{"id":239,"date":"2022-02-09T21:43:37","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T02:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foxglovesystems.com\/herbheineman\/Stowaway\/?page_id=239"},"modified":"2022-04-07T17:57:28","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T21:57:28","slug":"eighteen","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Stowaway\/eighteen\/","title":{"rendered":"EIGHTEEN"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u201c<\/strong>Holy crap! What time is it?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cEleven. What are you still doing at home, for God\u2019s sake?\u201d Gladys was aware that her tone was angry, overriding her relief that Mike hadn\u2019t got himself into trouble.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m sorry. I thought a short nap would clear my head. I forgot to set the alarm. Now I might as well let it go till morning. No sense waking everyone up in the middle of the night. How about I meet you all for breakfast? I\u2019ll set the alarm for five, and I\u2019ll be there by eight. OK?\u201d<\/p>

Gladys didn\u2019t know what to say. Realistically she should not blame Mike for wanting to wait until next morning, since he had not been told of Con\u2019s death, only that he had not yet<\/em> woken from anesthesia. Still, she didn\u2019t think it was right to withhold the truth from him for another eight hours. But how would she break the awful news to him?<\/p>

\u201cDon\u2019t go back to sleep yet. I\u2019ll call you right back.\u201d She hung up.<\/p>

Turning to Debbie, she asked \u201cWhat should I tell him?\u201d<\/p>

Debbie frowned. \u201cYou know, to say less than the whole truth would be to lie without admitting that you\u2019re lying. I think you should tell him.\u201d<\/p>

Gladys was shaking her head. \u201cHere we are, grieving over my dead son and your dead husband, and we\u2019re holding a philosophical debate. What\u2019s wrong with us?\u201d And she reached for the phone.<\/p>

\u201cMike, I really want you to come tonight. Con still hasn\u2019t woken up, and I\u2019m scared.\u201d<\/p>

There was a sigh at the other end. \u201cOK. Be there in a couple of hours.\u201d<\/p>

\u2756\u2756\u2756\u2756\u2756<\/p>

One hour and fifty minutes later Mike burst into the motel and found the women seated in the reception area with their heads down.<\/p>

\u201cSo,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019m all rested. How may I be of help?\u201d<\/p>

His flippancy went over their heads. Debbie was the first to answer. \u201cCon is dead.\u201d<\/p>

Mike\u2019s expression froze. \u201cIs that meant to be funny?\u201d \u00a0<\/p>

\u201cNo, he was pronounced dead this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWhy wasn\u2019t I told?\u201d Mike\u2019s tone was challenging, suggesting that he\u2019d been wronged, not by Con\u2019s death but by the women\u2019s failure to tell him.<\/p>

Gladys was in tears. \u201cI just couldn\u2019t bring myself to say it. I just wanted you here. I needed you here.\u201d<\/p>

This softened Mike a little. \u201cAll right, all right,\u201d he conceded, \u201cso where is he?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI really don\u2019t know,\u201d Gladys said. \u201cDoctor Kravitz said you could call him. Here\u2019s his number.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAt this time of night?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHe said to call any time. He figured you might have any number of questions.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThe only question I have for this Doctor Kravitz is, why did he kill my son?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cMike,\u201d Debbie spoke for the first time, \u201cDoctor Kravitz did all he could to save Con. You know that. Most of the time that kind of injury is fatal no matter what the surgeon does.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWell, he was alive when this surgeon got to him. Why didn\u2019t he sew him up right the first time? Jackie Robinson could have done a better job, and he didn\u2019t even go to medical school.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOh, how cruel!\u201d Debbie whispered between heaving sobs. Gladys grabbed Mike by the sleeve and steered him out into the hallway. \u201cHow could you?\u201d she hissed.<\/p>

Mike seemed oblivious of his own antisemitism. For him it was a given that a surgeon with a Jewish-sounding name could not be entrusted with the life of a non-Jewish patient. \u201cThat happens to be my son as well as yours. I have a right to be angry. If he hadn\u2019t married that woman he\u2019d never have ended up in this place \u2014 dead.\u201d<\/p>

Gladys glared at him and held her breath for a second. \u201cAnd we\u2019re not the only bereaved ones. He had a wife \u2014 whom you\u2019ve never treated with the respect she deserves \u2014 and two sons.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSure, two sons, of whom one is handicapped, thanks to her.\u201d<\/p>

Gladys had had enough. She slapped him across the face and went back to where Debbie, now calm, was waiting.<\/p>

Unashamed, Gladys said to the receptionist: \u201cGive him our room if he wants it. And charge him. We\u2019re leaving.\u201d She turned to Debbie: \u201cCan I go home with you?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cOf course. Come on.\u201d<\/p>

Mike approached the women as they were leaving. \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d he asked.<\/p>

\u201cTo Debbie\u2019s,\u201d Gladys answered over her shoulder and kept walking.<\/p>

\u201cWhat about me?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cYou can have our room here if you want to stay the night.\u201d<\/p>

The receptionist smiled at him invitingly. \u201cDo you wish to stay, Mr. Flynn?\u201d<\/p>

He would have preferred to find another motel, but he was in no mood to wander unfamiliar streets at that time of night. So, gingerly feeling his left cheek, he said, as casually as he could, \u201cMight as well.\u201d With luck, a different receptionist would be on duty in the morning, unaware of the scene just played out, without a smirk on her or his face.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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<< SEVENTEEN<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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NINETEEN >><\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHoly crap! What time is it?\u201d \u201cEleven. What are you still doing at home, for God\u2019s sake?\u201d Gladys was aware that her tone was angry, overriding her relief that Mike hadn\u2019t got himself into trouble. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I thought a short nap would clear my head. I forgot to set the alarm. Now I might […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-239","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nEIGHTEEN - The Stowaway Gene<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Stowaway\/eighteen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EIGHTEEN - The Stowaway Gene\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cHoly crap! What time is it?\u201d \u201cEleven. What are you still doing at home, for God\u2019s sake?\u201d Gladys was aware that her tone was angry, overriding her relief that Mike hadn\u2019t got himself into trouble. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. 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