Nearly Departed, Max Schlienger [the gingerbread man read aloud txt] 📗

house looked no different than it had earlier in the day, although it felt strangely empty knowing that Elspeth wasn’t there. The thought that he was technically committing burglary crossed Dennis’ mind, but by that point it was too late to foster any indecision.

“Okay,” Dennis said, squaring his shoulders. “You head to the kitchen and look for the key. I’m going to find my phone and call Sam. We’ll talk to Evy, wrap everything up, and be back at the hospital in no time.”

“Right, boss,” answered Bobo with a nod. “In a drawer in the kitchen, yeah?”

“I just said that.”

“And I was just checking.”

Dennis waved a hand, and the sound of Bobo’s chuckling echoed through the house as the pair parted ways. Again, it occurred to Dennis that they both should have been more tense, but their mood was almost lighthearted. He entered the den slowly, taking careful measure of the room. Unlike the rest of the house, it had been thrown into a state of disarray by the paramedics that had responded to Dennis’ call. The table had been shoved against a far wall, but the envelope – presumably with a cellular phone hidden beneath it – was still waiting patiently for Dennis to pick it up.

Sure enough, Dennis spotted a rectangle of silvery plastic as he pushed the aged paper aside. The screen was illuminated, showing that he had one missed call and a voicemail waiting for him. He ignored the former, tapping in the code to access his mailbox. A mechanical voice told him what he already knew, that he had a message waiting for him, and he nodded impatiently in time to the announcement. When the electronic routine was finally over, Dennis felt his chest go tight.

“Hey, Dennis,” came Alena’s voice. There was a drawn-out sigh. “Listen... I really want to talk about what happened last night. I’m not saying that I’m at all okay with any of it, but I should have let you explain things.” A long pause came next. “I’m going to go in and check on Antonio, so I’ll be out. Call me if you want to talk.” There was a rustling noise, and the message ended.

The tightness in Dennis’ chest relented somewhat, although he wasn’t sure how he should feel. Alena sounded willing to listen, at least. Whether that would lead to understanding and forgiveness remained to be seen. Dennis’ lips pressed together tightly as he stared down at the phone, its display having darkened after the message ended. Should he call back right away? No, probably not. Alena was on her way to visit Antonio, as she had said, and disturbing her would be a mistake. Besides, Dennis wanted to be free and clear of this situation with Evy before he tried to explain it. He wondered how Bobo was faring in his search for the key, and decided to get on with the task he had assigned himself. He dialed Harding’s number, and the receptionist answered before the line had scarcely had a chance to ring.

“Doctor Harding’s office.”

“Hi, it’s Dennis.” He could hear the girl chewing gum again. “Will you get Sam for me, please?”

“Doctor Harding is on his lunch break for the next hour,” came the bored reply. “You can call back later.”

“Can you wake him up?” asked Dennis. “It’s urgent.”

“He really doesn’t like to be disturbed.”

Dennis closed his eyes in weary frustration. “Look, tell him that it’s about the woman with the haunted chair.” That should get her interested, Dennis thought. “She’s in the hospital, and I might not have much time.” He hoped that the last part was a lie.

“Uh. Just a sec.” There was an audible pop over the line, and Dennis worried that he had been disconnected. He probably did sound like one of Harding’s more deranged patients, he supposed, but his fears were cast aside when he heard the noise again, and Harding’s voice answered.

“Dennis?” the man asked. “Is everything okay?”

“That’s what I’m calling to find out,” replied Dennis. “I have kind of a strange question for you.”

“Just a moment, I’ll call you back from my cell phone.” This time, the line really did disconnect. A moment passed as Dennis waited for his own phone to ring, and he answered it immediately when it did. “I’m sorry about that, Dennis,” Harding said. “I didn’t want my secretary listening in.”

“She does that?”

“I just felt it would be best to act cautiously.” Harding cleared his throat. “Now, your client is in the hospital? What happened?”

“I don’t really know,” confessed Dennis. “I was explaining something that I’d found out about her father, and she collapsed in a coughing fit.” He tensed slightly. “Do you think I could have caused it? By telling her, I mean?”

“No, almost certainly not,” replied Harding. The reassurance went a long way towards calming Dennis’ nerves. “While we’re undoubtedly affected by our emotions, I’ve never heard of anything quite so extreme.” He paused briefly. “Unless you think she was having a panic attack of some sort? Does she strike you as prone to that kind of thing?”

“I... I don’t think so.” Dennis thought about the strength and confidence that Elspeth exuded. “No, she’s not like that.” He realized that he was pacing around the room, but didn’t stop. “So, would it be safe for me to talk to her about it again?”

“I couldn’t say, Dennis. What do you have left to tell her? Furthermore, what did you say to her already that might have prompted such a reaction?”

“You said that I didn’t do it!” Dennis exclaimed, and Harding quickly made soothing noises in response.

“Calm down, calm down.” The sound of a page turning came across the line. Dennis pictured Harding taking notes, as though he were treating one of his patients. The image was disconcerting, but he had bigger things to worry about. “Listen, Dennis,” Harding continued, “I can’t say anything with complete certainty until you tell me what happened.”

As always seemed to be the case lately, Dennis needed to carefully censor