She Cried. They Buried Me. I Came Back. novel · Chapter 8 of 24
Chapter 8: The Donor Lunch
The Foundation's Christmas lunch had been my event for five years, so on Tuesday I walked into it through the kitchen.
The hotel ballroom held a hundred and twenty donors at round tables with white poinsettias.
On the stage behind the head table, a big screen showed the Foundation's logo and a slow slideshow of children in hospital beds.
The sound technician at the back was a man I had hired for five Christmas lunches in a row.
"Mrs. Lang." He rolled his chair over. "They told me you were on leave."
"I'm on the schedule, aren't I?"
"You're on the schedule."
"Then I'd like half a minute on that screen after my mother-in-law finishes her toast. Plug this in."
I held out a small cable.
He looked at the head table, where Margaret sat in navy silk with her pearls on, and at the cable in my hand.
"My daughter's a nurse," he said, and took it.
Jerome stood at the back wall in his black coat, with his arms folded.
"Audience?" he said.
"Go and stand where they can see you."
"That's a rule one exception."
"I wrote it," I said. "Go."
At the microphone, Margaret was finishing.
"...and I want to thank the paramedics who saved my husband last Sunday, and I want to share our family's joyful news." She rested a hand on Sabrina's shoulder. "A new Lang next summer. Dirk and Sabrina have asked me to say how grateful they are for your prayers."
The room applauded.
Dirk sat very straight and did not smile.
"And a word about my daughter-in-law," Margaret said, lowering her voice. "Hallie is unwell, and has taken a leave of absence. Please keep her in your thoughts, and leave her family their privacy."
"Thank you, Margaret," I said into the microphone I had walked up to take. "I'd like to say a few words about my own health."
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