Chapter 24: Bed Four

Five months after the birth, the banner over the lobby of Lakeshore Memorial said THE FARRAGUT WING in tall blue letters.

Elsie stood under it in a pale green dress, with Wyatt on her shoulder and Nora in Darius's arms.

The lobby was full.

The nurses stood in a row in clean scrubs, and the old man from 3B had worn his good hat.

The mother from bed three held her own son.

The orderly who had wheeled Elsie up that night stood beside her.

The charge nurse who had once asked for a card was now the director of the women's floor.

She held the ribbon.

Arthur sat in the front in a wheelchair with a plaid rug across his knees.

His right hand still lay in his lap, but his left was raised, and it trembled with pride.

"Say a few words," Darius murmured.

"I hate speeches."

"You gave one on these steps."

"That one I was angry for."

She stepped up to the little podium.

"Five months ago I was wheeled into this building with no one," she said.

"A nurse called for my family, and the hall stayed quiet."

The lobby went still.

"I was lucky. I had one number I hadn't dialed in six years."

She did not look at Darius, because she would not have gotten through the next line.

"This wing is for the women who don't have the number."

"Every room on this floor has a nurse, a volunteer, and a phone on the wall. If nobody comes, someone does."

She nodded to the charge nurse, who cut the ribbon.

The doors were opened.

The first room inside was long and bright, with four beds in a row.

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