Chapter 4
Grim hated hospitals. He hated the way they looked; straight and bland and fluorescent bright. He hated the way they smelled; pine and bleach on top, piss, s**t, and human rot beneath. If dread had a scent, it would be Orofino Municipal.
Grim felt for the girl, but he wished like hell he hadn’t come.
The people were the worst, not the doctors and staff, the visitors. So much anger and pain. The patients he ignored as best he could. It was easier if he could think of them as non-people; fixtures, inventory, diseased merchandise. If he could ignore their discomfort he wouldn’t empathize as much. Empathy was misery.
Danny had been gone a long time. He was with the doctor.
The ER was busy with injured from the car wreck, but the waiting room was nearly deserted. An old
