Exodus 2022 Read Free Page B

equivalent of someone screaming in his face.
    He stepped off the ridge and descended into the storm one final time.
    Stay in control.
    Ella and Carla stopped talking and turned Joe’s way. His face had gone blank again.
    He was peripherally aware of their attention. I’ll explain in a minute, he thought.
    Stay in control. In control.
    The hallucination swept over him.
    This loss is new. Fresh. Unbearable. It would be better to die than actually live through this kind of grief.
    He tried to understand.
    Who is Lorna Gwin?
    Nothing. 
    He couldn’t conjure another image. Just grief. Overwhelming grief.
    “Joe?”
    Ella and Carla were moving toward him now. “Joe? You okay? Joe!”
    Joe let the vision slip away. Opened his eyes. 
    “It’s all right,” he said, steadying himself. 
    He stood there with Ella and Carla. In the sunshine. In the real world. Birds sang. A lawn mower droned nearby.
    “I’m fine,” he said. “Really.”
     

CHAPTER 8
    THEY DROVE IN Ella’s blue Jetta, Ella at the wheel. She looked worried.
    “Relax,” said Joe. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”
    Ella glanced at the blue-green knot on his forehead and winced. “Keep the ice on that,” she said.
    “Yes, Nurse Tollefson.”
    They wound their way through Friday Harbor, toward the ferry terminal. The sun shone bright and the sidewalks overflowed with tourists.
    Joe said, “Thanks for defending me back there, in the clinic.”
    Ella shook her head. “What a jerk that doctor is. Should have his license revoked.”
    Joe gazed out the window. Kept the ice pack in place. “Made sense, a little bit, seeing as how he’s friends with the motel owner. What happened with that guy anyway? And with the detective? I don’t remember anything between when I hit the driveway, and the clinic.”
    Ella sighed, “The detective, Palmer, told me he has a full caseload and doesn’t want to go through the hassle of prosecuting you. But Spinell insisted.”
    “Spinell’s the motel owner?”
    Ella nodded. “Palmer told me you’re probably looking at some petty municipal court charges. Disorderly conduct. Disturbing the peace. You’ll have to appear in court up here at some point. Or Spinell might calm down and drop the charges.”
    Joe stared out the passenger window. “Spinell has a right to be pissed,” he said. “I would be if I was him.”
    “Spinell is a mean old man with no compassion. Same as his doctor friend.”
    “It’s not that bad. I miss anything else?”
    “Yeah. Palmer says we’re supposed to stay away from the Breakwater for at least forty-eight hours, or risk trespass charges.”
    Joe laughed. “I’m thinking it’ll be more like forty-eight years before I go back to the Breakwater. That’s fine.”
    Joe watched Ella drive. Looked at the scenery. It was a beautiful day.
    “I am so sorry about this,” he said, after a while. “This was not my plan for the weekend.”
    “I know it wasn’t, sweetie. I’m worried about you.”
    Joe nodded. “Yeah. I wish I knew what the heck just happened.”
    “You wanna talk about it?”
    “I’d love to, if I could remember anything that made sense. The whole morning’s like a dream. I see little shreds of it, but mostly it’s just”—he shook his head—“Surreal. Like it didn’t really happen to me. Like it was somebody else screaming and acting crazy. But then there are these clear fragments, so that I know it really was me.”
    “Who’s Lorna Gwin?” Ella asked. “Do you know anyone named Lorna Gwin?”
    “No.” Joe laughed. “I have no freaking idea where that came from.”
    They rounded a bend and Ella slowed. “Oh great,” she said. “Maybe we should try an air evac.” 
    The ferry terminal was just ahead and vehicles clogged the vast lots of the holding area. Cars idled in the lanes leading to the ticket booths, and a giant reader board proclaimed a three-boat wait.
    “Pull over for a second,” said Joe.
    Ella eased the Jetta onto the shoulder. “But we