North on I-35                                                                                                     [Index of Writers and their contributions]

Fourth section by Susannah Eisner

April smiled politely at the man and continued down the hall, her thumb rubbing the back of her daughter's small hand like a worry stone. "Who are you here to see?" the man called after her. April turned back to face him. "My boyfriend." She put her arm around Amber's delicate shoulders. "Her father.  But I don't think they'll let me see him."  She felt her throat tighten with emotion, tears close to breaking through.  "He's in surgery now.  They said he's under guard or something.  Jason's a good guy.  I don't know why the police are here. They won't tell me anything.  I don't even know what happened, just there was an accident.  I don't know." Her voice shook. She paused, took a deep breath.  "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry.  I don't even know you." Did you say Jason? Jason Mitchell? He's the reason I'm here, too." The man approached her smiling warmly. He looked at Amber and gave a little wave. She hid her face in April's shirt. "I'm Mark Burnette. Jason's told me a lot about you. You say he's under police watch?" "Yes, yes, the guy at the desk said there's a cop at his door. You know Jason? " The man paused. "We've done business together. I came as soon as I heard." Amber tugged her mother's hand. "Mommy?" "What did you hear? Can you tell me what happened? What kind of trouble is he in?" "Mommy!" "Amber," April jerked her child's arm. "Hush." The man stepped closer and said, softly. "I know more than most, but I don't want to talk here, if you know what I mean." "I have to know what happened." "Mommy!" "April, I said, hush!" "Tell you what. I know a place not far from here that serves the very best lemonade. I'll take you there and we can talk. Have you had breakfast?" "I don't know if we should." She paused, confused. "Okay. Okay, fine. I need to know." The man stooped and put his hands on the little girl's shoulders, smiling into her eyes. "Would you like a nice cold lemonade, Sweet Pea?" "I'm Amber." "Amber. Would you like that? And maybe a big plate of pancakes to eat while Mommy and I talk?" "I just want to go to the bathroom!" Amber howled in his face. He chuckled and looked up understandingly into April's eyes. "I got three of my own at home. Look, you take your girl to the bathroom. Then we'll go talk. I'll have you back here before Jason gets out of surgery. Promise." "Okay," April said, feeling the tides of her existence surging beyond her control. "Thank you." "It's just down that hall to the left. I passed it coming from the elevator." Amber pulled on her mother's arm. "Come on!" April trotted along behind her daughter, looking back to exchange another knowing, co-parental glance with the stranger. The man waited a few moments after mother and child turned the corner. He reached into his boot to adjust the small, capped syringe hidden there. Pulling a cell phone out of his back pocket, he leaned against the yellow hallway wall and dialed.   [Third section]            [Fifth section]

This is part 4 of a story written by a 'committee' - writers from the Writing Workshop.  
It will be gradually added to as each new section appears.

You can get to the home page of this website by clicking here.