosen Sunday to allow Clarissa to sing. She wanted a day with enough activity to hide the real purpose of her visit, because she knew if she was caught she could be sent to jail.
    She came to the first hallway and cautiously examined the corridor. Halfway down was an unsupervised medicine trolley; the nurse was probably in a nearby room with a patient. Becca hurried down the hall, peeking into the rooms to try and find the nurse. She approached the cart before she found the nurse and quickly glanced at the containers, looking for the familiar orange hue of the theophylline. After a cursory examination, she realized her much needed pills were not on this cart.
    “Yes, Mr. Frazier, I’ll tell the director what you said,” the nurse called as she walked out of the door just three feet away from Becca.
    Becca’s heart caught in her throat and she stepped away from the trolley, trying to come up with an explanation of why she was hovering near the medications. The nurse’s hand was on the outside of the door when the room’s occupant called out.
    “What is that, Mr. Frazier?” the nurse asked, walking back into the room.
    Becca breathed a sigh of relief and headed back up to the main hub to access the next hallway.
    As she came towards the nurse’s station, the soft music that had been playing over the intercom was replaced with the urgent message that a Code Blue was taking place in room 143 W and all available personnel needed to respond.
    Becca stepped into a small supply alcove and watched the nurses and staff jog down the hall in the direction of the room. A moment later, she stepped out and walked towards the vacated station.
    From previous visits, Becca knew the