The Seven Cities Saga (Book 0): Survival in the Seven Cities Read Free Page B

pop off with their squeezing.
    Gloria gave her own mother a quick hug, thanked her again and started toward the hospital entrance, Bobby beside her. At eight years old he didn’t need to hold her hand anymore when they crossed the parking lot. He’d pretty much had an intervention with her just after his sixth birthday: "Mom, I’m six years old. I’m not a baby anymore. I think I'm responsible enough to watch for cars without holding your hand." Gloria had wanted to laugh because he was so serious about it. As if this was a big deal. The idea of him thinking he was grown up at six years old was so cute it made her want to hold his hand forever.
    But she didn't laugh. She nodded her head attentively and told him that if he thought he was responsible enough, then he didn't have to hold her hand.
    Now as they crossed the parking lot she felt his warm little hand slip into hers.
     

     
     

 
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
    The automatic doors of the hospital slid open, exhaling the cool rush of air conditioning and the smell of disinfectant. Gloria knew the smell was a good thing: it meant cleanliness. But there was something unsettling about it. Hospitals never seemed natural. They were distinctly industrial in almost all things: hard right angles on all of the corners, sharp smells, commercial grade furniture that was designed for easy clean up instead of comfort.
    The waiting room was full but there was only one person at the intake line ahead of her. When it was her turn, she stepped up to the desk and had a seat. The woman across the desk was middle-aged, maybe fifty years old, but her hair was shiny and she’d obviously taken a lot of time to fix it. She didn't introduce herself but her badge said "Barbara."
    "We’re here to see Roger Banks. He was injured down at the water front."
    Barbara smiled. "So you're Gloria?"
    Gloria paused, taken aback that this stranger knew her name.
    Barbara cackled, a loud crack of sound in the otherwise quiet waiting room. "Don't look so surprised. Roger hasn't stopped talking about you in the half hour he's been here. He keeps telling us to make sure we let you see him even though you aren't technically family yet."
    There was a gleam in Barbara's eye when she spoke, as if she knew something Gloria didn't.
    "And how about the little one? Is he okay?"
    Bobby scrunched his nose at the term "little one." He thought of himself as big.
    "I'm fine," he said.
    Gloria shook her head. "Bobby has some scratches on his arm that I think should be checked."
    "That won't be a problem at all. Let me just get Bobby's information and you two will be on your way."
    Barbara filled a few boxes and moments later she attached a purple band around Bobby's wrist.
    "You guys are set. I'll take you right back to Roger's room."
    The back end of the ER was bristling with movement, like a complicated piece of machinery with many interlocking gears. The ER nurses were already cleaning and wrapping Roger's wounds by the time she entered.
    Roger's face lit up when he saw them. "Hey! I'm so glad you guys made it quickly. Where are the girls?"
    Bobby ran to the other side of Roger's bed and whispered something in his ear.
    Roger nodded and whispered something back. Gloria caught the words "Soon enough," but that was all.
    Gloria gave Roger a puzzled look but he just smiled serenely.
    "Just something Bobby and I are working on."
    Gloria rolled her eyes playfully. Those two were always working on some sort of "Secret Project." More often than not the secret project was Star Wars movie night where they would attempt to watch all six episodes in one night without stopping. She usually found both of them asleep on the couch before the droids hit the sand in A New Hope.
    The nurse turned toward Gloria and patted Roger on the shoulder as she finished up the stitching. "Mr. Banks, the injury looks good. We've got it cleaned up and antibiotics are in your IV. I can't imagine you’ll be here too long. The doctors want to