They sat there for a moment quietly, unsure of what to say after so long an absence. Both felt rather unfamiliar with one another, as though they’d once been friends long ago, but the memory was hard to recall.
After a few seconds of preparation, Marcelle finally got the courage to say something she’d been trying to get off her chest since she’d arrived.
“I have something to tell you, Ellie,” she said unsurely.
“Yes?”
“I... well…” Marcelle stammered with a rather excited expression. She didn’t finish what she’d been saying but instead began removing her gloves. First came off that of the right hand. And then, she glanced back up at Ellie and slipped off the remaining glove.
A large, exquisite, princess cut, diamond ring sat upon her ring finger. And it was obvious from first glance that few men could afford such a ring, so the one that gave it to Marcelle Marquis must have been extremely wealthy. Marcelle was beaming, yet her face was slightly apprehensive as she waited for Ellie to speak.
Finally, after a long hesitation, she did:
“Is... Is that a...” Ellie began, but she just couldn’t get the words out.
Marcelle finished for her, “Yes. It’s an engagement ring. I’m getting married, Ellie!”
If Ellie hadn’t been weak and sick in bed, they would have hugged at that moment, but as it was, such a thing wasn’t possible, and so, Marcelle stood and wrapped her arms around Ellie as best she could, and the two girls laughed and smiled.
Marcelle sat cross-legged at the foot of Ellie’s bed and waited for the question she knew Ellie was terribly anxious to get answered.
“Who is he?”
Marcelle blushed, “He’s someone you know.”
“I know? From Hunter’s Ridge?”
Marcelle shook her head, “No.”
“From Donners Bend?”
Marcelle nodded, “Yes.”
Ellie thought a moment, her face quizzical as she searched for possibilities:
“Surely not Jon?”
“No.”
“Jamie?”
“No.”
“Phillip?”
“No.”
Ellie laughed, “Wesley?”
“No.”
“I’m never going to be able to guess. Just tell me, please!” Ellie urged.
Marcelle hugged her knees to her chest like a silly girl and buried her head in them, “Fine, but you’re never going to believe it.”
She glanced up at Ellie, then buried her head back into her knees again and mumbled the much sought-after name: “Benjamin Fanning.”
Ellie gasped, which was not good for her health. She was about to speak in response, but she’d become so excited she began to cough uncontrollably.
“Are you alright?” Marcelle asked, becoming worried, “I’m sorry, it’s my fault for making you so shocked. I should have never told you anything about Ben.”
Ellie, regaining her breath, smiled, “You call him Ben?”
Marcelle shrugged and laughed, “Yes, I call him Ben. So be it.”
“But I don’t understand. You said you hated him. You said he was rude and called you Doltish Dela...”
Marcelle fondly said, “He still does.”
“... and that he was far from attractive.”
“I stick by that statement, and I would consider anyone who chooses to call him handsome a fool.”
“... and you said you hated him with all your heart.”
“I was the fool then.”
“But I just don’t get it. You both hated each other so much that never in a million years did I imagine anything like this would occur.”
“Neither did I,” Marcelle admitted, “But deep down in my heart, though I’d never admit it, I always felt a little something towards him. When I went back to Mt. Lennon after that pie festival so long ago, I couldn’t get him out of my dreams. He ended up coming into town one day - on business, he said. Somehow, he ended up at my door, and before I knew it we’d begun courting in secret. He asked for my hand on New Year’s Day.”
“I can’t believe it, Marcelle!” Ellie exclaimed, as happily as one can in such a condition, “I’m so happy for you! So when will you become Mrs. Marcelle Fanning?”
“We haven’t set a date yet, and I’m not terribly anxious to have one set. I like things just the way they are. No marriage and no children, yet, but a man who loves me and a man I love more than anyone I’ve ever known.”
Marcelle stayed in town a few days at a nearby hotel, the only hotel in Donners Bend. And she brought Benjamin with her several times to visit Ellie. Ellie, though she thought she’d never say it, had never seen such a perfect match. Like it’s been mentioned before, both were terribly conceited, horribly self-centered, and yet completely in love with one another.
Just a few days later, Ellie woke to a different, long-awaited guest. Her eyelids slowly opened, but as soon as she saw him, she closed them again. They weren’t completely closed though. Just enough so that she could still see him through her eyelashes, and yet her eyes appeared shut. Instead of reacting immediately to his presence, she waited and observed him first.
Leaning against the wall near the door, he started to light a cigar, but stopped himself, shaking his head and running a hand through his messy black locks. His face was expressionless, yet Ellie could sense a distress and solemnity he chose not to display.
After a moment of staring out the window at the ever-falling snow, he lifted himself off the wall and sat down in the chair beside Ellie’s bed. With his elbows resting on his knees and his feet on the floor, he lit another cigarette and smoked it a second before, once again, putting it out and shaking his head.
Ellie finally chose to speak:
“Jamie?” she asked in barely more than a whisper.
He forced a smile in return, though he was anything but merry, and replied as pleasantly as he could, “Good morning, beautiful. Get a good rest?”
Ellie gave a nod and feeble smile as her reply, for she knew she wasn’t looking very beautiful at all.
Wearing an old nightdress and covered in quilts and blankets, her body was barely visible. Her hair, tied up on the top of her head, looked quite foolish and silly, and many pieces had fallen out so that it created quite a mess. Pink was her nose, dim were her usually-sparkling hazel eyes; and her entire face was rather dull and lifeless. She was miserable and she looked it.
“How do you feel?” asked Jamie, “Any better?”
“A little,” she shrugged. And then, for a reason she didn’t really know, she asked, “Is Jon still here?”
“No, sorry,” Jamie answered, slightly offended she’d asked for Jon when this was the first time he’d been able to speak to her in weeks. “Just me… but hey, if you want to see Jon, I’d happy to run and get him for you.”
“You don’t need to apologize. Please stay.”
Jamie shrugged, “Suit yourself.”
Ellie giggled for what seemed like the first time in weeks, but Jamie didn’t see it. He’d taken out another cigarette and gone to the window, opening it a crack. Ellie knew he couldn’t go very long without a cigarette sometimes.
“Do you mind?” he asked her, holding up the cigarette.
She shook her head no.
Jamie began to smoke out the window and informed Ellie, “The children miss you a lot. They ask for you every morning. Only Gracie knows what happened. Mom and Pop didn’t want the kids to know, but Gracie must have overheard. She didn’t hear much though. All she knows is that you’re sick. The others have been told you’ve been given a furlough,” he paused before saying simply, “It’s their vocabulary word of the week.”
“Who’s teaching them now?”
“I am, though it wasn’t my father’s idea. He’s quite against it, to tell the truth. I’m their new teacher for the time being, though mother stays home with them some days. They call me Mr. Jame, but I know they’d rather have Ellie than Mr. Jame any day. And at playtime they won’t e
ven play pirates or Peter Pan anymore. They say it’s unfair if I do play, because of the uneven teams, but if I don’t play, it’s boring. They’re miserable as well, I know. They don’t understand why you won’t come see them.”
Ellie frowned sadly, “Tell them not to worry about me. Tell them I’ll be back soon.”
“I will,” Jamie promised.
There was a slight pause before Jamie finally said, “Jon’s awfully worried about you.”
Ellie knew he was right, but she didn’t like to hear the truth anyway. Surprisingly, despite all the time Jon spent at Ellie’s, she hadn’t gotten too many chances to speak with him. She hadn’t spoken very much at all since the accident at the lake.
Ellie gave an uncomfortable smile, “Not too worried, I hope.”
Jamie’s eyebrows rose, “Pretty darn,” he excused himself, “Pretty worried in my opinion. He comes to see you everyday and won’t leave for hours.”
Jamie didn’t mention all the hours he’d also spent at Ellie’s bedside, all the cigarettes he’d smoked out on the front porch, all the hours he’d spent worrying that matched, if not exceeded, those of Jon’s.
We’ve been told of the time Jon spent at Ellie’s, but nothing’s been mentioned of Jamie. The reasons why are simple. Jon was able to spend more time there because Jamie had other responsibilities, such as caring for his siblings, but though he wasn’t with Ellie, he’d been thinking of her all the while. She never left his mind.
Many times when he did come, he chose not to sit in with Ellie in her bedroom for several reasons, so that’s why Ellie never knew he’d been there for her all the time. One, Jon was already almost always with Ellie. Jamie, although there, would feel awkward and like an intruder. Two, the room and Ellie depressed and saddened him; he hated to see her this way: so weak and helpless, and three, Dr. Hughes had told him it would be best if he didn’t smoke near Ellie. So, if he ever did go in to see Ellie, he became stressed, and when he became stressed he wanted to smoke, but he couldn’t.
“Doc says he must feel pretty guilty,” Jamie went on, “Jon says he pressured you into coming skating with him.”
“No, I wanted to come. It’s not his fault,” said Ellie, trying to relieve pressure off her Johnny.
“You’ll have to tell him that, though I don’t know if he’ll believe you.”
“When will he be back?”
“I don’t know. Soon, probably.”
Each time Ellie asked for Jon, it was like a stab in Jamie’s heart. He was slowly becoming convinced something was going on between them, and this just seemed to confirm it all the more.
What he didn’t know was that if one had sat awake by Ellie’s bedside all those days and all those nights she lay ill in bed, and if that person had counted up all the people she asked for, during saneness, a dream, or delirium, they would have found that Jamie was by far the winner, but no one knew this. Not even Ellie, for she’d been out of her right mind during almost all of these pleadings.
Jamie was feeling quite down at that moment. He wondered if he should just go find Jon, since that was what Ellie wanted, but before he could, Ellie said something that made him decide to stay.
“Jamie?”
“Yes?”
“Will you come see me more often?”
He smiled, “If you like.”
“I’d like it very much.”
It was such a simple statement and request, and yet it meant everything to Jamie.
Chapter 20 - Smoking and More Visits
Just as he’d promised her, Jamie came to see Ellie almost every day. It wasn’t much of a change though, since he’d been coming to her house so frequently, lately. The only change was that he now sat in her room with her instead of standing outside on the porch so he wouldn’t disturb her with his smoking; and Jon was eased into leaving the house and letting his worries slowly subside.
Jamie loved to sit in with Ellie, but there was one major problem. Being with Ellie when she was so weak and helpless caused Jamie to become distressed; and when Jamie was distressed, all he wanted more than anything in the world was a soothing cigarette to calm his nerves.
Regardless, Dr. Hughes forbade him from smoking in Ellie’s room. He said it wouldn’t be good for her health, and Jamie, though he thought it was a strange idea that a cigarette could be that bad for someone’s health, obeyed the doctor for Ellie’s sake.
One may say that it wasn’t such a big deal. What are a few hours without a cigarette? For most it wouldn’t be a problem, but for Jamie it was different. It wasn’t quite so easy.
He became fidgety. His hands jittered so much that he’d have to clasp them together and press them down into his lap to keep them unnoticeable to Ellie, and even then, she knew something was wrong as she could see how they’d shake. Not being able to keep still, he’d have to walk back and forth across the room just to calm himself.
The doctor noticed this and became worried that Jamie’s mannerisms would affect Ellie and make her nervous, thinking that Jamie was becoming fidgety because of her worsening condition. After many days of this, Dr. Hughes asked Jamie to come speak with him outside, so Ellie wouldn’t hear.
“Mr. Rhodes, I’m sorry to say this, because I know how much you care about Miss Henderson, but I think it’s best if you made your visits to her less often.”
Jamie was confused. “I don’t understand, Doc. She wants me here. She asked me to stay with her.”
“I understand that, Mr. Rhodes, and I understand that you wish to stay with her, but I don’t think it’s good for her for you to be here right now.”
“And what, you think Jon’s better for her?” Jamie asked angrily, “Is that it? Look, I know what everybody in Donners Bend thinks of me since I came back from Lakewood, and I know that everyone thinks Ellie and Jon make a darn fine match, but she asked me to stay with her, and I don’t understand what would make you want to defy her wishes.”
Dr. Hughes was taken aback, “This has nothing to do with Mr. Smithton. It’s about your smoking habits.”
“What about them? You told me not to smoke near Ellie and I don’t, so what’s the big problem?”
“Although you’ve done a wonderful job obeying what I’ve asked, it’s taken an effect on you, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. You’re jittery, and shaky, and always seem slightly nervous about something. I’m sure Miss Henderson has noticed this and she’ll get the wrong idea. She’ll think you’re nervous because of her condition. She’ll become worried, and worrying isn’t good for her right now.”
Jamie ran a hand through his hair and walked to the edge of the porch, sighing. He turned back to Dr. Hughes and said, “If it’s best for Ellie, I suppose I can come by less often, but I’m not going to stop coming completely.”
“I understand, Mr. Rhodes and I thank you for your consent.”
But just then they heard Ellie calling from inside the house:
“Jamie!” she yelled, “Where are you, Jamie?”
She hadn’t been awake when he left, so when she did wake up, it was to an empty chair, and she immediately became worried.
“I’m right here!” Jamie called, walking quickly back to her room. Dr. Hughes followed at a slower pace and watched from outside the door as Jamie took Ellie’s hand and kissed it assuring, “It’s alright now, darling. Don’t worry.”
“Please don’t leave me, Jamie,” Ellie pleaded, reaching up a weak pale hand to touch the side of his face.
“I won’t, love,” he assured, “I won’t.”
As she slowly drifted back to sleep, Jamie looked up at Dr. Hughes, who was still standing at the doorway. Without words, a silent agreement was made between them as Dr. Hughes realized he couldn’t take Ellie away from the man she wanted most.
Jamie just decided that he’d have to take breaks during the day to have a smoke on the porch, or else he’d just have to do it out the window, because without it he wasn’t himself.
A few days later Jamie finally convinced his mother to le
t the children come to Ellie’s with him. The voices of the young Rhodes children surrounded the dozing Ellie:
“May I sit on the edge of her bed, Jamie?” asked Leah, “I promise not to bounce or wake her.”
“I already told you, Leah, you mustn’t ask such things. If you were ill would you like to wake up to find a silly little girl on your bed?” Jamie replied.
“But I promise I shan’t wake her, Jamie! I promise!”
“Quiet, or you will wake both her and Wes.”
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