Beyond These Hills

by Sandra Robbins

  She glanced at Andrew, and the frightened look on her face made his heart skip a beat. Then her fingers tightened on his, and they raced to see what had happened.

  Chapter 12

  Willie bounded onto the front porch just as Laurel and Andrew rounded the corner of the cabin. Panting for breath, Laurel dashed up the steps with Andrew right behind and came to a stop next to her grandmother, who was bending over Granny.

  Anna held Granny’s limp hand and patted it. “Granny,” she said, “can you hear me?”

  When there was no answer, Anna, her face pale, looked up at Laurel. “I came out to check on her and found her unconscious. I don’t know how long she’s been this way.”

  Andrew eased up beside Laurel. “It can’t have been too long. I talked to her right before I went down to the barn.”

  “How long ago was that?”

  “It couldn’t have been more than five minutes. The rain started just as I got to the barn door.”

  Her grandmother nodded. “So she hasn’t been unconscious long.”

  Laurel grabbed her grandmother’s arm. “What’s the matter with her? She was fine when I left to bring you the beans.”

  Anna bent over Granny and raised one of her eyelids. After staring into her eye for a moment, she released it. “I’m not sure. It could be a stroke or a heart attack or something else. We need to get her inside and onto her bed.” She faced Andrew. “I didn’t know you were here, but I’m glad you are. Can you help me lift her?”

  He shook his head and motioned for them to stand aside. “I’ll pick her up and take her inside. Laurel, you hold the door. Anna, show me where you want to put her.”

  Laurel dashed to the door and held it open. She watched as Andrew slid his arms under Granny and lifted her from the chair as if she was weightless. Her grandmother dashed into the house ahead of Andrew.

  Before he stepped through the door, he tightened his arms around Granny’s still form and stared at Laurel. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his jaw trembled. “I can’t believe how light she is. She’s hardly more than skin and bones.”

  Laurel reached out and caressed the arm of the woman she’d loved all her life. “I love you, Granny,” she whispered, but there was no answer.

  Andrew stepped into the house, and Laurel glanced at Willie before she followed. He had backed up against the railing of the porch and looked as if he was frozen in place. Tears filled his wide eyes and he wiped at his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. “Is Granny gonna die, Laurel?”

  She stretched out her hand and motioned for him to follow. “I don’t know, Willie. Come on inside.”

  He shook his head and sank against the railing further. A tear rolled down his cheek. “I don’t want Granny to die.”

  Laurel walked over to him and put her arm around his shoulders. “Neither do I. We all love her so much. But she would want us to be brave right now and pray for her. I need to see if I can help Nana. Are you coming inside, or would you rather stay out here?”

  Willie’s chin trembled, and he stared past her to the door. “I’ll stay out here. Will you come back and tell me how she is?”

  Laurel squeezed his shoulder and smiled. “I will. Stay right here, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “Okay.”

  Andrew had laid Granny on her bed by the time Laurel arrived at the bedroom door. Her grandmother waited for Andrew to back away before she bent over the supine figure and grasped Granny’s wrist with her fingers. A look of deep concentration settled on Anna’s face, and Laurel knew she was silently counting the beats of Granny’s pulse.

  After what seemed forever, she eased Granny’s arm back down to the bed and caressed the wrinkled hand before she glanced up. Tears sparkled in her eyes. “Her pulse is weak. Did she say anything to either of you about not feeling well?”

  “She said she had a headache, but she dismissed it,” Laurel said.

  “And I noticed her arm and hands were shaking more than usual.” Andrew stared at Anna. “What do you think it is?”

  A worried look shadowed her eyes. “It sounds like it might be a stroke. If it is, I’m not equipped to deal with this. She needs a doctor.”

  Laurel glanced from her mother to Andrew. “Is there anything we can do for her?”

  “There’s a doctor at the CCC camp,” Andrew spoke up. “I can go for him.”

  Nana’s eyes grew large. “That’s right. Do you think he would come here?”

  “I’ll see that he does. It shouldn’t take long for me to go over there and get back.”

  “Then please go.” Anna glanced back down at Granny, and her chest heaved with a stifled sob. “And hurry.”

  “I will.”

  With that Andrew rushed from the room. Laurel followed and watched from the front door as he dashed through the blowing rain, jumped in his car, and roared out of the yard. She stared at the taillights of the car until they disappeared from sight and then looked around for her brother. Willie, his clothes drenched, sat in one of the rockers as if he was oblivious to the rain that blew onto the porch and soaked him.

  Laurel opened the door a few inches and called to him. “Willie, you don’t need to stay out here. Come inside.”

  His head jerked around, and she almost gasped at the frightened gaze in his eyes. He sat up straight and blinked as if he had just noticed her. “How’s Granny?”

  “Andrew’s gone for the doctor. Come on in before you catch a chill out here in this rain.” His hands tightened on the arms of the chair before he reluctantly pushed to his feet and followed Laurel into the house. “Now you get some more clothes on and stay inside while I see if I can help Nana. Okay?”

  He nodded and followed her through the kitchen and down the hallway to the bedroom he stayed in when at their grandmother’s house. Laurel waited until he had entered the room and closed the door before she hurried back to Granny’s bedroom.

  Anna was in the process of cutting Granny’s clothes from her body when Laurel entered the room. Laurel’s heart pricked as her gaze took in the sight in front of her. Andrew had been right. Granny was no more than skin and bones. When had the vital woman she remembered from her childhood succumbed to the ravages of old age? And how could she have been so blind as to not see the changes in a woman she loved so dearly?

  She blinked back tears. “Do you need any help?”

  Her grandmother shook her head. “Not with this. I thought it would be easier to cut her clothes off than try to pull everything over her head.” She dropped a handful of cloth onto the floor. “I do need you to go to the kitchen and bring me a pan of cold water and some cloths. Her skin is hot, and I want to try and cool her down some.”

  “I’ll be right back.” Laurel hurried from the room and returned minutes later with a pan of water.

  “Thank you.” Her grandmother took it from her, wrung the cloth out in the cold water, and began to gently sponge Granny’s body. As her hands worked, she began to croon a hymn. Laurel recognized it as one of Granny’s favorites.

  She inched closer to her grandmother. “Do you think she can hear you?”

  Her grandmother hand’s paused in their work, and she turned to smile at Laurel. “I don’t know, but I hope so.” She reached down and grasped Granny’s hand in hers. “Granny, give my hand a little squeeze if you can hear me.”

  Laurel fastened her gaze on her grandmother’s hand and gasped when Granny’s fingers twitched ever so slightly. “Oh, Nana, she can hear you.”

  Her grandmother leaned over and kissed Granny’s hand before she returned it to a resting position on the bed. She then began sponging Granny’s body again. “Granny, do you remember that day in June forty-one years ago when I came to your house? I was so scared that day, but Uncle Charles told me you would take care of me for the summer. I didn’t know it then, but the summer was only the beginning for us.” She glanced at Laurel. “I jumped out of Uncle Charles’s buggy, and Granny came rushing toward me with her arms stretched out like she’d known me
all my life.”

  “That’s the first day you saw Grandpa too, wasn’t it?’

  Anna smiled. “It was. He was right behind Granny. I didn’t know then how much the two of them would come to mean to me. They changed my life from a strong-willed girl into a woman who let God have control of her life.” She leaned forward and whispered to Granny. “Thank you for all you did for me. You helped me see what God had in store for me.”

  Even though she’d heard the story all her life, Laurel never tired of hearing the account of her grandmother’s first summer in Cades Cove. It always reminded her that she was a result of her grandmother’s decision to stay in the Cove. “But you wanted to go to New York and study nursing, didn’t you?”

  “I did, but God gave me the best teacher in the world right here in this mountain valley. She taught me about helping people and loving them even when they were unlovable. And she taught me that it doesn’t matter where you are if you’re doing God’s will in your life. Sometimes I shudder to think what would have happened to me if I’d gone to New York instead of staying here in this valley. I would have missed all the babies Granny and I delivered and having the best man in the world to love me.” She smiled at Laurel. “And I would have missed having my family that I love so much.”

  Laurel reached down and squeezed Granny’s wrinkled hand. “Granny, Mama has told me so many times how you were always there for her, especially when she and Poppa couldn’t seem to get together. And you’ve done the same for me.” She leaned closer and whispered. “Thank you for telling Andrew to come to the barn to see me today. I don’t know what will happen with us, but you’ve made us realize that we need to at least give each other a chance.”

  Her grandmother’s hands stilled, and she glanced up, her eyes wide. “You and Andrew? I thought you’d agreed not to see each other again.”

  Laurel shrugged. “We had, but we can’t help the fact we have feelings for each other. We have a lot of things to work out, and I have no idea how we’ll do it.”

  “I thought the same thing about your grandfather when I was about your age, but God showed me the way. Put your trust in Him and it will all work out.”

  “Maybe.”

  Anna chuckled and turned her attention back to Granny. “You are quite the matchmaker, Granny. You did it with Simon and me and with Rani and Matthew. Now you’ve taken on Laurel and Andrew. Oh, Granny, what would I ever do without you? I need you when we move out of the Cove. Don’t you dare leave me now.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes, and she bit down on her lip as she continued to sponge Granny’s body. For the next thirty minutes Laurel ran back and forth to the kitchen to bring fresh pans of water to her grandmother. She had just filled another one when she heard Willie yell from the front porch.

  “Laurel, they’re back. Mama and Poppa are coming down the road.”

  She set the pan on the kitchen table and rushed to the door. The rain had stopped, but it still dripped off the edge of the roof. Relief flooded through her at the sight of her father’s truck pulling into the yard. She and Willie were down the steps and running toward the truck before her father could get out. “Poppa, I’m so glad you’re back,” she cried.

  A startled look flashed across his face as she and Willie both threw themselves into his arms. He staggered backward at the force of their weight, but he steadied himself and clutched them in a fierce hug. “What’s the matter? Has something happened?”

  “It’s Granny. Something’s happened to Granny!” Willie wailed.

  “What is it?”

  Laurel jerked her head around at the sound of her mother’s panic-filled voice. Willie pulled away from their father and dived into his mother’s arms just as she walked around the front of the truck.

  Laurel pulled away from her father and faced her mother and grandfather, who were staring at her with a stunned look. “Nana found Granny unconscious in her chair on the front porch. She thinks it may be a stroke or a heart attack. Andrew was here, and he’s gone for the doctor at the CCC camp.”

  Her grandfather’s face paled. “Where’s Anna?”

  “Andrew carried Granny to her bedroom. Nana’s in there with her now.”

  She’d barely finished speaking when her mother and grandfather bolted for the house. A muffled cry of surprise drifted from the room when her grandfather burst through the door. When Laurel entered, her grandparents were standing beside Granny’s bed with their arms wrapped around each other. Her mother was on her knees beside the bed with Granny’s hand in hers. Willie, looking more frightened than she’d ever seen him, stared at Granny from the foot of her bed.

  “Oh, Simon,” Laurel heard her grandmother say, “I’m so glad you’re back. I couldn’t stand to go through this without you here.”

  “We would have been back sooner, but the rain slowed us down. Tell me what happened.”

  Her grandmother took a deep breath and began to relate the events of the last hour. When she finished, Rani pushed to her feet and frowned at Laurel. “What was Andrew doing here?”

  Laurel’s face warmed, but she didn’t flinch from her mother’s steady gaze. “He stopped by and talked to Granny for a while and then came to the barn where I was. Willie came and got us when Nana found Granny.”

  Her mother took a step toward her. “I thought you weren’t going to see that boy anymore.”

  Her father’s arm tightened around Laurel’s waist. “Please, Rani. This isn’t the time to discuss this.”

  “I agree,” her grandmother said. “I don’t know what we would have done if he hadn’t been here. I just wish he’d get back with the doctor.”

  She’d no sooner uttered the words than Laurel heard a car stop at the front of the house. She pulled away from her father. “Maybe that’s him now. I’ll go see.”

  Laurel ran through the house, stopped at the front door, and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Andrew getting out of his car. A huge raindrop slipped off the roof and landed on Andrew’s head as he climbed the steps, but he didn’t appear to notice. He glanced at her father’s truck sitting in the yard and then back to her. A man she had never seen stepped onto the porch right behind Andrew, and she pushed the door open for them to enter the front room of the cabin.

  “Your folks are back?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m glad.” He turned to the man behind him. “Laurel, this is Dr. Atkinson from the camp.” He motioned to Laurel. “And this is Laurel Jackson, Reverend Martin’s granddaughter.”

  The doctor nodded and smiled. “It’s good to meet you, Miss Jackson. Where is the patient?”

  “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you, and thank you for coming.”

  The doctor followed her down the hall. When they walked into the room, she could almost feel the collective sighs of relief that rose from her family. The doctor strode toward the bed and stopped beside her grandfather. “Reverend Martin, I’m Dr. Atkinson. I believe we met when you came to the camp one day. I’m sorry we have to meet again under such circumstances.”

  Her grandfather shook the doctor’s hand and smiled. “So are we, but we appreciate your coming.” He stepped away from the bed. “My wife will help you with Granny, and the rest of us will get out of your way.” He turned to Anna. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  Her eyes sparkled with tears, and she sniffed. “I’ll come in there as soon as the doctor finishes his examination.”

  Laurel and her father led the way back to the kitchen. Her parents, brother, and grandfather continued into the front room, but Laurel hung back until Andrew caught up with her. He pulled out a chair from the kitchen table for her before he slipped into one next to her. She clasped her hands on top of the table, and he reached over and laced his fingers with hers. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she smiled. “I’m glad you’re here with me.”

  He tightened his grip on her hand. “I’ll stay with you as long as you want.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered as a tear rolled from the corner of
her eye. “I know my family’s here, but I need someone just for me. Is that selfish?”

  He wiped away the tear that slid down her cheek and then pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Not a bit. I want to be with you.”

  From the other room she could hear the muffled voices of her family. It seemed strange that she didn’t want to be with them at this time instead of with the man sitting beside her, but she was right where she wanted to be. She squeezed his hand, and a tingle of pleasure raced up her arm at how comforting his presence was. She closed her eyes and said a prayer for Granny, thankful that Andrew was there to share this troubling time with her.

  Laurel had no idea how long they sat there, but it felt like an eternity. Then the door to Granny’s bedroom opened and Anna stepped out. Her family rushed in from the other room. A forced smile pulled at Anna’s lips as she walked toward them.

  “What does the doctor say?” her grandfather asked before she had even arrived in the room.

  She shook her head. “It’s not good. He says it’s a massive stroke, and he doubts if she will live. She’s getting weaker by the minute.” She grabbed the corner of her apron and wiped at her eyes.

  Willie buried his face in their mother’s side and sobbed as her father gathered them both close. Her grandfather put his arm around her grandmother, and Andrew gripped her hand tighter.

  Her grandfather cleared his throat. “Does the doctor think she’s near death?”

  She took a deep breath. “Yes. I think all of us need to be in the room and spend whatever time she has left with her. We’re the only family she’s had for the last forty years, and she’d want us there.” She looked down at Willie. “But you don’t have to if you’d rather not.”

  He pulled away from his mother. “I want to be with Granny.”

  “Good.”

  Laurel followed her grandparents toward Granny’s bedroom but stopped when she heard her father’s voice behind her. “Andrew, aren’t you coming with us?”

  She turned and glanced at him. He shifted from one foot to another and shook his head. “I don’t want to intrude.”