1978
Lee shifted restlessly against the back of the gurney, wincing as the movement shot pain through his injured collar bone, before looking over in frustration at the Nurse's desk for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. So much for a routine milk run.
Normally for something minor like this he'd have just gone back to The Agency's medical clinic to be patched up — or even better avoided it altogether. Unfortunately, by the time he'd regained consciousness again after being thrown off the hood of the car, the elderly lady whose house he'd landed in front of had already called an ambulance for him.
He liked elderly ladies as a general rule. Really. It was why he spent so much time visiting the Birchwood Retirement Home. But not when they insisted on sending him to the Emergency Room, despite his assurances he really didn't need it. And especially not when that Emergency Room happened to be overrun by a massive accident on the Beltway, backing up all of the non-critical patients in hallways to wait their turn for X-rays.
Apparently he wasn't the only one feeling the aggravation. A boy sitting in the wheelchair beside him muttered fretfully, "Mama, how much longer?"
The brunette woman at his side smiled patiently, even though it had to be the twentieth time the kid had asked the question since they were sitting there. "I'll tell you what, Sweetheart. I'll go ask the nurse, okay?"
Don't bother, Lee wanted to call out after her. The nurse certainly hadn't been willing to give him any information and seemed to think she was running a penitentiary full of inmates rather than injured patients. But the woman was already striding away before he could open his mouth. Lee shook his head. "I hate hospitals," he muttered.
"Me too!" Lee turned to see the little boy looking up at him, obviously relieved to find a sympathetic fellow victim. "What are you in for?"
The boy's choice of words made Lee chuckle. Speaking of penitentiaries... He touched his left shoulder, currently immobilized in a sling, with his other hand. "Collar bone. You?"
The boy pointed to his right ankle, propped up on the leg of the wheelchair. "I broke my ankle playing bumper cars on the slide."
"Bumper cars on the slide?" Lee repeated, not sure he'd heard correctly, but the boy nodded.
"On the playground at lunch. You know, one person sits at the bottom and you all slide down sideways so you don't kick each other and keep going until eventually people fall off the bottom. Then you start all over again."
Lee chuckled in recognition. "Oh, yeah. I remember doing that a few times. Our teachers were never too impressed with it though."
The boy rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. I'm probably in for a week of detention when I go back." He looked up at Lee. "So how did you break your collar bone?"
"Uh...I got...hit by a car." Lee chose his words carefully. Somehow he didn't think telling the boy he'd actually jumped on the hood of a car to try and prevent a KGB abduction would be the smartest move, especially since he could see the boy's mother coming back in their direction.
The boy's eyes widened. "Wow!"
Before he could comment further though, the woman had returned to kneel next to the wheelchair. "The nurse said she couldn't tell us because there are a lot of people who are hurt worse than you, Phillip, so you're just going to have to be patient," she told him. "But I did manage to find something to make the wait a little better." She handed him a popsicle. "Here."
"Oh wow, grape — my favorite! Thanks, Mama." He broke the popsicle in two and Lee expected him to hand the other piece to his mother, but instead he reached over. "Here," he told Lee. "You could probably use one too."
Lee looked at him in surprise, but accepted the offering. "Thanks," he said with a smile.
"He broke his collar bone getting hit by a car," Phillip said matter-of-factly to his mother. "And he hates hospitals too."
"Oh, he does, huh?" The woman looked over at him. "I'm sorry, I hope his talking didn't bother you. I'm afraid he's picked up that habit from his grandmother and I."
"No, not at all," Lee said quickly. "It was...nice."
"Mr. Stetson?" An orderly approached him. "They're ready to take you to X-Ray now."
"Bye!" Phillip said, waving.
Lee smiled and waved back. "Bye."
He looked back at the popsicle in front of him as the orderly pushed him down the hall and slowly shook his head. It really had been kind of nice.
