Regrets

Just as Herbert and Laura Dell were about to leave Sue's room, they heard a loud frustrated groan behind them. Laura Dell held her breath as she turned and saw Dr. Feinman staring at the poles that held up the mist netting. His brows were furrowed and his face was slowly beginning to redden. Laura Dell released her breath and took another one as she padded back towards Dr. Feinman.

"Is everything okay? I know the poles stick out a little bit, but it shouldn't be long before we are able to catch the bird. Hopefully we'll have him before the museum even--"

"Well that had better be the case Miss Dell," Dr Feinman interrupted, "because I cannot have these poles in the way of all my exhibits. If the little troublemaker is not caught and disposed of by opening today, we will have some major problems." At that, Dr. Feinman turned and stomped back towards his office.

Laura Dell's eyes brimmed with tears when she saw that her watch said it was only a half hour until the museum opened. Herbert came up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "What happened? We'll get him."

"If we don't get him in the next half hour and have all the nets cleaned up and put away, I think I'll lose my job." Laura Dell had still not turned back towards Herbert so when a single tear spilled onto her cheek she moved fast to wipe it away before she faced him, shaking his hand off of her shoulder. "Let's get going," she said, a new determination in her voice.

The carefee feeling she had had only a few minutes before had dissipated and she strode towards the door without stopping to link her arm through Herbert's as she had before. "Hold on a minute," she said without looking back. The janitor's closet was still unlocked and she picked up a couple of walkie-talkies she had seen earlier that morning. She turned the knobs to make sure they both worked and went back to Herbert.

"Looks like we don't really have time for team hide-and-seek, so you take this walkie-talkie and I'll have the other. We can split up and let the other know if--when--we find him," Laura Dell said.

Herbert nodded to Laura Dell and his smiling eyes became serious. "You go to the food court and I'll check the nearby rooms; he usually likes to stay close to Sue. Laura Dell? We'll find him."

This time it was Laura Dell's turn to nod. Her jaw was set as she spun and began half-jogging towards the food court, her smart heels rapping against the tile.

When she got to the food court she slipped the device into her pocket and searched the corners of the room with her eyes. "If I were a bird, where would I be?" she asked herself. A janitor was changing the trash bags behind her and replied, "If I were you, I'd ckeck in the hallway you just came from. That's the last place I saw him...and his leavings."

"Oh thank you!" cried Laura Dell as she turned on her heel and raced back towards the hall. Sure enough, she saw signs that the bird had been there, recent signs, and looked once more towards the ceiling. "Oh! Oh no! It's caught!" She shoved her hand into her pocket and in her rush to call Herbert, the walkie-talkie slipped from her fingers and crashed to the floor, sending its two batteries rolling away in opposite directions.

"Damn!" Laura Dell could feel the tears forming behind her eyes, but she willed them to stay back. She fumbled with the batteries for what seemed like minutes but could only have been a few seconds. With a final click, the back of the walkie-talkie was secured, and she pressed the yellow button on the side. "Herbert! Herbert, come to the hall right outside the food court! The bird is already caught in a net here and he won't hold still; I'm afraid he's going to hurt himself!"

Laura Dell stood in the hall, staring up at the struggling and obviously frightened bird. There was nothing she could do. She was not trained to disentangle the poor creature, so all she could do was wait and watch and hope he didn't struggle so much thathe got himself hopelessly tangled.

Thirty seconds ticked off in Laura Dell's head. Forty-five. Fifty. "Herbert, hurry!" she pleaded into the walkie-talkie. At fifty-seven seconds one of the men who had set up the nets earlier came running into the hall carrying a folding chair. He stood on the chair and cut out the portion of the net that had snared the bird. Laura Dell could feel the thuds from her heartbeat in her ears. What time was it? How much longer until opening? She glanced down at her watch and saw that it was 8:52, eight minutes until opening. She had time.

She bent down to see the man's progress on freeing the bird. "I think he hurt his foot pretty badly when he got caught," the man said, still cutting the delicate nylon strands with his knife. "If he hadn't squirmed around so--much, he would have--been fine, but--I don't know how--he'll manage with his foot--twisted up like--that. I guess he's just--not used--to being trapped," he continued, breaking his sentence with every cut of the net. "There."

The bird chirped a meek thank you and tried to test his newly-freed wings. "Oh no you don't! We're taking you with us little guy; I think you've caused enough trouble around here." The bird chirped again, obviously angry at having been freed from one trap only to be encased in the man's hands immediately after.

"What will happen to him now?"

"Oh, I guess one of us will take him home with us to see if we can fix his leg. If that's not an option, we'll have to have him put down."

The look of anguish on Laura Dell's face prompted the man to add, "I'm sure he'll be back on his feet in no time, though; it's really not as bad as I thought at first." Laura Dell could only nod for the second time in that never ending morning. Any words she might have produced would have gotten caught in her throat, choked down by tears that were sure to come if she tried to speak. The bird's would be just another death that she was powerless to prevent.

Two beeps sounded on her watch, an alert to remind her of the museum's opening. The poles were still up. Three more nets were up in other rooms. She had miessed Dr. Feinman's deadline.

Laura Dell dragged her feet walking back to Feinman's office. She just knew he would be waiting, overjoyed to finally have a good reason to fire her. Since she presumed that this would be her last morning in the museum, she took one last trip around her exhibit and Sue. Leaning against a pole that held up the rope barrier around Sue she said, "Goodbye, Sue. Take care of the place, will you? Make sure no children misbehave, and try to keep Dr. Feinman in line. Don't let him be too mean to whoever takes my spot, or maybe just tell that person not to let a bird in. That should help them hang on for a few months at least."

Footsteps sounded behind her. Laura Dell continued to stare up at Sue instead of turning. The footsteps were slow and timid, not Feinman's demeanor at all, so she felt safe in talking to Herbert without turning. "I think this will be my last day. I didn't get the bird with enough time to take down all the nets. I'm really going to miss this place."

"Miss Dell?" It was Eddie. "Miss Dell I--"

"I'm sorry Eddie, I thought you were Herbert." Just then she whirled around to face him, eyes wide. "Wait, why didn't Herbert come when I called him on the walkie-talkie? I thought he would be there right after that man and that he was just behind because the man was running but Herbert has to use that cane now... Eddie where is he?"

"The ambulance just took him away. He was looking for your bird last we all saw him, and then we heard a kind of cry from Ice Age exhibit, so we thought he had found then bird, only..."

"Only what? What was it Eddie?"

"Only he hadn't found it at all. I'm so sorry Miss Dell--he was just laying on the ground. He might not have as long as he thought. I think it's maybe just been your young presence that's made him feel a little like his old self. They took him to the same hospital..."

Eddie's words trailed off behind Laura Dell because she was already sprinting towards the exit. The only thought in her mind was how she had shaken Herbert's hand off her shoulder. I shouldn't have shaken his arm off. I shouldn't have rejected the comfort he could have given me. I shouldn't have left without taking his arm again. I shouldn't have made us split up. I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have...