Read Godspeed for Free Online

step.
    I had to listen for a moment before I knew what she was talking about. I had become so used to it, that awful lung-collapsing cough.
    "It's Mr. Enderton," I said. "He always sounds like that when he first gets up. I think it's the cold air. It gets to him."
    The front bedroom, looking out over the lake, did not benefit much from the house's heating. It was always freezing in winter. I hadn't said anything to Mother, but as the weather became colder and colder, my objections to sleeping in the guest room were less and less.
    "I'll tell Mother you're here," I went on. But before I could stop her, Doctor Eileen was stumping up the stairs behind me, her mug of tea still in her hand.
    "I'm going to take a look at him," she said. She reached the top of the stairs, set her mug on the landing rail, and started toward the guest bedroom.
    "Not that way." I grabbed her sleeve. "He's in my room."
    That earned a quick, questioning look, then she had turned and was moving to bang on Paddy Enderton's door.
    "Who is it?" The coughing had stopped for the moment, but his voice was a husky croak.
    "This is Doctor Xavier. I'd like to take a look at you."
    "I don't want no doctor." But the lock was being turned, and after a couple of seconds the door opened. Paddy Enderton peered out. He looked even worse than usual, face pale as chalk but eyes bloodshot and lips purple-red.
    He glared at Doctor Eileen. "I don't want no doctor," he repeated, but then he started to cough again, in a fit that doubled him over and left him groping at the wall to support himself.
    Doctor Eileen took the opportunity to advance into the room. "You may not want a doctor, but you need one. Sit down, and I'll examine you."
    "No, damn it, you won't." Enderton was recovering from his attack and straightening up. He knotted his fists. "I'm doing fine, and I don't want any old woman in here, doctor or not. Get the hell out."
    His eyes flicked across the room, and I followed his glance. The big box that usually sat closed and locked had been opened, and a lattice of dark-blue tubes and bars stood next to the window. Enderton took a step to the right, so that his body was between Doctor Eileen and the blue structure, then he slowly moved closer to her. "Out of my room."
    She stood her ground. "I can't examine a man who refuses to be looked at. But I'll tell you this. The weather here is going to get colder and colder for the next four months, and if you don't seek medical treatment you're going to be flat on your back before spring arrives. And that's not the worst that might happen to you."
    He grunted, deep in his chest, and shook his tangled bird's-nest of dirty hair. "I won't be here for any four months. And you don't know the worst that could happen to me. How I feel is my business. Get out of here."
    "Molly Hara knows how to get in touch with me if you need me," said Doctor Eileen, as she turned and urged me back through the doorway. "Only make that when you need me. If you've not spent a winter by Lake Sheelin, you have an experience coming to you."
    The door slammed behind us. The lock went into position, violently. And before either Doctor Eileen or I could say a word to each other, Mother came hurrying along the landing.
    "You've hit a new low, Molly," Doctor Eileen said, byway of a greeting. It was as though the two of them were continuing a conversation from an hour before, but Mother just laughed and said, "With that one? Never in this world—or any other. Come on in, and bring your tea with you."
    They went straight into Mother's room and closed the door, leaving me alone on the landing.
    I could have gone downstairs, and back out into the snow. If it hadn't been for Paddy Enderton, I probably would have done. But his face had been full of anger, and I was afraid that he would follow me outside and blame me for telling Doctor Eileen that he was there. I didn't want to be alone with him.
    I sneaked into my bedroom, the one that used to be the guest room, and