Christmas Joy

by Nancy Naigle

  Ruby’s face paled and her lips pulled into a tight line. “I’ve got animals on the farm that need tending to.”

  “I’m sure someone can help.” Dr. Davis glanced in Joy’s direction.

  Shirley had been right all along. This was not going to go the way Ruby had predicted. Joy felt the pressure of Dr. Davis’s gaze. “We’ll find someone to help.”

  “I’m not letting just anyone pussyfoot through my stuff.” Ruby grabbed the bars on the side of the bed, twisting and scooching herself to a seated position, her cast nearly pulling her off the side of the bed like an anchor.

  Dr. Davis stepped back and let her squirm for a moment. “You done fussing? The insurance will cover your stay. Do you have someone who can transport you to the facility?”

  “I’ll take her,” Joy said.

  “Joy, you’ve already missed work. You never miss work. I cannot ask you to do that.”

  “I’m already here. It’s the weekend, besides it’s where I want to be. You let me worry about what I can or can’t do with my time.”

  Dr. Davis lifted Ruby’s cast leg back up onto the bed, then adjusted his coat. “You just keep your focus on getting well so we can have you home by Christmas.”

  “Christmas? That’s nearly three weeks away! I cannot be away from my house for that long. No, sir.”

  “You’ll probably be home well before that. If things are going well, you could be home in just a couple of weeks.”

  “You promise that?” Ruby’s eyebrow arched so high, it practically disappeared from view.

  The doctor let out a breath. “You know I can’t make that promise, but what I can promise is that if you take your role seriously at rehab and follow their instructions, things will go much faster.”

  Ruby shot a worried glance toward Joy. “But there’s not just the animals. It’s the decorating for the big Christmas event and Molly. Molly counts on me. I’ve made commitments. You can’t do all of that. It’s too much.”

  “Aunt Ruby, I am an experienced leader of million-dollar projects. I am sure that I can handle the things you’ve got scheduled.”

  “You’ll miss work.”

  “I’ve got the time on the books to take. I’ll just take it. No problem.”

  “It’s too much.”

  “Give me some credit. You’re my family.” Joy rested her hand on Ruby’s. “I want to do this. Please let me. And if you’re worried it’s all too much, then I’ll talk to Molly’s mom. I’m sure she can make other arrangements until you’re back on your feet. See, one less thing already.”

  “No!” Ruby shot straight up. “I can’t make them feel like they’re a burden. Of all the things on my plate, taking care of Molly is the one thing I can’t let fall by the wayside. I cannot let them down. They count on me as much as you did back when your momma was going through troubled times. She needs the safe haven I can provide.” Ruby’s face flushed, her eyes flashing concern.

  “Okay, okay. Calm down. I can do this. I’ll figure it out.”

  Ruby collapsed back on the pillows. “You’re finally going to take time off, and I won’t even see you.”

  “There’s just no making you happy today, is there? You know they do allow visitors at that kind of rehab, right? I’ll come visit.”

  “You’ll even make some new friends there if I know you, Ruby.” Dr. Davis patted Ruby on the cast leg. “Let’s get that leg elevated on that pillow. That’ll help keep the swelling down.”

  As he helped Ruby get repositioned in bed, Ruby mumbled something about being helpless, but neither Dr. Davis or Joy acknowledged it. Sometimes it was just better that way.

  “So, we have a plan, right?” Dr. Davis asked, looking for agreement.

  Ruby’s frown was so tight, her eyebrows almost touched. “We can’t let Molly down, Joy. You have to promise me. That’s the most important thing I do. Please don’t let them know it’s an inconvenience. It’s important. Their story isn’t mine to share, but trust me … they need my help. Our help. Please.”

  “I promise.” But her mind was already sorting through the tasks. Surely she could run a farm for a couple of weeks, and decorating for the holidays might even turn out to be fun. Even though she hadn’t done it since she was a teen living with Ruby, how hard could it be? But that little girl, Molly, was a whole other story.

  Something in her gut told her that she may have bitten off more than she could chew, because entertaining children was something she had very little experience with except in the controlled environment of market research—with a staff to help.

  Chapter Ten

  It shouldn’t have surprised Joy that when she arrived at the hospital, Ruby was sitting in a wheelchair, waiting. At least she wouldn’t have to park and go inside, but even from the driver’s seat, she could see that Ruby was in a mood. Even the young nurse was standing a good arm’s distance away from her. Poor thing must’ve drawn the short straw.

  Joy sucked in a breath and dashed from the car to help the fear-stricken woman with her aunt.

  “Ready to roll?”

  Ruby flashed her a look of disdain. “Been ready long enough to wonder if you were going to show up or not.”

  The nurse rolled her lips into a sharp line and shook her head. Not that Joy needed a warning.

  The set of Ruby’s chin was a sure sign, and every remark she made from the wheelchair to the front seat of Joy’s car, which Ruby described as a Matchbox, was a grumble. Joy was determined not to argue or try to convince her otherwise. Wouldn’t do any good anyway. She knew, because she had that same stubborn streak.

  With Ruby situated, Joy got behind the wheel and pulled out of the parking lot. She pushed the buttons on the radio until she found a channel playing holiday music. At least if Ruby were singing, she’d have to wipe that frown off her face.

  But even the joyous sounds of the music and familiar melodies weren’t enough to soften Ruby’s mood. That made for the longest hour’s drive Joy’d ever had to make. D.C. traffic on a Friday afternoon was better than this.

  Crystal Falls faded in her rearview mirror, and Joy had to admit the scenery was beautiful. The route traversed fields stripped of their latest crops, open and clear. The autumn leaves had abandoned the trees, leaving them bare and ready to brave the icy temperatures that winter promised would arrive soon.

  Houses were few and far between down this stretch of road, but as the speed limit dropped from 55 to 35 mph, the next town vamped red and white candy canes from every lamppost. A cop sat at the edge of town, running radar. Pulling someone over would have somehow seemed wrong here at the holidays, but since he was sporting a wreath on the front of the patrol car, maybe that made up for it a little.

  She didn’t dare go even the unwritten five miles over the speed limit. She may have been gone from this area for a long time, but she still remembered the jokes about the tickets that funded small towns around here.

  A slightly cocky feeling teased a smile on Joy’s lips as she cruised past the policeman, and began to accelerate toward the increased speed limit sign ahead. Falalala-lala-la-la.

  Finally the Dixon County Rehabilitation Center came into view. Set on acreage as lush and beautiful as an exclusive country club golf course, the building, all steel and blue glass, gleamed in the sunlight. “Wow. This place is swanky.”

  Ruby bunched her lips. “Pretty isn’t everything. At least our little hospital has heart. I would rather have been there. Close to home.”

  “I know, but if this will get you on your feet faster, it’ll be worth it, and I’ll visit or call every day.”

  “I’m a big girl. You don’t have to make this drive every day. You’re doing enough just holding down things at the house for me. I don’t want to be a pain in your—”

  “Don’t be silly. I just wish I’d come to visit before you needed me.” Joy felt the guilt catch in her throat, a sudden surge of sadness that caught her off guard. She’d been selfish, and she didn’t like that about herself.

&n
bsp; Joy pulled the car to a stop in the circle drive in front of a set of double doors. REGISTRATION had been chiseled into the stonelike structure. A high-end touch for a small town. The covered entry protected them from the wind and weather, and benches graced the extra-wide sidewalk.

  A blue-haired team of three women swarmed out like a welcome committee. Each wore hot pink scrubs with fancy silver script embroidered across their left pocket tagging them as volunteers. Bright white sneakers on their feet, they scurried and scampered around the car like a NASCAR pit crew. One greeted Joy and asked for any luggage the patient might have while the other two opened Ruby’s door and started urging her toward the wheelchair.

  “I’m quite able,” Ruby said in response to their fussing.

  “Of course you are, but we have a job to do. Come on, just make us look good.”

  Joy respected their efforts. They acted as if Ruby were the sweetest little old woman they’d ever met. If the team of blue-haired volunteers were able to get Ruby out of the bitter mood she was in, Joy’d owe them more than a thank-you.

  Ruby folded her hands in her lap and let the two women whisk her inside. The volunteer who’d taken Ruby’s bag was already checking things off her clipboard and barking orders to the other two. “She’s prechecked from Bridgewater Regional.”

  Ruby twisted in the chair, panic flickering in her eyes.

  Joy couldn’t help but feel sorry for her aunt. Joy double-stepped to keep up with the gray-haired welcome committee. “I’m right here,” she said, hoping to reassure her.

  Dixon County Rehabilitation Center was lovely, all right, but Ruby had a point. It wasn’t as inviting as Bridgewater Regional. The Christmas tree in the lobby here wasn’t real. No, it was one of those metal jobs with all the LED lights, and there were Kwanzaa ornaments, dreidels, and huge vertical boxcar-shaped ornaments representing Christmases around the world—FELIZ NAVIDAD, JOYEUX NOËL, FROHE WEIHNACHTEN, and in more than a dozen languages that she couldn’t decipher.

  The holiday tree fairly represented every religion and language Joy could think of, and a few she couldn’t figure out. But at least they’d tried to be sure they’d included everyone. It was almost like a little history lesson in celebrations around the world.

  The old blue-hairs stopped at the nurses’ station and put another plastic bracelet on Ruby’s left arm.

  “What’s your birth date?”

  “The same as it was the other four times you asked.” Ruby stirred uneasily in the chair. “July 26. For heaven’s sake. Can you write it down? I’m tired of saying it.” Ruby shook her wrist in the air. “And I’m quite dang sure it’s on all three of these bracelets you insist on me wearing.” She glanced at the most recent addition. A bright yellow one. “‘Fall Risk’? I haven’t fallen, and I don’t plan to.”

  “Well, then, how’d you break your leg?” asked the tallest of the volunteers.

  Oh, that woman had no idea the hornet’s nest she was poking. That volunteer had “pot-stirrer” written all over her.

  Ruby settled her gaze on the woman, her eyes piercing and dark. “That was an accident, and none of your business.”

  But the crew wasn’t to be waylaid. One woman lifted the brakes from the wheelchair and whisked Ruby toward the door as another punched in the code activating the automatic doors. They whisked her through the halls at the speed of a race car driver on his last lap.

  Finally they parked Ruby in a private waiting room. The instigator wagged a finger toward Ruby. “As soon as you get in your room, you’re going to want to get changed into your tennis shoes and sweats. Physical therapy starts at the top of the hour.” The woman spun around and walked off before Ruby could respond.

  Joy had to admire the woman’s tenacity.

  “Are you sure you haven’t dumped me off at boot camp?” Ruby’s head hung like she’d been put through the wringer, and they hadn’t even been there fifteen minutes.

  “It’ll be fine. I packed your shoes and sweats. I’ll help you get changed.”

  “This is really embarrassing. And how did you know to bring those things?”

  “The nurse told me last night when I was leaving that you’d need those for rehab. I stopped at the store and bought you some.”

  “I’ll pay you back.”

  “Don’t be silly. It was nothing.”

  “Why do they want me to have a pair of shoes? I can’t wear but one of them.”

  She had a point. But the sneakers were the least of their worries, because getting Ruby into the sweats with that cast was a bigger challenge than she’d considered.

  “Everyone ready?” A petite brunette nurse came into the waiting room. “You must be Ruby Johnson. I’m Carolyn. I’ll be your nurse while you’re here with us. How are we doing?”

  “You seem to be doing just fine,” Ruby said.

  “Can I call you Ruby?”

  Ruby nodded, but didn’t offer anything else in the way of niceties.

  So, it was going to be that kind of day. “I’m her niece, Joy,” she said, standing to shake the nurse’s hand. “I thought we were doing okay, but I think we’re going to need some scissors to cut the seam of the sweatpants I bought. I wasn’t thinking about the cast when I bought them, and they have elastic at the ankles.”

  Carolyn laughed. “You’d think they’d make those casts smaller, wouldn’t you? How much do you think that thing weighs, Miss Ruby?”

  “A ton.”

  “I’m with you on that. Rather than tear up those new sweats, why don’t I just let you wear a pair of these loose-fitting pants we have? They’re gonna be a little long on you, but I’m an expert hem roller. You’re a little gal like me. We short girls are always underestimated, aren’t we?”

  “You got that right,” Ruby said.

  “Hopefully we’ll get you up and moving around in no time. Maybe they’ll get you in a soft cast soon, so you can wear some of your own clothes. That always makes our patients feel better.”

  The deep lines in Ruby’s face eased a bit. “I think I’m going to like you, Carolyn.”

  “Well, thank you, Miss Ruby.” Carolyn gave a quick wink in Joy’s direction. “I already do like you.”

  The nurse was so short that she looked about sixteen years old, but Ruby had taken to the girl immediately. A good sign.

  Carolyn pushed the wheelchair as Joy followed alongside. “Now, let’s get you settled in to your room, Miss Ruby. We already have a physical therapy session set up for you this afternoon, and we don’t want you to miss that.”

  “You make it sound like an afternoon tea.”

  Carolyn’s soft laugh was reminiscent of wind chimes. Soft, but it grabbed your attention, and made you want to hear more of it. “Not exactly as pleasant as an afternoon tea, but if you give it one hundred percent, then I’ll make you a cup of my favorite tea myself. From my private stash. Is that a deal?”

  “Sounds delightful.” Ruby reached her hand from her lap to her shoulder and patted the nurse’s hand.

  “Here we are. Room 142.” Carolyn spun and backed the wheelchair into the room and in one half twirl had Ruby right next to the bed. “Home away from home.”

  “This is nice.”

  “It really is,” Joy said. “Bright and cheerful. Look, they even have colored sheets.”

  “We do our best to make you comfortable while you’re here. I’m going to let you girls get settled. I’ll be right back with your palazzo pants, Miss Ruby.” Carolyn moved quickly on polka-dotted clogs that probably added at least two inches to her height, yet she was still short.

  Taking advantage of Ruby’s mood shift, Joy tried to strike up a conversation before Ruby could grumble again. “I love that they have a Christmas tree up in the lobby. Very modern. Suits the building, don’t you think? I bet it would be fun to do a modern tree like that.”

  “Don’t you go getting any ideas like that for our trees. I have a whole plan for the holiday decor. I get five trees every year. Everything is mapped out. Just follow
the plan, and it will be perfect.”

  “Sometimes something a little out of the box can be fun.”

  Ruby shot her a glare. “Don’t make it more complicated than it is. You’re doing enough already. Besides, my Handy Andy knows exactly where everything is and where it goes. Shirley is going to have him come and help you out.”

  “She mentioned something when she stopped by the first night I was here. I told her I don’t need anyone’s help.”

  “Well, don’t you be stubborn.”

  Joy raised a brow. Who was Ruby to call her stubborn?

  Thankfully, Carolyn came back in before Joy could say something she’d regret.

  “Ready to suit up?” Carolyn had Ruby changed in record time.

  “You actually look rather stylish,” Carolyn said as she stepped back, admiring her handiwork.

  “Thank you, dear.”

  A tall man with Italian good looks walked into the room, pushing a wheelchair. Joy couldn’t help but notice that the man’s arms were so thick that his short sleeves pinched at his biceps.

  “Ready, young lady?”

  “Me?” Ruby asked.

  “Yes, ma’am. The cast is a giveaway. I think that makes you all mine.”

  “Flirty, aren’t you?”

  “And you’re a feisty ol’ gal. You put half that attitude into your workouts, and you’ll be home by Christmas.”

  “Dang right, I’ll be home by Christmas. I don’t even want to be here now.” She moved to the chair. “I’m no slacker. I’ll be just fine. Don’t even need this place, if you ask me.”

  “You’re going to hurt Johnny’s feelings,” the behemoth of a nurse said with an exaggerated pout.

  Ruby wagged a finger. “You always talk about yourself in third person? That’s a little creepy, you know.”

  Johnny tossed his head back, looking ready for the challenge. “Oh yeah. We’re gonna get along just fine.”

  “How old are you?” she asked.

  “Too young for you.”

  She eyed him. “You single?”

  “Why? You interested?”

  Ruby’s mood finally broke down. “No sir, but my wonderful niece here is single, and isn’t she beautiful? Smart too. Big wheel at a big market research firm.”