Runaway

Chapter III

Rosie made a list of things she needed to do when she arrived at Barbara Ann's. The first was to apply for a nursing job at the local hospital; the second was to have the old house that Norma Jean had lived in since her son moved her in inspected and, if it were damaged, repaired; the third was to spend a weekend or two nursing the front yard back to full beauty. She had plans to plant beautiful roses, hydrangeas and other flowers in the front yard and to bring back the dead grass. She wanted to replace the dead oak tree with a cherry blossom and she wanted to replace the uneven stone pathway that led to the door and, for Barbara Ann's sake, have the makeshift ramp made by Barbara Ann's cousin, Joe Castiluccio, replaced and the brick steps removed so a real ramp could be installed.

It was still fall of 1957, so the outdoor activities were not an option. With low funds and, at the moment, a single small source of income, an inspection of the house was too expensive, so once she was settled and unpacked in Norma Jean Pisarski's old bedroom on the second floor, she took a trip to the hospital to seek a job in nursing. Nursing had been a long time dream of hers ever since her father passed away and after years of schooling, Rosie was finally able to seek a job in her new profession. She sat in the waiting room shifting uncomfortable; a couple of other young women were there waiting to be interviewed as well.

"Good morning!" said a cheerful blonde with curly hair. "I'm Heidi! And you are?"

"Rosie Clark," said Rosie. "Are you here to apply for a job, too?"

"Yes, both my friend, Louise, here, and I are," said Heidi. Rosie looked around Heidi at Louise, who was a girl with dark curly hair pinned up and a cigarette balanced between her fingers.

"Well, it is very nice to meet you both. Are you from around here?" asked Rosie.

"Oh, no! We're from Barnegat. What about you?" asked Heidi.

"Belleville," said Rosie. "It's up by Newark, Elizabeth, other industrial towns."

"Ooh! At least Louise and I are from Ocean County, but you're from so far north! Why aren't you nursing up there?"

"A friend of mine cannot live alone, so she's asked me to move in with her."

"Louise Dennison?" asked a young nurse with a clipboard that had entered the waiting room. Louise stood and followed, the smoke from her cigarette trailing behind her.

"How long have you been living here?" Rosie asked Heidi.

"We've only just moved here about two weeks ago. We share an apartment. You?"

"Just a week."

"Is there a reason your friend can't live by herself?" Rosie wasn't quite sure she ought to answer that question, not trusting the young woman not to judge her friend.

"She... She's very ill... Her grandmother recently passed and she's... Bedridden." At least it wasn't too far from the truth. Heidi cocked her head slightly, probably suspicious of Rosie's lie. However, she said nothing more on the topic.

"Have you been to the boardwalk yet? It's beautiful! Especially in the summer! My parents used to bring me all of the time when I was a girl!" They spoke of the boardwalk for a while, Rosie agreeing to visit it when she she had a free day, until Heidi Wilson was called in to be interviewed for the nursing job. As Rosie waited, patients accumulated in the waiting room, the more serious cases being taken back quickly. Across from her, Rosie spotted a man who looked to be slightly sluggish and out of breath. The nurse at the nurse's station was on the phone with her boyfriend ("No, you hang up first, Jerry! No, you!" and a giggle) and was not paying attention to the patients waiting. As Rosie watched the nurse with disgust, she heard a thud and a woman scream; when her eyes sought out the source of the sound, she saw the man that she had been watching previously was lying on the floor.