Memories of Another Day (32 page)

It came to him, the moment before he closed his eyes and fell asleep. That he had realized it all along

but had never admitted it to himself. They were strangers. And always would be.

'There's no point in waiting," the doctor said. "She won't stop eating, and every day that passes she just puts on more weight."

''Did you tell her?" Daniel asked.

The doctor nodded. "She said she couldn't help it. She had nothing else to do but listen to the radio and eat. Without you home, she was just bored."

"When do you want to do it?"

"Tomorrow morning," the doctor answered. "You bring her into the hospital tonight. I've reserved a semiprivate room."

"She agreed?"

"Yes," the doctor said. "Matter of fact, she says she feels better now that she knows it's going to be over."

Daniel was silent.

"There's nothing to be alarmed about," the doctor said. "We do caesarians every day. Many women even prefer it to going through the pain of normal childbirth. Afterward, she'll be perfectly normal. She can have other children. Nothing will change."

"We don't have any choice, do we?"

The doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Not with this kind of breech."

"Okay," Daniel said.

"My nurse will give you an admission card to the hospital," the doctor said. "Have her there by five o'clock. And don't worry, we'll take good care of her."

The Sunnyside Maternity Hospital was on Pico Boulevard near Fairfax, a pink stucco three-story building, surrounded by a pleasant lawn and garden. Daniel drove the car into the parking lot just behind

the building and into the section marked patients AND VISITORS. They got out of the car and he took the small valise she had packed.

She looked at him as she got out of the car. '*I feel funny. I never been in a hospital before."

'This place looks real nice," he said as they walked toward the entrance. "Not like the hospitals I've been in. They were all gray and dirty."

''Still a hospital," she said.

"A special kind of hospital," he said. "A place for kids to be bom in. That makes it better."

She was silent as they went through the entrance. The halls were soft pink and there were pleasant paintings and pictures on the walls. The receptionist in a white uniform smiled up at them. "Welcome to Sunny side. The admitting office is straight down the hall."

The admitting office was as pleasantly decorated as the entrance. There were several desks with chairs behind and in front of them. Comfortable couches lined the walls.

A nurse in white came into the office from a room next door. She sat down behind the desk and gestured them to the seats in front of her. "Welcome to Sunnyside," she smiled. "You're Mr. and Mrs. Huggins?"

"Yes," Daniel answered.

"We've been expecting you. We have a nice room all reserved for you," she said. "But first, there are some forms to be filled out."

The forms took about twenty minutes. When she had completed them, she excused herself and went into the next room. A few minutes later she returned. "Everything seems to be in order," she said, pushing several papers across the desk to them. "If you and Mr. Huggins would be kind enough to both sign each of them. They're standard consent forms giving us permission to take care of Mrs. Huggins and do whatever is necessary to ensure her well-being."

They signed. She picked up the papers and checked

the signatures, then clipped them to the file in which the other forms had already been placed. ''Just one more thing, Mr. Huggins," she said. "A deposit check of two hundred dollars is required in advance. This covers the room for eight days, use of the operating room, anesthetist and other hospital services. Of course, when you leave you will receive an exact accounting, and any refund due you will be made immediately."

Daniel took out his wallet. He counted out two hundred dollars in twenty-dollar bills. She counted the bills and placed them in the folder, then pressed a button on the desk.

''A nurse will be down in a moment to take you to your room," she said. She looked at them and smiled. "What will it be, a boy or a girl?"

''Daniel says it will be a boy," Tess said.

"I'm sure he won't complain if it's a girl," she said.

They laughed just as a nurse came in, pushing a wheelchair. Tess looked at it for a moment. "There's no need for that. I kin walk."

"Hospital rules, Mrs. Huggins," the admitting nurse said. "You're our patient now and we're responsible for you. Sometimes those floors are slippery."

Awkwardly Tess got into the chair. "Kin Daniel come with me?"

"Of course," the admitting nurse said. She smiled again as they started from the room, Daniel following the wheelchair and carrying the small valise. "Good luck. I hope it's a boy."

They took the elevator to the second floor. The nurse stopped in the corridor outside the room and turned to Daniel. "There's a waiting room just down the hall. If you'll give us just a few minutes, I'll call you just as soon as we make Mrs. Huggins comfy."

Daniel nodded, and the nurse took Tess into the room. He walked down the hall to the waiting room. There were three men in the room. Two of them were

playing cards, the third sitting back in his chair, a bored, weary expression on his face. The cardplayers didn't even look up.

Daniel sank into a chair. He felt like a cigar, but decided against it. The nurse had said only a few minutes, and the halls were filled with no smoking signs.

After a moment, the third man sat up in his chair and looked at Daniel. "Just bring your wife in?"

Daniel nodded.

''I been here since last night," the man said. "I hope you have better luck."

Daniel didn't answer.

"Doctors are full of shit," the man said. "Every time they tell me it'll only be a few hours, an' each time I wind up spendin' two days here."

"Been here before?" Daniel asked.

"Three times," the man answered in a disgusted voice. "This is our fourth kid. I got to be a glutton for punishment. But this one is the last, I promise you."

One of the cardplayers let out a hoarse laugh. "Only if they cut his pecker off first."

"Shit," the man said. He looked at Daniel. "When did the doctor tell you yours would come?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"You sound sure."

"She's having a caesarian," Daniel said.

The man stared at him. "Hey, why didn't I think of that? I wind up blowin' three days' pay every time. I'm goin' to talk to the doctor."

The nurse appeared in the doorway. "You can see your wife now, Mr. Huggins."

Tess was sitting up in bed, a small silk bed jacket over her shoulders, as he came into the room. She was in the bed near the window; the other bed in the room was empty. He crossed the room and kissed her. "You look comfortable."

She smiled. "They're really very nice here." She giggled self-consciously. "They made me pee in a bottle. And look ..." She held up an arm. There was a

white cross-patch bandage in the crook of her elbow. 'They also took some blood. It didn't hurt at all."

Daniel nodded without speaking.

'They won't let me have any dinner," she said. 'They said they're gonna clean me out. My stomach has to be empty."

"That's right, Mrs. Huggins," the nurse said, coming into the room. "We're going to do that right now." She opened a cabinet next to the bed and took out an enema can and hose, then looked at Daniel. "You'll have to leave now, Mr. Huggins. We want her to sleep afterward, so that she'll be strong and fresh in the morning."

A note of fear came into Tess's voice. "You mean I won't see him until afterward?"

The nurse smiled. "Of course you'll see him. In the morning, before you go upstairs. But now it's more important that you rest." She looked at Daniel. "If you get here at seven o'clock, you'll be in plenty of time."

"I'll be here," Daniel said. He bent over Tess and kissed her. "Be a good girl and do what they tell you. I'll see you in the morning."

"You won't be late?" Tess said anxiously. "You better set the alarm clock."

"I will," he said reassuringly. "You just don't worry about a thing. Everything's going to be just fine."

Chapter 14

The telephone was ringing as he opened the front door. Leaving the door open behind him, he went into the Hving room and picked it up. "Hello?"

It was a man's voice. "Mr. Huggins?"

"Yes."

"This is George Browne," the voice said.

"Yes, Mr. Browne."

"Did your wife mention that I had called?"

"She did."

"I would like to see you," Browne said.

"That's what Tess told me."

"You didn't call," Browne said.

"I just came back from the hospital," Daniel said. "My wife is going to have a baby."

"I see," Browne said. "I hope everything turns out well."

"Thank you."

"When do you think we can meet?"

"Maybe after the baby is bom," Daniel said.

"It's important," Browne said. "Hold the phone a minute." Daniel heard him talking to someone else at his end of the line; then he came back. "Have you any plans for dinner tonight?"

Daniel looked around the house. It seemed depress-ingly empty. "No."

''Good," Browne said. ''Do you know Lucey's on Melrose?"

"Fll find it," Daniel said.

'' I can send a car for you.''

"I have a car."

"In an hour. Okay?"

"I'll see you there."

"Just ask for my table," Browne said. "I look forward to seeing you."

Daniel put down the telephone and went back to the front door and closed it. The telephone began to ring again.

This time it was Chris. Her voice was hushed as if she didn't want it to be heard past the earpiece of the telephone. "I had to call you."

"It's okay," he said.

"If your wife answered I was going to hang up."

"She's in the hospital."

"Is she okay?"

"Fine."

"I'm glad," she said. "Christ!"

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I can't even talk to you on the telephone without my cunt getting wet."

He laughed. "A lot of good that will do you back in Chicago."

"I'm not in Chicago," she said.

"Where the hell are you?" he asked, knowing what her answer would be almost before he asked the question.

"Here," she said. "I'm at the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. I have my own bungalow."

"You're crazy."

"No, I'm not," she said. ''You are if you think I'm going to leave you alone for a week while your wife is in the hospital with all that movie pussy floating around."

"I've never seen any of it," he said.

"I'm taking no chances anyway. What are you

doing for dinner? I've got a great setup here—dining room and everything."

''I have a date."

''I don't believe you."

'*True," he said. "With George Browne, president of the LA. out here."

"Then come over after dinner," she said.

"No. I have to be at the hospital at seven in the morning."

"I'll wake you up in time."

"No."

"I'll play with myself all night and I'll get crazy."

He laughed. "Think of me."

Her voice suddenly turned serious. "Daniel, your voice sounds different. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"Then what is it? Are you worried about Tess?"

"Yes," he said. "They're doing a caesarian tomorrow morning."

She was silent for a moment. "Oh. But don't worry about it. My older sister has had two babies that way. She said it's a lot easier than having babies the regular way. And she's just fine."

"I'll be okay when it's over," he said.

"I'm sure you will," she said. "Will you call me then?"

"Yes."

"Good luck, Daniel." She hesitated for a moment. "You know I really mean that, don't you?"

"I know," he said.

"I love you, Daniel."

He was silent.

"Daniel?"

"Yes?"

"Call me tomorrow."

"I will," he said, and put down the telephone. He crossed the room into the dining area and took the bottle of bourbon from the sideboard. He poured himself a tumblerful and sipped it slowly, thinking. She

was crazy, but there was one thing he could do with her that he never could do with any other woman. He could talk to her.

He rubbed his jaw reflectively. The stubble scratched under his fingers. He needed another shave. Taking the whiskey with him, he went into the bedroom and began to undress. In the bathroom, he stared at his face in the mirror.

He was thirty-seven years old and about to become a father. Being a father changed things. Already he found himself thinking more about the future. About where he was going, about what he was doing. It wasn't going to be easy bringing up a kid on the kind of money he made. Sooner or later he would have to get Murray to give him a local of his own. At least, he could build from there. That was the way all of them did it. Lewis, Murray, Green; even Browne out here had a platform from which he could move. He had just been made a vice president of the A.F.L.

Also, it wasn't good for a kid to grow up without a father around. Maybe Tess was right. If Browne came up with the right kind of deal, he should take it. It had to be better than getting his brains beat out the way he was going.

Or what Chris had said. Jump the fence. Many labor men had done that and were getting good money. He finished shaving, still thinking. Finally he washed the rest of the soap from his face, used a little talc to hide the understubble that always showed blue on his cheeks. He put on his shirt, still thinking, still undecided.

As the headwaiter led him to the table near the back comer of the restaurant, Daniel wondered why it was that so many of the customers seated at the tables seemed to be familiar to him. Then he understood why. Most of them were film actors and actresses, and he had seen them on the screen so many times. There

were a few whom even he could recognize. At one table, Joel McCrea; at another, Loretta Young; the others had names he could not remember.

There were two men seated at the table. They got to their feet. The bigger man, slightly balding, held out his hand. "I'm George Browne. Say hello to Willie Bioflf, my executive vice president."