“Oh Nick. Oh, my baby. Are you all right?”
Nick couldn’t have answered if he’d tried. She had him covered so much he could barely breathe much less talk.
“Now Janice. Get off the boy so we can talk to him.”
Nicole sat back, in fact she rolled her chair as far away from Nick’s bed as she could get. She watched the spectacle as it unwound, knowing it was far from over.
Her dad physically pulled her mom off the bed and set her on her feet beside it.
“Now. Nickolas. Where are your clothes? Are they in that closet?”
Nick shook his head. “I don’t know. I was still groggy when they brought me in here. Why?”
“Why? Well, of course, we’re taking you home so our doctor can see to you. I’ve already told your doctor here that we’re taking you. She had the nerve to tell me no.”
Nicole almost laughed. She would like to meet the doctor who dared to say no to William Fuller. She hoped the doctor would come in now and run them all out of the room.
She looked up at the dry erase board on the wall and saw that his doctor was Stella Martin. She’d been told she was a good doctor.
“Dad. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not hurt bad and besides I came down here to help Nicole because she needs me and I’m not leaving.”
“Yes, you are. You’ll do as I say. You still work for me.”
Nick looked at Nicole and smiled at her then looked back at their dad.
“No, I don’t. I just quit, effective immediately.”
Nicole wished she had a camera to get a photo of her dad’s face. She had never known of anyone telling him no before. Then she realized that was the second time tonight he’d been told no. She almost laughed from joy.
Then her mood fell considerably when she realized that neither one of her parents had looked at her much less acknowledged that she was even in the room. That reinforced all the other reasons for why she was living almost two hundred miles from them.
Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Nicole saw the door open. She looked that way and saw a doctor coming in. She also saw two security guards standing in the hall before the door closed behind the doctor.
“Visiting hours are over and my patient needs his rest. I would like for all of you to leave right now please.”
Well there was Nicole’s answer. Dr. Martin wasn’t about to let their dad pull Nick out of the hospital and drive him all the way to Kansas City.
Nicole wheeled herself over to the side of Nick’s bed. “Goodnight Nick, I’ll stop in on my way to school in the morning.”
With that, she wheeled over to the door and pulled it open wide so her parents could see the security guards standing there.
When her dad saw them, he turned to Nick. “We’ll discuss this in the morning.”
As their dad was going out the door, Nick yelled. “My mind is made up Dad. I will not change it. I need to be out on my own now.”
One of the security guards held the door open for Nicole and she wheeled into the hallway across from Nick’s door.
She watched from her new vantage point as first her dad then her mom left the room. On his way past her, her dad looked down at her. “This was all your doing, wasn’t it? You always could get Nick to do whatever you wanted him to do.”
He kept going down the hallway to the elevator and her mother followed him without even looking at Nicole.
She couldn’t help it. The dam burst. Tears were streaming down her cheeks when Dr. Martin came out of the room. She stopped and kneeled down to Nicole.
“Are you going to be okay Sweetie?”
Nicole looked up at Nick’s doctor but before she could answer, Dr. Martin looked back at the closed door and then back to Nicole. “Your brother is calling you. Why don’t you go on in there Dear but don’t be too long. Okay? He does need his rest.”
The doctor stood and motioned for the security guards to follow her and they all went back down the hallway.
Nicole pushed the door open and slowly made her way to Nick’s bedside.
“Don’t worry about him Laine. It will be just you and me from now on. Go on home and get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She could only nod her head then she turned and left the room.
* * *
When Nicole got off the elevator on the ground floor, she thought her parents might be there to meet her, but they weren’t. Even if she wanted to call them, she couldn’t until she got home. Maybe there’d be a message from them on her phone when she got there.
She drove home without remembering the drive at all. She sure hoped she didn’t run any stop signs or red lights.
When she stopped in the kitchen to check for phone messages, Snowball met her and leaped into her lap.
Disappointment hit her like a slap in the face when she saw that there were no phone messages from either of her parents.
She wheeled into the living room and setting Snowball on the chair arm, pulled herself up into her recliner. The ever-adaptable cat was soon curled up in Nicole’s lap. At least one thing hadn’t changed.
She sat there that way, staring out the window into the darkness beyond, too tired to get up and close the drapes.
After ten minutes of blankness, she felt like there was something she needed to do. She couldn’t think of anything though. She was about as low as she’d ever been since she started recovering from her wounds.
Feeling like the world was caving in on her, she reached in the bag on her wheelchair and pulled out a piece of paper that Shelly had written her home phone number on. She’d told Nicole that if she ever needed to talk to call her.
She looked at the time on the phone next to her chair. Was nine o’clock too late to call? Then she remembered that Shelly lived on a farm and they probably go to bed early.
Finally, she punched the buttons on the phone and called, anyway. If she ever needed to talk to another woman, it was right then. And Shelly had proven to be a good listener before.
Thankfully Shelly answered the phone on the second ring maybe meaning they weren’t in bed yet.
“Shelly, this is Nicole.”
Then she burst into tears and she knew Shelly could hear her.
Nicole couldn’t see through her tears to see what Shelly was saying. She grabbed a tissue from a box on the table behind the phone.
Finally, she could see what Shelly had said and was able to talk again.
“Nicole, what happened? Are you all right?”
“I’m all right Shelly, at least physically.”
She waited until she could control her voice a little better. “You know how I’ve told you that my parents accepted nothing I ever did. They hated it when I went to college in Oklahoma and even more that I went through on the ROTC program and then into the Army. They’ve accepted nothing I ever wanted to do.”
She wiped her eyes again. “It’s like they finally turned their backs on me after I was wounded.”
She was silent for a while and Shelly spoke up. “What happened? Are they there right now?”
“No. Nick told them he was quitting his job with Dad’s firm and moving down here and there was a big fight. My dad said it was all my fault, and they left without hardly talking to me.”
“Oh, you poor dear. What can I do to help?”
Nicole laughed a watery laugh. “You’re doing it right now Shelly. It really helps to talk to someone who knows all about my problems.”
There was silence for a bit then. “Nicole. You’ve been in church two Sundays in a row now. I think you know there’s someone else who knows and cares about you even more than I do.”
Shelly paused and when Nicole said nothing, she went on. “Jesus. He loves you and knows you better than you know yourself.”
Nicole thought about what Shelly was saying and she remembered the sermon Gil had preached Sunday. He’d said basically the same thing but there was something else he’d said. What was it?
Then she remembered what it was. She
needed to accept Christ.
“Shelly, could you help me with the words to say?”
She was glad Shelly knew what she meant and prayed the words she saw on her screen that Shelly was telling her. She closed her eyes after reading the last part then said it aloud.
Peace settled over her so mighty that she’d never known anything like it before.
“Thank you, Shelly. I think I will be all right now.”
“Yes, I know you will be.”
With that, they hung up and Nicole made her way to bed with a feeling she’d never had before. No matter what happened in the morning, she was okay now because she had turned it all over to the Lord.
* * *
Nicole woke early the next morning, but she had surprisingly slept well. In fact, she’d slept better than she had for a week or more. Why? She still had the possibility of a major confrontation with her parents and someone had shot up her house and then shot Nick. But none of that could shake the good feeling she had, the feeling that things were going to work out for her and Nick, no matter what their parents did.
Then when she was fully awake, she remembered the prayer she’d prayed with Shelly on the phone last night. That was it. That had to be why she felt so good this morning.
She even fed Snowball before taking her shower which she usually did afterward.
She had a good breakfast for once. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had pancakes, but they were great. She even shared one with Snowball who didn’t complain at all.
Her good mood continued as she went out to her van and drove off toward the hospital. But it started going down the closer she got to the hospital. Now what? She didn’t think this morning could be any worse than last night. Could it?
She found out when she neared Nick’s hospital room. She met Dr. Martin outside the room.
The doctor looked down at her. “Do you think you can get those two to stop shouting? I will have to call security again if you can’t.”
“I’ll try Doctor.”
She’d been sure the two men would be going at it again this morning. But according to the doctor, they were way too loud. She’d been trying to decide if she should go in or stay out and let them fight it out? She didn’t have a choice anymore.
Besides, she couldn’t let Nick face their dad alone. After all, the fight was hers as much as it was Nick’s, possibly even more so. Would Nick have stood up to their dad and even quit his job if it hadn’t been for the way both their parents treated Nicole?
So, with a set jaw and determination to match, she pushed the door open and set her wheelchair against it. What she saw didn’t surprise her at all. Her mom was standing off in a corner wringing her hands with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Her dad, on the other hand, was standing to his full height and leaning over Nick in his bed. Even without being able to hear them, she knew both of them were shouting and she knew neither one could hear what the other was saying.
There were many things Nicole had picked up in the Army, some good and some not so good. One of them was that she’d learned how to put two fingers in her mouth and whistle loudly.
And that was exactly what she did right then. But the only problem with her whistling that way anymore was that she had no way of knowing how loudly she’d whistled. It must have been loud for both of them closed their mouths and turned to look at her. Good.
“If you two don’t keep it quiet, they’ll call the police, and have you arrested. Nick’s doctor is standing out there right now ready to do just that.”
Nick was facing Nicole so she could tell what he said next, but her dad was facing Nick and therefore away from Nicole.
“I don’t think there’s anything else to say Dad. Number one, I’m not going back home with you and Mom. Number two, I am quitting my job and moving down here. I don’t want to work in your huge company anymore. I just want to do a little now and then just to keep from being bored. I have enough investments of my own to be quite well off without Fuller Investments … or you.”
Nicole could tell her dad was talking now, and she only hoped he was quiet enough that Dr. Martin wouldn’t call the police. She wished she could tell what he was saying and how loudly.
Nick interrupted their dad. “I don’t care about my inheritance. I just said I have enough of my own to live comfortably for a long time. I don’t need it. I can’t speak for Nicole but she’s sitting right there. Why don’t you ask her?”
When her dad turned to look at her, Nicole knew she’d probably not see either him or her mother for a long time if ever. The look he gave her was almost pure hatred. What had she ever done to warrant that? She knew the answer though. First, she was not a boy, and she had lived her life the way she wanted to, not the way he demanded that she do.
“I don’t need anything Dad. I’ve got everything I need or want right here in Crowleyville.” She thought about the rest of the argument between father and son. “And I never said a word to Nick about quitting his job or coming down here.”
There, she’s said it and she felt relieved that it was out there now.
Without taking his eyes off Nicole, her dad growled. “Come Janice. Our children don’t want us in their lives anymore.”
With that, he walked out of the room and her mom followed him with her head down in a submissive posture.
Nicole didn’t realize she had tears streaming down her cheeks until Nick pulled a tissue from a box on his bedside table and handed it to her.
She took her time wiping her eyes then blowing her nose before looking back up at Nick.
“What just happened here Nick?”
He shook his head, looked over at the window but the blinds were shut so he looked back at her.
“I think we’ve both just been disinherited. I hope I didn’t ruin things for you Laine.”
She shook her head causing blond curls to fly across her face then back. She brushed the remaining locks back behind her ear.
“I never really expected to inherit anything from them anyway Nick. I think they wrote me off when I went to college in Oklahoma and for sure when I joined the army. So, I don’t think I will miss out on anything at all.”
Dr. Martin came in then and looked directly at Nicole. “That was some impressive whistle. It did the trick though didn’t it?”
Nicole smiled at the doctor as she went around the bed to check on Nick.
After she finished looking at the wound, she leaned back and smiled at them both. “That wound is healing nicely. You should be able to go home tomorrow.”
Nick looked at Nicole and they both burst out laughing.
“What did I say?”
Nick looked at Nicole then at the doctor. “I don’t have a home anymore. I’m selling my house in KC and moving down here to be with Nicole.”
Dr. Martin looked at Nicole. “Is that good?”
She smiled back at the woman.
“Yes, Dr. Martin, it is fantastic.”
* * *
In the first two hours Wednesday morning, Roger picked up five new clients, three on the phone and two who stopped in. Therefore, the first thing he did when he had a moment to do so was to call Gina. When he told her he wanted her full-time now rather than later, she was excited.
“Oh Roger, God is so good. I was just praying that He would open something up for my husband and me. You see, he was hurt out at the paper mill and has been off work for six months.”
“I’m happy for you then Gina. But if you’d just said something earlier, I would have started you full-time.”
“No, Roger. It’s better this way. Now, you really do need me full-time. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
Roger had barely hung up on that call when his phone rang again. Man, it had been going crazy this morning. This time, it was his sister Shelly.
“Oh, Roger, I just don’t know what to do. Nicole needs us more than ever right now. You know her brother got shot yesterday.”
“Yeah.”
; She kept going. “Well, their parents came and wanted to take him back to Kansas City to a hospital there, but he refused, and they all had a big fight and Nicole is so broken up over it. She needs us now more than ever Roger.”
“Okay, Sis, I agree but what can I do? We barely know each other. If I go to her, she’ll probably chase me off.”
“That’s okay Roger, I’ll think of something and get back to you. I gotta go. Bye.”
He smiled at his sister’s theatrics. She could get so wound up over almost anything. He wondered though if maybe she was right this time and Nicole really did need them. At least she needed someone, and her brother wouldn’t be much good to her for a while.
He was on the phone again with another prospective client when he looked up and saw Gina in his office doorway. She waved at him and pointed at her desk. He nodded, and she disappeared.
Five minutes later when he hung up the phone again, he rose to go fill Gina in on all the new clients when he saw Floyd standing in his doorway.
Without a word, Floyd closed the door and sat in one of the new chairs. His new furniture had been delivered that morning, on top of everything else that had happened.
He could tell Floyd had something important to tell him, so he sat back down in his desk chair and waited.
“Got a match on those fingerprints off the beer bottle from last night.” He smiled. “We were right. The guy was just discharged from a four-year hitch in the Marines.”
Roger remained quiet, knowing Floyd well enough to know that wasn’t the best or the worst of what he had to say.
“And his name is Gary Andrews, and he’s the brother of one of the men killed when Nicole was wounded.”
Roger slammed his fist down on his desktop. “Then he’s got to be the one who shot up Nicole’s house and shot her brother. What are you going to do about it Floyd?”
Floyd shook his head. “Not a thing. Can’t until I can prove something on the guy.” He frowned. “I can’t even find him this morning. He’s not staying in any of the motels in town and there’s too many of them in Springfield to even think about looking there.”
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