The Final Shortcut Read Free Page B

to his feet. “Doc Ray is on his way an’ you can just bet she’s gonna be fine.” Martin relaxed a bit and found his way to a chair in the corner of the waiting room.
    “When can I see her?” he asked, expecting his old friend to have all the answers. Clyde looked at him and smiled, “Now how am I supposed to know, she’s in good hands and when they put her in a room I’m certain they will let you know. Alright?”
    Martin looked at him with moist eyes and said, “I don’t even want to think about living without her or the baby.”
    “Now don’t even think like that,” Clyde retorted, “we don’t need any negative vibes creeping into your karma now do we?”
    Martin looked up and couldn’t resist laughing out loud at his pal’s remark. “You sound like one of them Hollywierd hippies in the movies.” He had made Martin feel better, made him feel a bit calmer as he relaxed into the chair. “You’re right; I don’t need to make things worse by worrying too much. I need a joint, wanna join me?”
    Clyde’s eyes popped wide open and he stood up involuntarily, “I swear you beat all I ever seen.” he had stopped smiling and he noticed several of the other patrons had overheard Martins invitation. “If I catch you doing anything like that I’ll have to lock you up no matter how long we been friends.” He straightened his gun belt and wiped the sweat off his upper lip. “Now you just take care, I’ve got some police business to take care of,” Clyde winked at him almost imperceptivity, “Got to check on the jailhouse security, take care now.”
    Jailhouse security was their code word for a special meeting place where they would meet for a quiet smoke. Martin knew his friend’s speech was for the rest of the folks there. He would meet him behind the hardware store later, which used to be a jailhouse at the turn of the century. Sheriff Stokes passed Doc Ray in the hallway as he was leaving and exchanged a few words, Martin could tell by their expression that there was some bad news. As the doctor walked into the room Martin rose to meet him but the doctor motioned for him to sit back down.
    “What’s wrong Doc?” He could feel his stomach tighten as he sat down.
    “I don’t think there’s anything for you to worry about. She still hasn’t woken up but she’s gonna be fine.” Doctor Ray put his hand on his shoulder and smile. “Want to see her?”
    The small hospital was clean well equipped. It only took a few seconds to find her room.
    Martin stepped up to the bed and gazed fixedly at Ellen’s beautiful features, a small bruise on her forehead was the only distraction to otherwise perfect face. He leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek and began to cry quietly. A flood of tears ran down his face. No one said a word for several minutes; the only sound was that of the monitors beeping and of grafts being written by other machines. Just then Ellen uttered a low groan, the heart monitor sped up and a huge wet spot appeared between her legs. The nurse immediately ran out the door and she could be heard yelling orders to others just out of sight. Doctor Ray grabbed Martin and pulled him away from the bed just as the nurses descended on Ellen.
    “Look out Martin, you’re about to become a father.” Doctor Ray whisked Martin out of the way when some other attendants rushed in to move Ellen to delivery. The next many hours were very intense for everyone; with Ellen still unconscious the delivery was tediously slow. Twice she stopped breathing and her heart rate ping ponged out of control. So much that the attending physicians were certain she would not pull through. Martin was nearly catatonic by daybreak when the nurse came into the waiting room to fetch him. “What’s wrong, is she alright, is the baby ok, can I see her?”
    “Yes you can see her, mother and baby are resting quietly in recovery, it’s a boy!” The nurse thought she would have to catch Martin as the relief of her