Childlike

Chapter 11 The Emergency Room

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Chapter 11

The Emergency Room

            Ex- bishop Matthew took off his bloodied frock then balled it up and threw it on my car floor in disgust. We put Bobby in the back of the Cortina and drove off to a hospital.   It was a silent drive down Homestead Avenue to the Emergency Room.  It wasn’t till I was pulling into the hospital parking lot that I realized that I had left Yvonne back at the Church.  Though I felt sure that someone would drive her home, I wasn’t so sure that she’d be safe in a place so violent.

Bobby was coming around when we arrived at the ER. He appeared ambulatory so the check-in nurse made him wait and fill out a series of forms. “I guess they threw the book at me,” Bobby joked, sounding more like himself, as he finished one form and began another.

            “I’ll say,” I commented, glancing at Bishop Matthew who was praying in one of the orange vinyl waiting room chairs. “Does the church always get so violent?”

            Bobby looked over at the bishop before answering. “I’ve never seen it so, well…like that.”

            Bishop Matthew had finished praying and looked over at us. “I’m afraid the church as we know it is coming to an end.”

            Bobby stopped filling out the forms and stared at Bishop Matthew. “What do you mean, end?”

            The bishop swallowed so that his Adam’s apple bulged and he shifted in his seat.  “There have been a rash of sexual failings in the church lately, most among parishioners, yet a few among the Bishops and the elders. I’m afraid that the church body was using Bobby here to vent their frustration!”

            Bobby hung his head.  “I’m sorry!”

            “I know you are son,” Bishop Matthew said.  “And I’m sorry too.  If it weren’t for your friend here I’m afraid I may not have done anything to help you.  You were a brave young man,” he said, nodding his head towards me.

            Feeling embarrassed I smiled then met Bishop Matthew’s gaze. “Tell me, what made you do it?”  He asked.

            “Bobby’s a friend,” I answered.  “I couldn’t let him be pummeled to death now could I?”

            “I guess you probably won’t join the church now, will you?”  Bobby said.

            “You mean you’re not a member?”  Bishop Matthew asked, amazed. I shook my head. “It figures, that the only man to stand up to this evil would be a non-member.” It was then that the nurse came for Bobby and took him back to an examining room, saving me from replying.

            “He’ll be alright,” the bishop assured me, then asked. “If you’re not a member, what were you doing at the trials?” I told him about Yvonne and how she was trying to get me to join the church.

            “What’s her last name?” He asked.  I told him.  “Oh, the Morton girl,” he said nodding his head.

            “You know her?” I asked.

            “Not really.  I know her parents a bit, but…it’s a large church, you know.” He said, almost like he was ashamed.

            “She seems to be a real missionary.  She got me to talk with those missionary guys, real quick.”  He nodded his head as if contemplating something to say, but not saying it.