Cottage Creep - Chapter 15
ugu...@nowhere.net
By the time Ron found the local hospital, Tom lay unconscious
against the passenger door. His lifeless body fell outward as Ron
opened it. Catching him in his arms, Ron drug him out of the car, and
half carried, half dragged him into the emergency room. He was met by
two nurses with a wheel chair. They rolled him in at a half run
straight into a room all the while asking questions.
When the question of age came up, they both looked at Ron
incredulously as he told them his brother was 37. "Yes, I know.
That's the problem. He is only 37. Look at his drivers license if
you don't believe me. I just found him like that this afternoon. And
he appears to be getting older by the second. You've got to do
something!" he said excitedly.
"We'll take care of him. Don't worry. We'll let you know
something as soon as we do," one nurse reassured him. "You can wait
out in the waiting room," she added. They ushered him out of the room
and then paged a doctor before returning to the room where his brother
lay.
Ron paced the floor for what seemed an hour before a man in
blue scrubs approached him. "I have examined your brother. He seems
to be stable at the moment. The admitting nurse told me you said your
brother is 37 years old. This man has got to be at least 85, maybe
older."
"I know he looks that way. I don't understand it, but he is
only 37. He has been working a lot, and I think he mentioned being
sick a week or so ago, but I've never heard of anything causing a
person to age like that. What could cause that?" Ron demanded.
"Being around for a long time is the only thing I know of that
can cause old age. There are several things that make a person's eyes
or skin look older than their natural age, but this is total. His
heart is old, his kidneys are old, his liver is old. He's an old man,
through and through. Other than one disease that usually strikes
children, I don't know of anything that can cause that except time.
We should keep him for observation tonight, just to be sure he is
stable. I don't think there is anything else you can do. You may as
well go home and come back in the morning," the doctor informed him.
Shaken, but tired, Ron agreed, and left the hospital. He
returned to the house and entered the front door into a dark room. He
found the couch and slumped into a prone position falling asleep
immediately.