Where the Sun Sets Read Online Free Page A

the
house rules to Josephine. Sister then excused herself, after
witnessing through the rooms only window, an incident out in the
yard. “I will be back shortly. I do not want either of you to leave
this room until I return.” She made eye contact with each girl, and
feeling confident she was heard, left them alone.
    “I saw you in the hall. When I came in today,
I saw you sitting in the hall.” Josephine tried to make polite
conversation. She really had no idea what to say. She sat on her
bed facing Antonia. The two sat, for a time, and listened to each
other breathe. Josephine finally stood and started to unpack her
bag. She chatted while she unpacked about all kinds of things that
were important to her. She really didn’t put any thought into what
she was saying. She was just talking. If Antonia had not been in
the room, the conversation would have pretty much been the same.
Josephine reached for her teddy bear. Toys were not permitted at St
Agnes, but a teddy bear could find safe haven if used for security
purposes. Josephine looked long and hard at her bear then at
Antonia. The bear had been a gift from her father and Josephine
adored it. She held it out to Antonia and said, “Here, take it.”
Antonia just looked up at Josephine. “Take it,” Josephine repeated.
“I want you to have it.”
    Antonia gently took the bear. It was a black
bear with a white star on its chest and a tan muzzle. She didn’t
know what to do with it, so she just let it sit in her lap, gazing
up at her. Josephine sat down next to her. “My dad gave me this
bear, when I was in the hospital. I had to have my tonsils out and
I was really scared. He told me to hold it real tight and it would
make my fears disappear. It works, honest. I hold it at night when
I have nightmares and they just go away.” Antonia looked deep into
Josephine’s eyes. She wanted desperately to believe that nightmares
could be stopped by squeezing this bear. Josephine smiled. “My name
is Josephine but you can call me Joe.”
    Antonia responded. “My name is Antonia, my
mother called me Anthony, you...you could call me Anthony.”
     

Chapter 3
     
    “Here, I grabbed you some coffee.” Jim
Deloryan, Josephine’s secretary, was standing by her side. “Have
they said how she is doing?” Josephine looked at him questioningly.
“Antonia, have they said how she is?” Josephine accepted the coffee
and held it in both hands, trying to absorb the heat from the cup.
She was cold. She did not respond to the question. She just stared
off into space, leaning against the doorjamb of the cubical. Jim
walked over to the nurses’ station and had a brief conversation
with the gentleman behind the counter. He returned to Josephine’s
side and placed his arm around her shoulders, gently nudging her
along. “We can go sit outside. We don’t need to be in here. Let’s
go find a place to sit, OK?” He asked the question, but did not
really require or expect a response. He was not at all comfortable
with all the beeping and dinging, attached to the emergency room
atmosphere.
    Just beyond the emergency room was a waiting
room. Beyond the waiting room was the lobby of the hospital itself.
Friendlier and relaxing in appearance, Jim took Josephine into the
lobby to sit. There were several chairs, a couple sofas and plenty
of magazines and newspapers. It was dark outside as the evening had
arrived. Jim scanned the magazines and newspapers, checking for
anything that might be upsetting to his boss. He found two
questionable prints and grabbed them with the intent of removing
them from the room. Josephine found a chair and dropped down into
it. She was still clutching her cup of coffee with both hands.
    “Are you all right?” Jim asked. Josephine
slowly looked up at him.
    “Um...yeah, yeah just...” She let go of the
thought
    Jim just shook his head. He ran his free hand
across his mouth and chin, thoughtfully. “I’ll be right back. Stay
here.” He turned from the lobby