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I go upstairs to check on the Maestra. She is awake and wondering where I have been. I tell her that Frankie has been badly hurt, and that I'm going to help Frenchie take her to the hospital. I can spare no time, but I leave her with a reassuring kiss.
No vehicles have stopped for us. The drivers see Frenchie and I supporting Frankie between us, and they want no involvement whatsoever. She is frightfully delirious...I fear she has received a bad bump on the head. And she has spasms of pain that double her over. We trudge on, very slowly, to the city hospital. People stare at us, some with curiosity, some with pity, some with scorn, yet they all avoid our gaze if we dare look them in the eye.
They have seen blood and bruises all too often these days, and they have learned to ignore.
After about an hour, we reach the hospital. The nurse gives us a difficult time, as we expected. No, we are not her next of kin. No, we do not know who or where they are. No, we are not her guardians, she is a legal adult. No, we do not know what exactly happened. No, we do not have this, that, or the other. I lose my temper for a moment and shout at her, "We do have one thing: a seriously injured woman who needs medical attention NOW."
Almost begrudgingly she summons a doctor to see Frankie; subsequently, the doctor orders her to be put on a stretcher, and she is carted away down white hallway.
Neither Frenchie or I can go with her. The nurse says since we are not her family members, we cannot see her.
Infuriated, Frenchie nearly throws a fit. I calm her down. There is nothing we can do. So we sit...and we wait.
No vehicles have stopped for us. The drivers see Frenchie and I supporting Frankie between us, and they want no involvement whatsoever. She is frightfully delirious...I fear she has received a bad bump on the head. And she has spasms of pain that double her over. We trudge on, very slowly, to the city hospital. People stare at us, some with curiosity, some with pity, some with scorn, yet they all avoid our gaze if we dare look them in the eye.
They have seen blood and bruises all too often these days, and they have learned to ignore.
After about an hour, we reach the hospital. The nurse gives us a difficult time, as we expected. No, we are not her next of kin. No, we do not know who or where they are. No, we are not her guardians, she is a legal adult. No, we do not know what exactly happened. No, we do not have this, that, or the other. I lose my temper for a moment and shout at her, "We do have one thing: a seriously injured woman who needs medical attention NOW."
Almost begrudgingly she summons a doctor to see Frankie; subsequently, the doctor orders her to be put on a stretcher, and she is carted away down white hallway.
Neither Frenchie or I can go with her. The nurse says since we are not her family members, we cannot see her.
Infuriated, Frenchie nearly throws a fit. I calm her down. There is nothing we can do. So we sit...and we wait.