Galen looked at Jesse, who nodded.
“Go ahead, Tonio, but remember she’s exhausted from all the excitement.”
The young man dashed across the waiting room to the cubicle. He opened the door carefully and saw an older version of Betty sitting by the bed. He suddenly felt awkward, but he moved near.
“You’re Tony, Tony Hidalgo. Betty has told me so much about you—how smart you are and nice and…”
The petite Japanese woman smiled at Betty.
“She also said you were cute.”
“Mama! Don’t believe her, Tony!”
Betty blushed, whether in anger or at hearing the truth, Tonio couldn’t tell. He was blushing, too.
“Thank you, Mrs. Orth. May I visit with Betty?”
“Yes, by all means. Maybe you can persuade my stubborn daughter that she needs to stay here for treatment.”
Hisayo Orth smiled again at the two young people then made a graceful exit. They sat there in awkward silence for a moment, before they both started to talk at the same time.
“Betty, I … uh … I just wanted to tell you that I’ll be here for you.”
He put his hand over hers and felt the little silver ring on her finger.
“I don’t want you to see me like this, Tony. Besides, it’s not fair. What did I do to deserve this … this blood thing?”
“You didn’t do anything.”
He bent over and kissed her forehead. She started to cry, so he sat there holding her, growing silent again.
“Nancy, I’d like to invite Lem Caddler to stay here when he gets out of the detox unit. He has no place to go. His son burned down the farmhouse, and he can’t live out of his truck.”
She looked proudly at her husband. He never ceased to amaze her with his willingness to help one more person, even someone who had caused him trouble in the past.
“Of course, dear.”
Galen had just entered the room, but he caught the gist of the conversation.
“I see we’re still taking in strays,” he muttered.
Edison placed his tongue in his cheek.
“We did so well with you we figured to make it a habit.”
Galen plopped down in the wing-backed easy chair he had claimed as his own in the living room, his own tongue in cheek as well.
“Glad to have been of service. And, for the record, I do agree with you both. Lem certainly does need a home. He mentioned that a developer wants to buy his farmland. Then he said something else. He wants to live here, like Ben and Miri. Even said he could help with the animals and do other chores. He offered to give the money from the sale of his farm to the trust fund we’ve set up for the Agape Mountain Wildlife Preserve.
“Think we have room for another small cottage?”
Edison and Nancy smiled and nodded.
“Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving,” Nancy said. “The kids will be coming in tonight. Should we still have the big dinner tomorrow with the Douglasses and Ben and Miri? I’ve got everything ready. I just didn’t know, with all that went on yesterday … if we felt up to it.”
“Of course we’ll have Thanksgiving here,” Edison replied. “Having that gunfight at the OK Corral, with our own Doc Holiday shooting up the place, stirs up a man’s appetite. Besides, all the kids will be home.”
Nancy turned to Galen.
“How’s Tonio doing? I haven’t seen much of him lately. He’s always out.”
“He’s spending as much time as possible at the hospital. Betty’s started the first phase of her chemotherapy, and it’s making her pretty miserable.”
Nancy and Edison exchanged glances, and Edison asked the unanswerable question.
“Is she going to make it?”
Galen threw up his hands.
“It’s hard to tell. Based on all the testing and the special chemical markers that we look for as favorable outcome signs, we still don’t know. But I know that Tonio’s just being there is as crucial to her well-being as any treatment we can give her. It’s hard enough being old and creaky and ugly like you, Edison, but can you even imagine what a young adult would be going through with what might be a fatal condition? She’s supposed to have her whole life ahead of her—career, love, marriage maybe—but she’s got to deal with this instead.
“No older person can truly empathize with what she’s experiencing. But a member of her peer group, and one I suspect she loves? Now that’s therapy!”
Edison aimed a set of beady eyes at Galen.
“I resent being called ‘creaky.’”
All three laughed.
“Which reminds me,” Galen added, “how are the kids coming in?”
“Freddie’s driving down from MIT with Lilly and picking up Carmelita at Yale. Then they’ll drive through New York and pick up Fai at Juilliard. I expect we’ll be treated to a typical Freddie arrival.”
Edison grinned.
“Freddie is turning into a real chip off the old block. He’s got his pick of every girl at school, but he seems to be sticking with Lilly.”
“I guess he never got over that kiss at the riverside,” Nancy said, grinning back at him. “Oldest trick in the book: Bat your eyes at the right man and he never forgets.”
“Yeah, that young man thinks he’s got the best girl in the world. Too bad she’s only second-best.”
They clasped hands like school kids.
“What about Carm and Mike? Is he coming in from California?”
“Sure, unless we ring the place with wild horses,” Nancy laughed.
The day passed uneventfully. The frost from the previous evening had remained on the ground, and the weather report predicted light snow for Thanksgiving.
Tonio was the first to arrive home from school. After a brief greeting he headed to his room. The elders saw the worried look on his face, and Galen headed down the corridor. He stood in front of the closed door then gently knocked.
“May I come in, Tonio?”
No reply.
He slowly opened the door. The boy was lying face down on his bed, crying. Galen sat on the edge of the bed.
“The medicine is making her so sick, Tio. And I heard the nurse tell her that she would have to get a wig, because her hair might fall out. I don’t know what to do or what to say to her.”
Galen’s mind flooded with memories of holding Leni and Cathy and of being powerless to help them.
Dear God, if you exist, are you going to make this boy relive my life?
He remained quiet, while Tonio sobbed into his pillow.
The late-afternoon stillness was shattered by the sounds of an automobile approaching the house and sliding to a stop on the gravel in front, accompanied by Wagner’s “Entry of the Gods into Valhalla.”
The kids were home!
“Come on, Tonio, put on a good face. Your brother and sister are here.”
The troubled boy had found restless sleep, but Galen had kept a vigil by his side, overwhelmed by his own dark memories of loss. But now, now was a time to show a more positive face to the world. It was something he hoped the boy would, by necessity, learn to do if he really did want to follow in his tio’s footsteps. Part of the art of medicine is playing Pagliacci, bringing relief to others while appearing rock-like in the presence of personal adversity—empathize, advise, be available despite your own troubles.
Tonio sat up, his face creased from lying on the blanket.
“Go wash up and change into something comfortable and bright. I’ll let them know you’re coming out. Hurry up now.”
Galen’s joints ached, as he shuffled down the corridor and heard the rising cacophony of young adults coming back to the nest. He paused, removed his glasses, and rubbed his eyes then took a deep breath and entered the living room. He wore a smile.
Carmelita rushed up and hugged him.
“Tio,” she scolded, “did you forget to shave?”
She rubbed her hand over the old man’s face and laughed.
He smiled back.
“You’ve go
tten used to the smooth faces of the young men at school, Carm.”
Her blush matched the color of her sweater.
How she had grown and matured, he thought. Only her second year as a linguistics major, and already she was taking graduate-level courses, to the amazement of her professors.
“Tio Galen, you and Tio Eddie and Tia Nancy don’t appear any older,” Freddie joked.
He hung back a bit. Leaning against the living room wall, he presented a casual air, but Galen could see he was taking in everything going on. Gone only a few months his face already had lost some of its youthful innocence.
The world isn’t kind, is it, Freddie? It doesn’t laugh at your jokes and pranks like we did. It bites back at anyone who too aggressively seeks his position in the hierarchy of authority and power.
He looked at the lanky, Latino-handsome young man and smiled once more.
“You’ve matured into quite a man now, haven’t you Freddie. Are you treating Lilly well? How are your grades?”
His face turned pink at the mention of Lilly’s name.
“We’re both acing the grades, Tio.”
He turned toward Nancy.
“Could Lilly come for dinner tomorrow? Her father is away on mission, and her mother and sister are visiting relatives.”
“Certainly, Freddie,” Nancy replied.
Edison agreed. He liked Lilly. Too few young women understood electronics.
Tonio entered the room dressed in jeans and a red-flannel shirt. With sleeves rolled up and his shirt untucked, it gave him a carefree look, Galen thought.
That’s good. He’s learning.
After hugs and handshakes, the three youngsters sat down together.
“We dropped off Fai and Akela on the way up. He said they’d all be over for dinner tomorrow. Can we handle the guests, Tia?” Carmelita asked.
“Of course we can, dear. Why do you think we wanted you all home? Everyone’s going to help.”
She laughed at the look on their faces.
How soon they forget.
“Anything exciting happen here?” Freddie asked.
Tonio started to speak, but then he stopped himself, got up, and left the room.
“What’s eating him?”
The story came out, bit by agonizing bit. The two college kids sat shocked. Carmelita looked at Galen sitting there quietly. She had flinched when Edison told of how Galen had unhesitatingly killed one of the convicts. Then she remembered his unwavering determination that long-ago day on the island. He always did what was necessary, no matter what it took.
Brother and sister rose and asked to be excused. They headed to Tonio’s room and knocked on the door. Carmelita opened it. He was sitting at his desk staring at the wall.
“Little brother, Carm and I would like to go visit your friend with you tonight. Would that be all right?”
Freddie and his sister waited for a reply. They saw their brother’s head nod.
“Then it’s settled. We’ll head over there after dinner. I’m starved,” Freddie added.
Dinner was quiet. Maybe the group was saving up the excitement for the next day’s holiday festivities. Or maybe it was just the comfort of having everyone home again. Long-learned training took hold, as the young people stood up after dinner and helped clear the table. It was like old times, but the elders understood that soon all three would be living their own lives.
Growing independence or not, the three did not forget to pay their respects.
“Tios and Tia, we’re heading over to the hospital with Tonio to visit Betty,” Carmelita said. “Is that all right?”
“Go ahead,” Edison replied. “Give her our love. Just don’t blast that radio down the driveway tonight. Ben and Miri might be sleeping.”
The youngsters used Galen’s physician’s pass to park Freddie’s car near the hospital entrance. They took the elevator to the ninth-floor wing, where the special-pediatric and young-adult cancer patients stayed.
As they walked along the corridor, they saw the children in their multicolored hospital gowns, IV tubes hooked to either arm. Some were able to walk alone, pushing the poles carrying the fluids that were attempting to ward off the spread of disease. Others sat in miniature wheelchair/feeding-chair units, while the nursing staff tried to interest them in games or conversation.
And there were some, their doors open, lying there unmoving, their parents sitting vigil by their beds.
They passed two nurses, eyes wet, pushing a domed cart out of one room while the cleaning crew removed the debris of a failed code. They walked by the guest lounge, door closed, where they saw through the window a haggard man and woman sitting across from a clergyman.
“This is her room.”
Tonio pointed to a door numbered 903. Carmelita stepped forward and held her brothers back.
“You guys wait here. I want to go in first.”
She had brought along a small carrying case. She knocked on the door before opening it. The girl, her face drawn from the effects of the chemotherapy, tried to smile.
“Are you a new doctor?” she asked.
Carmelita approached the bed. She carefully put her hand on the girl’s arm and spoke gently.
“No, I’m Carmelita Hidalgo, Tony’s sister. He and our brother Freddie and I have come to visit you. I thought you might like to freshen up a bit before the guys come in. I brought some makeup with me.”
Betty looked at the beautiful young woman, and female understanding brought a smile to her face. Carmelita opened her case, examined the shades and scents she had packed, and showed Betty what she thought would match her complexion.
Twenty minutes later two very impatient males were admitted to the room, where Carmelita and Betty were talking like two sorority sisters. Tonio looked at Betty and flushed—she was gorgeous!
Freddie nudged his brother.
“I thought I was the only one with an eye for the good-looking ones, little brother. Lucky for you I have Lilly!”
“Come on, Freddie,” Carmelita said. “Let’s leave these two alone for awhile.”
“Call me if you need help, Tonio,” Freddie laughed, as his sister yanked him from the room by his elbow.
“She’s quite amazing, Tony. How did she know what to do?”
“She’s always known, ever since we were kids stranded on that island.”
“She told me about that. You guys really lucked out with the Edisons and Dr. Galen.”
“Yes, we did,” he sighed.
He looked at the bedside table and saw the small music box sitting on it.
“I asked Daddy to bring it in. And, see…” she held up her right hand, “I still have it on.”
He saw the silver friendship ring glowing from the reflected rays of the bedside light. He reached over, took her hand, and touched it to his face. She turned and kissed him.
The door opened and their brother walked out. He went to Carmelita and hugged her.
“Thanks, Carm,” he said, his eyes glistening.
The three rode home in silence.
Just as predicted, light snow spotted the ground on Thanksgiving morning. Galen got up early hoping for a quiet, predawn walk on the mountain. He had tried to maintain his lifetime habit even after closing his office in Northern Virginia and moving to Pennsylvania. The mountain weather here was harsher than the relatively mild climate of the Piedmont Plateau, but he had managed to adapt to it and continue his one concession to exercise.
He put on boots and took his walking stick—no telling if there were ice patches under the snow. Quietly he made his way out the back door and slowly trudged down one of the side trails that wound past the now-frozen, migratory-bird pond.
Wonder if the wolves are up and about.
No, they were smarter than humans. They had enough sense to stay in their den when it was dark and cold. He continued walking, his boots making sharp, crystalline crunches in the shallow snow. The sky was brightening a bit, and the early dawn cast an amber glow over the leafl
ess trees.
There was a strange scent in the air, not just the aromatic smoke from the many wood-burning stoves and fireplaces across the valley below. No, this was something else—something musky and wild!
With that thought he came to a full stop. He looked ahead and saw the large tracks in the fresh snow. These were big—bigger than the wolf paw prints he was used to seeing on the trails. He arrived at the lightly frozen pond and saw the cracks where something had attempted to drink at the edge.
Then he heard the snuffling noise behind him and turned slowly. Urso americansis, a black bear! He stood still, walking stick held tightly at his side.
Weren’t they supposed to be hibernating by now? Maybe not. Even with the snow, it had been a relatively mild autumn.
Suddenly Galen experienced a strangely giddy moment, his thoughts seeming ridiculous and sensible at the same time. He almost wanted to laugh out loud, as he thought about it. Ever since childhood, his nickname had been Berto, and as he grew older others had called him the Bear. Maybe, if the Indians were right, the bear was his totem—his spirit symbol—and it had decided to pay him a visit.
“So, what’s your name, Bear?”
Before he realized it, he had spoken out loud. His voice shook as he said, “Did you know that my nickname is Bear?”
The critter, undisturbed by the ruckus, sat on its backside and watched Galen. It was a full-grown male, about three hundred pounds of muscle. It brought its left front paw up, scratched its muzzle, yawned, and made a noise halfway between a groan and a belch.
“By all the gods that sure sounded like Baloo,” Galen laughed.
Then both turned toward the sound of crunching ice crystals and saw the wolves approaching, the alpha male on point, deciding whether to attack the ursine stranger. The bear rose up on its hind legs, standing at least five feet tall, a deep, rolling growl emanating from its throat.
Another giddy moment hit the old doctor. He raised his arms like Moses spreading the Red Sea and spoke to lupus and urso.
“Stop it, both of you! You will both live here in harmony. There’s plenty of room and food for you all.”
He caught himself.
What the hell am I doing? I’m talking to wolves and bears like that? I must be going senile!
The Legend of Safehaven Page 13