Free Pieces of Hate by Ray Garton

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    “Hey, I’ve got money, and I don’t want it hanging around after I’m gone, okay?”
    Margaret stood and placed her hands on the bed’s side rail. “You don’t look to me like somebody who’s going anywhere.”
    “Yeah, sure. Talk to my doctor. He’s got all kinds of medical double-talk that’ll change your mind.”
    As if he’d been standing off-stage waiting for his cue, Dr. Plummer walked into the room. This time, he did not have Lynda’s chart, and there wasn’t a stethoscope to be seen on him. His face held an expression of vague surprise, even confusion. He stopped at the foot of Lynda’s bed, gave Margaret a brief, crooked smile, then looked at Lynda.
    “Hello, Lynda.”
    “Hey, Doc.”
    “How do you feel right now?”
    “Hungry. Like I could eat a live water buffalo with my hands tied behind my back.”
    “Really?”
    “Really. So, how about that test?”
    “Well, you’re results were, um . . .” He cleared his throat and swept a finger back and forth over his lips. “They were quite good. Very encouraging, in fact.”
    Lynda’s face registered surprise. “Really? How good is that?”
    “Better than I expected.”
    “So, I’m going to live?” she asked with a sarcastic smirk.
    “Live. Well. Um. I . . . I, uh, can say that you’ve improved.”
    Her smirk fell away and her eyebrows rose. “Improved? Really?”
    “Yes. But, if you don’t mind, I’d like to steal your sister away for a little while.”
    “Oh, I bet you would. She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?”
    Dr. Plummer smiled and closed his eyes for just a moment. “I mean for a talk. Just a talk. Over coffee?”
    “Yeah, but she is gorgeous, isn’t she?”
    “Lynda, please,” Margaret hissed.
    Dr. Plummer looked at Margaret with a bashful smile and nodded once. “Yes, she is very attractive.”
    Margaret, amused but embarrassed, said, “Thank you, but Lynda is just reverting back to her childhood. She used to embarrass me all the time back then, too.”
    “The nurse said you were hungry,” Dr. Plummer said to Lynda.
    “I just said I was hungry, doesn’t that count? It has to come from a nurse before you’ll believe it? I’m starving. Can I have something?”
    “What would you like?”
    “A sandwich.”
    “What kind of sandwich would you like?”
    “A steak sandwich.”
    Dr. Plummer’s eyebrows rose. “A steak sandwich.”
    “Yes. A steak sandwich.”
    He nodded slowly. “Anything else?”
    “Onion rings?”
    “A steak sandwich and onion rings.”
    “Yes.” She grinned.
    “I’ll see that you get those. In the meantime, I’d like to have a word with your sister.” He turned to Margaret. “Coffee in the cafeteria?”
    “Fine with me,” Margaret said, standing.
    As they started out of the room, Lynda called, “And a milkshake! Chocolate!”
    Dr. Plummer turned back. “A steak sandwich, onion rings, and a chocolate milkshake.”
    She nodded.
    Once in the corridor, Dr. Plummer looked around until he spotted a candy striper. He stopped her as she walked by, removed a twenty dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to her.
    “Go down to Bart’s,” he said. “Know where that is? It’s just on the next block.” He removed a small note pad from his pocket and began to scribble on it. “I want you to get a steak sandwich, onion rings and a chocolate milkshake — ” He continued to write on the pad. “ — for this patient. I’ll put it on her chart.”
    Mary, the Irish nurse, overheard as she walked by them outside of Lynda’s room. She slowed down long enough to shake her head and said, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, you’re gonna need a whole crew to clean up that room when she finishes that!” She didn’t wait for a response, just kept walking.
    Dr. Plummer ripped the page from the notebook and handed it to the candy striper. “Can you do that?”
    “Sure,” she said, nodding.
    “Thank you.” He took Margaret’s elbow and led her down the corridor, leaving the candy striper