Book 2-Alex Bishop in Follow That Mystery

Alex Bishop in Follow That Mystery

     Mr. Wells was instantly bombarded with questions.  "What happened?"  "Are you and Scarlet okay?"  "Where's your car?"  "How did you get here?"  Mr. Wells put up a hand to silence the questioners, and began to speak in a voice of forced calm.  "The breaks failed on my vehicle and we hit a tree."  Everyone gasped collectively.

     "The car had to be towed.  It is totaled.  The mechanic is going to let me know what caused the breaks to fail as soon as he can.  Scarlet and I are fine, physically anyway.  An officer at the scene drove Scarlet and I to the hospital and as soon as we saw to it that Violet was being tended to, we took a cab here."

     "What exactly is Miss Books condition?"  Dawn asked anxiously.  "We really don't know much right now.  The hospital said they would be able to tell us after she was evaluated.  But an E.M.T. at the scene said she had internal injuries."  Alex thought Mr. Wells looked exhausted and Scarlet didn't look much better. 

     Janeen put a hand on Mr. Wells shoulder and said in a gentle voice, "Are you up to going to the hospital with us Mr. Wells?"  Then she quickly added, "We would all understand if you'd rather wait until tomorrow,"  She said, glancing around at the others, who all nodded in agreement.  Mr. Wells looked at Scarlet's tear stained face and she said, "I would like to go see the kids Otis."  "As would I,"  Mr. Wells replied.

     "Those kids were there for me when I needed them,"  Mr. Wells added while taking a handkerchief from his coat pocket and dabbing his eyes.  "And I will be there for them.  I want to check on Violet as well."  He ended.   "You and Scarlet can ride with us,"  Max said putting a comforting arm around his shoulder.

     "Are you going with Alex?"  Mr. Clark asked Fletch.  "If you don't mind Dad,"  Fletch answered softly.  "Is that okay with you Max?"  Fletch's father asked him.  "Sure.  In fact I'll take Dawn and Fletch both with us if that's okay,"  Max said.  Mrs Marks agreed.  So, as if in a dazed state everyone walked down the stairs and out the double doors to their cars.

     Fletch's parents told the group that they were going to pick up some chicken in case anyone was hungry enough to eat, or would be at some time.  Then they would come up to the waiting room.  Everyone was very quiet on the way to the hospital.  Alex had so many thoughts in his head he thought it might burst.  The phantom, the dropping chandelier and the breaks failing on Mr. Wells car seemed to him to be just too many accidents in such a short time.

     When Alex's parents, Mr. Wells and Scarlet, Alex and Dawn arrived at the hospital they immediately went up to the intensive care ward to ask about Mrs. Books' condition.  The nurse took out a chart and everyone seemed to hold their breath while she read through it.  Then she spoke, "Mrs. Books sustained a broken wrist, a minor head injury and various bruises.  She does not have internal injuries as what was thought at first."  Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief at her words.

     Alex didn't know about anyone else but he felt like cheering.  The nurse added, "She is expected to make a full recovery."  Now the group was hugging each other and the woman were crying happy tears.  "Thank God!"  Mr. Wells said.  The nurse gave him a wide smile.  "When can we see her?"  Alex asked eagerly.  "Not until tomorrow.  She's sedated now so she rest."

     Mr. Wells thanked the desk nurse for the information and then he and the rest headed off to Glenna's room, where they ran into Mr. Sullivan walking swiftly towards them from the elevators.  He was very pale and more nervous than he usually was.  He shook hands with Max, Mr. Wells, Janeen, Dawn and the boys.

     He was sweating profusely.  Alex wondered if that was due to his tension or the tweed suit he wore beneath his overcoat.  "Oh my, what a disaster!"  He screeched.  "May I go with all of you to see Miss Glenna?  I don't think I can face her alone,"  He asked in a pleading voice.  "Of course you can,"  Janeen told him.  "But none of this is your fault."

     Mr. Sullivan nodded but by the look on his face he was not convinced by what Mrs. Bishop had said.  Which was evident when he wiped a tear from his eye with the sleeve of his coat.  Alex and Fletch walked down the hallway a few steps behind the rest.  Fletch looked over at Alex and asked, "Where's Lyn?  Why didn't she come to the play?"

     "She went roller skating with a friend and is spending the night at her house.  I'm glad she didn't come.  She would have been really upset about Glenna, Lee and Mrs. Books,"  Alex said.  When the group reached Glenn's room, everyone stopped outside the door to let Alex, Dawn and Fletch go in first.  Then the others stood a few steps back from the foot of the bed, looking down on Glenna's mother gently stroking her daughter's forehead.

     Dawn walked up and stood beside Mrs. Williams' chair while Alex and Fletch took places on either side of her bed.  Mr. Sullivan took a few steps forward until he was standing at the foot of the bed looking down on Glenna's still form, silent tears streaming down his face.  Glenna's father was not in the room at that time.  Glenna's mother said he was downstairs getting coffee for the both of them.

     Alex was shocked to see that bandages covered almost every visible part of Glenna's slim body.  "How is she?"  Dawn asked tearfully.  Glenna's mother cleared her throat, "She has some deep cuts on her arms which required many stitches.  I know they told me the number, but I can't remember," she said, stifling a sob.

     "She has the head bandage because of a bad cut above her right ear.  And there are bruises and cuts on her legs, but thankfully they didn't need stitches."  She then took a deep breath and wiped her eyes.  "But she's going to be okay.  The doctor said there shouldn't be any scaring."  Just then, Glenna opened her eyes and turned to Fletch and smiled at him.

     Then she slowly turned toward Dawn, Alex, her mom and everyone else in the room and gave each of them a smile.  "How do you feel honey,"  her mother asked her.  "I know I probably don't look like it.  But I feel okay."  Her mother actually giggled.  Mrs. Williams looked up at Mr. Sullivan, and said,  "Mr. Sullivan wants to say hello."

     The drama teacher quickly dried his eyes with a Kleenex that Scarlet handed him, and then he walked slowly to Glenna's bedside and gently squeezed her hand.  "I can't tell you how sorry I am that this horrible thing happened to you,"  he said shakily.  "Well you told me....to bring down the....house."  Glenna breathed out.

     There were a few soft giggles from the audience around her.  But Mr. Sullivan just shook his head, his eyes full of tears again and said,  "Get well quickly dear.  I'm going to see Lee now."  Glenna just had time to say "Thank you," before he rushed out.  Mr. Wells, Scarlet, Max and Janeen came forward one at a time and gave Glenna their wishes for a quick recovery.  Janeen informed Mrs. Williams that Fletch's parents were on their way with chicken for everyone.  Then the adults left for the waiting room.

     Fletch gave Glenna a kiss and then made his way to the door to wait for Dawn and Alex.  Dawn gave her friend a careful hug and a kiss and went to wait with Fletch.  Alex grinned at her raised one eyebrow and said, "Don't give your nurses any trouble you hear?"  Glenna grinned back.  Then Alex gently took her hand and kissed it.  "We'll be back tomorrow,"  he assured her.  Then he gave a wave to Glenna's mother and left.

    

(Dear Readers,  I know you had to wait a while to get this update.  I'll try to get them to you in a more timely manner.  I hope you're enjoying the book.  Thanks so much for reading, liking and voting.)