Chapter 2

 

It was rare that she would take a cab instead of the train, but when she did take the cab, it was a nice quick trip, exiting almost.  This cab ride was one of the longest of Delilah's life.  Between her eagerness to get to her interview on time, and the mounting silence, as fond of it as she was, drew the ten minute car ride out into what felt like an hour.  When she finally arrived at the hospital, she slipped the driver the twenty dollar fee and jumped out of the cab, and was welcomed by the screeching go an arriving ambulance's siren.  She looked around quickly for the entrance but she couldn't find one.  She looked around some more, slower this time incase in her eagerness she had missed it, but found nothing. 'How can you have a hospital without an entrance?  This is so messed up!'  She thought to herself, becoming frantic.  Somehow finding new resolve, she decided to follow the ambulance that had arrived a minute earlier.  'Well, if there was an ambulance, then there is most likely someone bleeding.  Where there are people bleeding there are doctors, and the doctors are indoors.  So that means the bleeders much have a way to enter, so there has to be a door somewhere!'  She rationalized in her head, trying to evaluate the situation with her own insanity.

Following her plan, she ran in the direction she had seen the ambulance heading a moment ago.  As she rounded the corner into the parking garage, red flashing lights danced on the ceiling and caught her eye.  She started running again in their direction, and caught up with the ambulance, it was unloading a car crash victim and his family.  Having fleeting regard for the injured, she flew towards the automatic door, pushing the stretcher out of her way and slightly off course.  The bright florescent lights, combined with the sterile white walls burned here eyes, so much so that she had to squint in order to see.  She made her way thought the crowded ER, to the nurse's station, where she plopped down her papers. She tried not to look around to much for fear of seeing some gruesomely disfigured patient; she didn’t need to have a wave of dizziness.

"Is this the floor that Personnel is on?" she asked to the collection of bustling nurses.  One large black lady responded.  She turned around to face Delilah, peering over her glasses which were seated nicely on the bridge of her nose, her right eyebrow raised.

"Honey, you are farther from personnel then I could even begin to tell you.” She said, turning back around.  Delilah's shoulders slumped, her head hung.  She rolled her head upright again, and spoke.

"Well then can you tell me where it is?"

"Excuse me, don't you go giving me any lip.  It's ain't my fault you don't know nothin'." The woman said defensively, turning back around.  Her eyes met Delilah's and they looked as if there were little flames of rage flickering in her pupils.  Taking a deep breath and releasing any sort of emotion from her voice that might be misconstrued, Delilah began to rephrase.

"I apologize, I have had a difficult morning and I am a little bit stressed, so please excuse my disrespect.  I..."

"Follow the red line on the wall until you hit the elevator.  Then go to the sixth floor and make a right.  Continue to the end of the hall and you will she a sign directing you from there."  The woman cut her off, with the proper route.  When she was finished, she game a flick of her hand, dismissing Delilah.

"Thank you!" Delilah was off down the corridor, following the red line as directed.  'I feel like I should be in a really bad knock-off of the Wizard of Oz,' she thought to herself, coming to the end of the hallway.  She looked left and right.  The line went both ways. Are you serious?  She gave me bad directions?  On purpose?  My god!

She put out her thumb and forefinger on each hand in front of her, and looked to see which made the shape of an 'L', in order to decide which way was left.  Ever since she was little, she could never remember which way was left for any length of time, and she had been using the little trick ever since her mother showed it to her in the 2nd grade.  She turned down the hall to the left and sped on her way.  After zigzagging through loads of whizzing gurneys and doctors, she spotted the end of the hall, and to her relief, the elevator.  She began to move twice as fast and pushed her way though anyone in her way.  Delilah dove towards the elevator as the door opened.  She swung herself around to face the metallic button panel and pressed the button for the sixth floor.  When the door closed shut, she heaved a sign, falling back against the far wall of the elevator, the metal hand rail cold and soothing against her back. 

 The elevator began to hiss as it pulled past a few floor, then it stopped.  It dropped a little, making Delilah's stomach rise to her throat at bit then, it continued upward.  "That is the last thing I need toady, the frickin' elevator breaking down.  Now wouldn't that be impressive A potential secretary being late for her interview.  They probably think I'm unorganized, and that isn't a good attribute for a secretary now is it?  Better yet, they probably thought I decided not to show up.  Ugh, my god, why is it always me?" Delilah rambled on to herself, sliding down the side of the elevator to the floor, scrunching up into a fetal position.  She laid her forehead onto her knees and the elevator lurched again, but it wasn't on the fritz this time.  She heard the door slide open, and Delilah jumped to her feet and saw a woman carrying a fairly large plant step into the elevator.  Delilah tried to catch a glimpse of her face, but found her face hidden behind the portable foliage.  Of what she could make out, she saw that she was tall, and had long blonde hair.  She was wearing a very flowey, knee length, earth green skirt 

"Could you be a dear and press the eighth floor button for me?  Thanks." said a voice from behind the foliage.

"Uh...sure..." Delilah said, reaching over and pressing the button.  She looked at the women out of the corner of her eye, she seemed to be tiring.  "Hey, do you want some help with that?" Delilah asked her, feeling guilty that she had to carry this all herself.

"Oh, what a doll, thanks very much." The woman replied from behind the plant.  She worked one of her hands loose from the tangle of fingers that supported the plant.  "Here, would you mind holding the Dracaena?" She said as she handed the pot to her.

"Uh...Sure...” Delilah said, taking the plant.  Delilah looked over at the woman and paused.  She must have caught Delilah staring because she commented on it.

"What dear, do I have a bit of jam on my mouth?  I knew ­I should never eat those blasted peanut butter sandwiches, I always manage to make a mess off myself.  The problem is I can never remember not to eat them.  Wouldn't it be awful if I had some terrible allergy towards peanuts, I would have quite a predicament now wouldn't I?"

"Oh no, It's just you look like a female version of someone I knew from back home in Alabama.  It's been a while since I've been home, so it's probably just a coincidence."

"Well, I hope this person was attractive, otherwise I might have to take offense."

"Oh, ha, well I guess you could say he was." Delilah said, trailing off at the end of her sentence, the thought back to her childhood and one person kept coming to mind.  He was sure hard to forget.

"Well I'm Andy Wood, I do Wildlife rescues down in Texas.  You see, old Pop's had another heart attack, never could quite get him away from those steaks, no matter how much the doctors warned him, no sir.  I had to hustle myself up here last night when I found out."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, I hope he is alright."

"Ah, who knows the old man's about due to be called back up to the Lord any day now anyhow. No use getting all emotional about it.  All I'm worried about is how those blessed angels are going to manage to drag his fat a*s up to heaven.  They might as well just drop him into the depths of Hell, god forbid.  Hey, who knows, he might sweat off a few hundred pounds, could do him some good."

Delilah was thrown off by Andy’s, to say the least, original outlook on life, but even more so by how familiar she seemed, although she was in-fact a complete stranger.  She was caught staring again.

"Well what is it then.  What is so completely fascinating about me?  I mean I know I am absolutely gorgeous, but it's not polite to stare dear."

"Oh I'm sorry, I just..."  The elevator lurched, sending Delilah stumbling a few steps.

" 'ey, watch the plant!  Without that there'll be nothing to cheer Pops up.  On second thought, he never actually liked anything plantlike, but that’s all they had in the hospital gift shop.  Never mind, go ahead and drop it."

The lights in the elevator flickered and a screeching sound came from outside the metal walls of the elevator.  The sound stopped with a loud thud.  The lights flickered a bit more, and then shut off.

"Are you serious?  Are you serious! Why?  Why do you hate me God?  Please just tell me now, it will make things just all that easier." Delilah said, outraged and hopeless, on the verge of tears.  She slid onto the floor, feet outstretched in front of her, plant resting between her thighs.  Her head hit against the cold, metallic back wall, and she closed her eyes.

"Well this is exciting now isn't it?" Andy said, excitedly, like a little kid on a new adventure.  Delilah rolled her head towards Andy and opened her eyes.  There she was, smiling and looking around, examining the newly darkened elevator, as if she was looking at it for the first time.  How can anyone be that cheery?  Like really, the elevator broke down!  Seriously, who smiles like that when they are trapped in something similar to a metal sarcophagus?  I've known her for what, three minutes? She is already annoying. She thought to herself, giving Andy a look of disbelief.  She rolled her head back and re-shut her eyes.  Why does this always happen to me?