Alana's Trail

Chapter 8

As Brother Gerey promised, the hospital wasn't all that far away and easily recognizable from the road. She entered and approached the reception desk. "I'm sorry to bother you, but-"

"Lady Moorhawk! We weren't expecting you! Are you looking for Lord Moorhawk?"

Alana was taken aback, first by the recognition and then by the exuberance of the young man behind the desk. "Yes. I was told he was staying here up until recently?"

"Yeah. He was having problems here, so-"

"That will do, orderly." A sharp voice cut the young man off much the way he'd cut off Alana just moments earlier. "Lady Moorhawk, what an honor to have you in our humble establishment. I am Marger, senior nurse on duty" The woman approaching the ranger was old enough to be her grandmother, and dressed in the simple robes and apron of a nurse. "Your brother was with us for about a month, but he's moved on."

"So I've heard from the local clerics." Alana replied bluntly, not wanting to deal with more of this woman's bureaucracy than necessary. "But he's not on the chapel grounds, so I thought I would come over here and see what light you can shed on why my brother has been out of touch for so long."

"You must realize, Lady Moorhawk, that I cannot release patient information to you."

"He's my brother."

"After a fashion," the nurse sneered.

"Sir Tristan sired both of us, and that seems to be good enough for the rest of the province." Alana spat. Whatever was going on in Oaks Knoll, it wasn't friendly and she couldn't wait to find Aidan and leave. "Now, tell me about my brother, or I will find someone else who doesn't have such... reservations."

To her credit, Marger didn't even pale. Those confronted by Alana's anger tended to lose their spine rather quickly. "Come this way." She led Alana into a meeting room just off the lobby. "Wait while I get his charts."

"Why don't you just tell me what you know and we'll go from there?"

The nurse scowled and matched Alana's folded arm stance. "Very well. What I know is that Brother Aidan was brought in unconscious a few weeks ago. He'd been found on the outskirts of town in a pile of debris that was scheduled to be burned the next day." Alana's stern face melted to horror. "We weren't sure he would wake up."

"Why didn't you send a message to my father?"

"Well, it's not like Thornwood has kept up with the times." The nurse smiled, a contorted look that left a sour feeling in Alana's stomach. "When he finally did awaken, we started trying to help him recover. But his memory was spotty, and there were some incidents."

Alana interrupted her, "What kind of incidents?"

Marger regarded her for a long moment. "How long has Brother Aidan been claustrophobic?"

"My brother has never been claustrophobic as long as I've known him." Alana heavily emphasized the first two words.

"He couldn't handle our lift."

"What's a lift?"

"Lady Moorhawk, are you here for your brother or for another surprise inspection?"

Alana stomped out of the meeting room in search of a less hostile hospital employee, but none of them were interested in taking a few minutes out of their day to talk to Sir Tristan's illegitimate daughter. She could hardly wait to read her brother's report.

Of course, if he was found unconscious outside of town... The nurse hadn't said if he was coming or going when he was found. It was possible he'd been attacked on his way out of town in an attempt to bring back a less than stellar report to their father. But it was equally likely he'd been attacked on his way into town and never had a chance to inspect the town.