Chapter 7

Crumb whistled softly as he wiped down the bar. It was a slow night. Mid-week with no baseball games scheduled tended to do that to business.

He wondered where Hobson was. Even though the kid had a crazy schedule, he usually checked in at least once during the day to see how everything was going. Especially now with Marissa out of town. It just wasn't like him.

Crumb put the rag away, and checked the time. Eight o'clock. He had a funny feeling that something wasn't right. Aw, jeez, he told himself, now you're starting to sound as bad as Hobson. He shook his head and chuckled.

Still, when the phone rang a few minutes later, Crumb rushed to answer it.

"McGinty's."

"Hey, Crumb."

Crumb smiled in relief. "Hey, Hobson. Ya know, it'd be kind of nice if ya let a person know where you're going and when you'll be back," he said gruffly.

"Sorry. I didn't get a chance to call until now."

Crumb's brow furrowed. The kid's voice sounded strange. Muffled almost. "What's going on? You in trouble again?"

"No, I-" Gary started coughing, and it was a minute or so before he was able to talk again. "Sorry about that."

"No problem. You all right? You sound kind of funny."

"Um, well, actually--I'm in the hospital."

Crumb sighed. Why wasn't he surprised? "What for this time? No--don't tell me. You were trying to stop a squirrel from getting hit by a bicycle and you were hit instead? Am I close?"

Gary chuckled. "No, it has nothing to do with the pa--, well, with what I do. I just have pneumonia."

"Pneumonia?" Crumb became serious, "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. I just have to stay in a few days to get some antibiotics."

"Well, that's good. You want me to call Chuck or Marissa?"

"No. There's no point in telling them. It's not that bad, and I'll be out of here in a few days anyway. Marissa has her mother to worry about, and Chuck's pretty busy out in LA, and I--I don't want to bother him."

"Bother him? Hobson, the guy's your best friend. I don't think you'd be bothering him." Crumb shook his head. Hobson sounded like he was holding back. "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, Crumb, I'm sure. Look, I have to go now. Someone's here to draw some more blood." Gary then told Crumb the name of the hospital, and his room number, and made him promise not to call either Chuck or Marissa.

"Okay, take it easy, kid." Crumb hung up. He didn't like the sound of this. He looked up Chuck's phone number and lifted the receiver, but reluctantly replaced it, cursing Hobson for making him promise not to call Chuck.

Suddenly, Crumb smiled with inspiration. Lois Hobson. Crumb chuckled gleefully as he looked up Hobson's parents' phone number. He never promised not to tell them. He dialed the number, and waited, becoming impatient as the answering machine picked up. He swore softly as the damn machine gave short beeps, but never the long one signaling the caller to leave his message. The tape must be full. Crumb hung up, frustration making him slam the phone down with uncharacteristic vehemence.

He sighed. What else could he do? He was probably making too big a deal about it, anyway. The kid said he was going to be fine. No reason not to believe him.

Crumb decided that first thing in the morning, he'd swing by the hospital and find out for himself how Hobson was doing.


Crumb walked briskly down the corridor of the hospital. He found Hobson's room, and knocked on the door as he entered. "Hey Hobson! Thought you could take a vacation..." He stopped abruptly when he realized the bed was empty. Crumb took a quick peek into the other side of the room, but the patient in that bed was an old man. He turned and walked out to the nurses' station.

"Excuse me? Nurse?" Crumb called to the first nurse he spotted. "Can you tell me which room Gary Hobson is in?" Maybe the kid had already been discharged and had taken a cab home.

The nurse took a folder off a shelf and opened it, running her finger down the page, "Hobson? Oh, here it is," she paused, looking up at Crumb. "Are you family?"

Crumb went still. He knew he should have listened to his gut feeling last night. "Uh, no. I'm a friend. Why?"

"It seems he was transferred to intensive care last night."

"Why?" Crumb cursed inwardly. He should have known that Gary would play down how sick he was.

The nurse shook her head, "I'm sorry, I don't know. He was gone before I came into work today."

Crumb sighed, "Okay, thanks. Listen, how do I get to intensive care?"

The nurse gave him directions, and added quietly, "You might think about, um, becoming related to Mr. Hobson, otherwise they won't let you in to see him."

Crumb blinked, then nodded, "Gotch ya. Thanks again."


"Okay, now roll the other way."

Gary obeyed; clinging to the side rail of the bed as one nurse put a clean sheet on half the bed, and bunched the excess sheet in a roll behind Gary's back. A nurse's aide had one hand on Gary's shoulder, the other behind his knee, as she helped him to stay on his side. Gary was grateful that she was there, because just the act of rolling on his side left him breathless. His knuckles were turning white from his grip on the rails.

"Now, back towards me, Gary."

Gary relaxed his grip on the rail, and rolled over the sheet bunched in the middle of the bed. The aide grasped the roll, and pulled it out and tucked it under the mattress.

Totally exhausted, Gary lay flat on his back in the middle of the bed; eyes closed as he panted for air. Dimly, he heard the nurses chatting as they tidied up the room, but he was almost asleep. He didn't notice when one of them picked up a newspaper from the end of his bed.

"Ellen? Is this yours?" The aide held the Sun-Times up for Ellen to see.

Ellen shook her head. The aide shrugged, tossing the paper onto a chair in a corner. "I doubt he'll feel much like reading the paper today." She gathered the dirty linen into a ball and deposited it into the hamper.

Crumb paced impatiently in the ICU waiting room. He had already been made to wait over an hour because the nurse had said that they were busy with Hobson. He was just about ready to go storming into the unit when the door opened and a nurse poked her head out. Before she had a chance to speak, Crumb hurried over. "I'm here to see Gary Hobson."

The nurse stood back, holding the door open, "I was just coming to get you. You can see him now, Mr. Hobson."

"How is he doing?" Crumb asked anxiously as he followed her through the unit.

"He's stable for the moment."

The nurse stopped in front of a room, and Crumb hesitated, "What do you mean by 'stable'? I talked to him last night on the phone, and he sounded okay. How come he's down here?"

"His breathing was becoming more labored, and his oxygen level was dropping some more, so, as a precaution, he was transferred down here where we can keep a closer eye on him."

"But he's gonna be okay now, right?"

The nurse shrugged, "He's stable for now. That's all I can tell you."