Dead Eye Sam - 51

     She paid one more visit to Captain Barrens, who was very helpful in directing her to the hospital in Ohio, and other details needed for her search. Then, she boarded the train.

     She arrived near Blanchard Community Hospital two days later. The wreck had occurred several miles short of the hospital, and the tracks were being repaired.  The wreck site was horrible; three cars had left the tracks and mostly burned. It was hard to imagine anybody surviving.

     She was able to obtain transportation on in to the fair-sized town surrounding it from a farmer who lived nearby.

     The hospital was in disarray. Although it was fairly large, it appeared to have been mostly that way even before all the train wreck survivors were brought in. Samantha eventually was able to find a nurse who was on duty at the time the survivors were brought in, and she had been there the night the head injury patient left. She alone seemed to know something about what that patient looked like. From her description, the size, height, and hair color matched Jeff, somewhat. Anyway, it was possible.

      Samantha waited until the nurse, Caylie, was off duty, and bought her a meal while they talked. Caylie was helpful, as much as she could be about the event that was now going on two months old. She did have one good, solid clue for Samantha.

    “Ya know, the strangest thing happened, on two different occasions after the patient walked out that night. Two weeks or so later, I saw him in the hallway, close to his original room. Different clothes, but I would swear it was him. I hollered at him, but he wouldn’t stop. He turned a corner, and when I got there he was gone. I reported that, but nothing came of it. Nobody else knew what he looked like.”

     “Then, around a week ago, I thought I saw him again. It’s possible that I only thought it was him because the clothes were similar to what he had on the first time, and he reacted the same way when I tried to talk to him. That time, his beard was longer, so I didn’t get a good look at his face. Again, he started running and disappeared when I tried to talk to him.  I’m so sorry, but that’s about all I can tell you.”

     After all of Samantha’s other inquiries at the hospital led to a dead end, Samantha simply walked the roads and sidewalks, hoping she might get lucky. No such luck.

     She was able to obtain a very small, cramped room to stay in for one night only, and a little café to eat supper.  Then, she locked herself in her small room. She needed a plan. She thought about all that was going on for hours, getting very little sleep.

     The sightings by the nurse were her only hope. It seemed to indicate the man was staying close, and he seemed to feel some sort of attachment to the hospital.  She decided to try tomorrow to get some sort of job at that hospital. Whatever, it didn’t matter. If she could be there, every day and night, he might come back. They obviously needed help there, the hospital was a mess. She could clean rooms, empty bedpans, or anything to be able to be there. Possibly if she offered to work for free in exchange for sleeping there. Then, when she was off, she could walk the town, talk to people, looking some more.

     Toward dawn, she managed to doze off into a ragged and troubled sleep, beset by nightmares of Jeff wandering about, out of his head, with nobody to help him. Except her.

     Mrs. George, the hospital administrator, was a nice enough woman who was very busy, very short on quality help obviously, but did agree to talk to Samantha late in the day.

     Using all her natural likability, Samantha told her story, and advanced her plan. Mrs. George was sympathetic. “Well, Miss Samantha, we are short on good help. I really cannot afford to hire you. But you seem like a hard worker. If you would keep all the main floors swept and mopped each day, about 6 hours, I do have a small room you could sleep in. And you can eat in our cafeteria as part of the deal. Start at 6 am tomorrow, should be able to finish by noon. But you must give all your attention to your job during those hours. Then, you can do all the lookin’ you want, when you’re off. Put your stuff in room 26, just down the hall. There’s two beds in there, but if we get crowded we will have to use the other bed for a patient.”

     “Samantha smiled. Thank you Mrs. George, I’ve been a waitress many years, and I know how to work hard. I won’t let you down.”