“I don’t think so. They’re taking X-Rays in there now. They can always tell from X-Rays. But I don’t think he’s hurt bad.”
“Oh my, I hope not.”
The cops never said a word. They just sat there and looked at us.
They wheeled him out, and his head was covered with bandages. They put him on an elevator, and Cora, and me, and the nurse, and the cops all got on, and they took him up and put him in a room. We all went in there. There weren’t enough chairs and while they were putting him to bed the nurse went and got some extra ones. We all sat down. Somebody said something, and the nurse made them keep quiet. A doctor came and took a look, and went out. We sat there a hell of a while. Then the nurse went over and looked at him.
“I think he’s coming to now.”
Cora looked at me, and I looked away quick. The cops leaned forward, to hear what he said. He opened his eyes.
“You feel better now?”
He didn’t say anything and neither did anybody else. It was so still I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. “Don’t you know your wife? Here she is. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, falling in the bathtub like a little boy, just because the lights went out. Your wife is mad at you. Aren’t you going to speak to her?”
He strained to say something, but couldn’t say it. The nurse went over and fanned him. Cora took hold of his hand and patted it. He lay back for a few minutes, with his eyes closed, and then his mouth began to move again and he looked at the nurse.
“Was a all go dark.”