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Burnt Offerings :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 6 из 286If you start asking questions of the patient, the docs tend to wander off and treat somebody else. I wanted to know from the doctor who stitched you up just how serious it was."
"Just a few stitches," he said.
"Twenty," I said.
"Eighteen," he said.
"I was rounding up."
"Trust me," he said. "You don't need to round up." He grimaced as he said it. "Why does this hurt so much?" he asked.
It might have been a rhetorical question, but I answered it anyway. "Every time you move an arm or a leg you use muscles in your back. Moving your head and muscles in your shoulders makes muscles in your back move. You never appreciate your back until it goes out on you."
"Great," he said.
"Enough stalling, Larry. Tell me what happened." We were stopped behind a long line of traffic leading up to the light on Olive. We were stuck between two small strip malls. The one on our left had fountains and V. J.'s Tea and Spice, where I got all my coffee. To our right was Streetside Records and a Chinese buffet. If you came up Ballas at lunch time, you always had plenty of time to study the shops on either side.
He smiled, then grimaced. "I had two bodies to stake. Both vamp victims that didn't want to rise as vampires."
"They had dying wills, I remember. You've been doing most of those lately."
He nodded, then froze in mid-gesture. "Even nodding my head hurts."
"It'll hurt more tomorrow."
"Gee, thanks, boss. I needed to know that."
I shrugged. "Lying to you won't make it hurt less."
"Anybody ever tell you your bedside manner sucks?"
"Lots of people."
He made a small hmph sound. "That I believe. Anyway, I'd finished the bodies and was packing up. A woman rolled in another body. Said it was a vamp with no court order attached."
I glanced at him, frowning. "You didn't do a body without paperwork, did you?"
He frowned back. "Of course not. I told them, no court order, no dead vampire. Staking a vamp without a court order is murder, and I'm not going to be up on charges because someone screwed the paperwork. I told them both that in no uncertain terms."
"Them?" I asked. I eased up the line of traffic, a little closer to the light.
"The other morgue attendant had come back in. They went out in search of the misplaced paperwork. I was left with the vampire. It was morning. He wasn't going anywhere." He tried to look away and not meet my eyes, but it hurt. He ended up staring at me, angry.
"I went out for a cigarette.
"Just a few stitches," he said.
"Twenty," I said.
"Eighteen," he said.
"I was rounding up."
"Trust me," he said. "You don't need to round up." He grimaced as he said it. "Why does this hurt so much?" he asked.
It might have been a rhetorical question, but I answered it anyway. "Every time you move an arm or a leg you use muscles in your back. Moving your head and muscles in your shoulders makes muscles in your back move. You never appreciate your back until it goes out on you."
"Great," he said.
"Enough stalling, Larry. Tell me what happened." We were stopped behind a long line of traffic leading up to the light on Olive. We were stuck between two small strip malls. The one on our left had fountains and V. J.'s Tea and Spice, where I got all my coffee. To our right was Streetside Records and a Chinese buffet. If you came up Ballas at lunch time, you always had plenty of time to study the shops on either side.
He smiled, then grimaced. "I had two bodies to stake. Both vamp victims that didn't want to rise as vampires."
"They had dying wills, I remember. You've been doing most of those lately."
He nodded, then froze in mid-gesture. "Even nodding my head hurts."
"It'll hurt more tomorrow."
"Gee, thanks, boss. I needed to know that."
I shrugged. "Lying to you won't make it hurt less."
"Anybody ever tell you your bedside manner sucks?"
"Lots of people."
He made a small hmph sound. "That I believe. Anyway, I'd finished the bodies and was packing up. A woman rolled in another body. Said it was a vamp with no court order attached."
I glanced at him, frowning. "You didn't do a body without paperwork, did you?"
He frowned back. "Of course not. I told them, no court order, no dead vampire. Staking a vamp without a court order is murder, and I'm not going to be up on charges because someone screwed the paperwork. I told them both that in no uncertain terms."
"Them?" I asked. I eased up the line of traffic, a little closer to the light.
"The other morgue attendant had come back in. They went out in search of the misplaced paperwork. I was left with the vampire. It was morning. He wasn't going anywhere." He tried to look away and not meet my eyes, but it hurt. He ended up staring at me, angry.
"I went out for a cigarette.