Frozen Stiff by Mary Logue

cheeks were rosy and she had a scarf wrapped around her neck over her uniform. “How long have you been here?”
    “Not that long. I relieved Billy Boy an hour or so ago.”
    “How’s Walker doing today?”
    “I’ve heard him moaning, but I thought I’d wait for you to come and talk to him. Dr. Cornwall came by about an half hour ago and checked all his vitals. She told me he’d stabilized, in fact, I guess he’s doing pretty good, but they’ve got him rather doped up. She said we could talk to him if we kept it short. She still thought he would lose a couple toes for sure and maybe even a finger or two. But not bad for a guy who was nearly frozen to death.”
    Claire tucked her hands under her arms as if she was trying to warm them up. “Every year I forget how cold it can get here. I heard down in some of the coulees it was almost 40 below last night.”
    “My car barely started this morning. Even plugged in.”
    “Well, let’s go see if we can rouse Mr. Walker.”
    Amy followed Claire into the room. Daniel Walker’s face looked like he had been badly burned. Odd how intense cold was similar to fire. Blisters circled his mouth and eyes, his skin was red and cracked open.
    Daniel Walker opened his eyes slowly and painfully. Then he took a moment to focus. He stared at Claire’s face, moved his head slowly to take in Amy, then looked down at their uniforms. He closed his eyes, then pulled them open again.
    He cracked his mouth and whispered some words. Amy couldn’t make out what he was saying.
    Claire leaned in closer and said, “Could you repeat that?”
    He cleared his throat, then asked in a louder, hoarse voice, “What did I do?”
    “Don’t you remember?” Claire asked.
    “I hurt all over. What happened?” His bandaged hand wandered up to his face and he stared at it. “Why is this wrapped up?”
    Amy wondered what Claire would tell him.
    “You nearly froze to death,” Claire said.
    Amy wasn’t surprised by how blunt Claire was. She really liked that about her. She told it like it was. No beating around the bush with her.
    He closed his eyes again.
    Claire looked back at her.
    “Where am I?” he asked without opening his eyes.
    “In the hospital.”
    “How’d I get here?”
    “Your wife found you outside, in the snow.”
    “Where is she?”
    “Sherri’ll be here soon. She’s been here most of the time, but she went to get some sleep.”
    Walker closed his eyes and seemed to drift off, his breathing getting heavy and labored. Claire looked back at Amy and she shrugged. They were just about to leave the room when he jerked awake and his eyes popped open as if he had seen something horrible. “Where am I?”
    Claire leaned in closer to him. “You’re in the hospital. You’re going to be fine. Do you remember what happened to you?”
    He looked around frantically. “I don’t know. This isn’t right. I think I need to be somewhere else.”
    Amy had read that when people are agitated often touching them calms them down. She walked up to the head of his bed and put her hand on his shoulder. Claire was always encouraging her to take the lead in questioning people. Here was her chance. “The doctor said you would be fine.”
    He lifted his wrapped hands as if to show them to her and said, “My hands hurt. Why do my hands hurt?”
    “They were severely frostbitten,” Amy said, looking back at Claire.
    Claire nodded at Amy, motioning for her to continue.
    “Mr. Walker, you were found outside your house yesterday morning. We’re trying to figure out what happened to you New Year’s eve. What do you remember?”
    “At night? I was at the cabin, I think.”
    “Yes,” Amy encouraged him. “That’s where you were found. You’re in Durand right now.”
    “Oh, Durand. Okay. But why am I here?”
    “Your wife found you outside in the snow and called the ambulance. They brought you here.” Amy looked at Claire again. She wasn’t sure how much she should tell him about his