Raymond started screaming again, this time Benji’s words unable to quiet him. “Time to find yer mama,” Benji said as he reluctantly opened the surgery door a crack.
Hopefully, Grannie was done with the doctoring so he could be close to Janie and help her with the healing—or at least feel like he was helping. She hadn’t been in his life even a week, but now, being away from her for less than an hour, it felt as if it had been half a lifetime. Yes, he’d move wherever he needed to be with Janie, but as her husband. He’d settle for nothing less. She was worth it. And, by the way the rest of his family had received her, they felt she was family, too.
Ж
“Now, where is your owie?” Sarah asked with a big smile, hoping to get another one in return.
Jane beamed back at her. Sarah was Benji’s grandmother and another very nice lady. She was probably a fairy, too, since she was treating her like a person, not a slave. Jane lifted up her right arm and pointed to the site of the wound with her left hand. “Do you want me to take this off?” she asked, referring to her sarong.
“Well, it would make the examination much, much easier,” Sarah joked, then offered her a hand to help her stand.
Jane stood up and Sarah followed her height with her eyes. “How tall are you?” she asked in awe before she could think.
Jane put her left hand on top of her head then pulled it straight out in front of herself. “So big,” she joked. “Taller than most men, but not Benji. He’s this much taller than me,” she said, and indicated a three-inch span with her index finger and thumb. She began unwrapping her sarong, but kept it close to her belly to hide her lower body. She was used to wearing clothes now and was beginning to feel bashful.
Sarah removed the ribcage bandage made from the same cloth as Jane’s Polynesian-style dress. “Good Lord,” she gasped at the sight of the vicious gash sewn together neatly with what appeared to be dental floss. “What happened here?”
“I was stabbed in the ribs, and the knife blade broke off in me. Benji pulled it out with his Leatherman,” she said, making sure she said the word correctly. “He cleaned it out and put on some antibiotic and stitched it with tooth floss.”
“Dental floss,” Sarah corrected. “He did a fine job, but by the looks of this, part of the blade is still in there. That’s why it’s swelled up and infected. The body is rejecting the foreign matter.” Sarah saw the confused look on her patient’s face and clarified, “I’m going to have to open it up and get the fragment out. It’s going to hurt, but we have to do it now or you’ll never get better, or maybe even worse.”
Jane’s eyes opened wide at ‘even worse’ then nodded and said, “Yes, please, go ahead and do what you need to do. But, um, do you have any Ibuprofen?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Wait, you know what Ibuprofen is?” Sarah asked, dumbfounded.
“Benji brought some with him,” Jane said. “Can I lie down for this? My head feels too heavy.”
“Yes, lie down on your left side and get comfortable. I’ll scrub you up, and then take out his stitches. But first, I’ll give you a couple of Ibuprofen. I’ll let it start working before I start poking around.”
Sarah brought Jane a couple of the little brown pills and a cup of water. Jane carefully put them at the back of her tongue, then hurriedly gulped down the water, grateful that they went down on the first try and that she hadn’t gagged. She smiled. She was glad she knew what a pill was and how to take one. Even though she could tolerate pain, she didn’t like it.
Jane settled onto the long, elevated table next to the window, while Sarah assembled the tools she would need onto a tray. The healer then went to her basin and scrubbed her hands for what Jane thought was long enough to wash off the skin. She finally finished and came back to the table, skin intact, and put a clean cloth along each side of the wound.
“Now, try to relax. I don’t have anything to numb you,” Sarah said, watching her patient to make sure she understood. Jane’s face went blank at the word ‘numb.’ “Deaden or completely stop the pain; I don’t have anything like ice or Lidocaine or… The Ibuprofen will help, but won’t stop this from hurting. Please, don’t move. Try to think of a happy thought,” she added.
Jane’s body went limp as her feelings of peace and security relaxed her. Her happy thought was Benji, and he was outside, visiting his Grandfather. And, his Grannie was in here, taking care of her wound, treating her like a white woman. A rich, white woman, she corrected. “Is this good enough?” Jane asked, very comfortable with her many happy thoughts.
“You’re doing fantastic,” Sarah praised, as she dabbed some of Leah’s antibacterial soap on a square of clean cloth. “We’ll get this done as soon as possible. I’m sure everyone wants to meet Benji’s, um, Benji’s friend.”
Jane was a model patient. “Now I want you to take a couple of slow, deep breaths. You’ve been helping me out by breathing shallowly, but I want you to tank up with oxygen.” Sarah saw the confused look on Jane’s face and said, “Just breathe for me. I’m not ready to probe yet, but it’s going to be uncomfortable when I do. Once I find all the fragments, I can sew you back up. Then you shouldn’t have any more problems.”
Jane did the breathing as instructed while Sarah swabbed her with the Betadine solution. “Okay, this is the most uncomfortable part. Hold very, very still and no more deep breaths, okay?”
“Okay,” Jane whispered and sunk into the hard bed.
After several minutes of probing, pulling, and producing sharp pains for her patient, Sarah grasped the shard and pronounced, ‘Got it!” She flushed the site with a antiseptic solution, blotted away the excess blood and pus, then said, “Now all I have to do is to sew you back together.” She grabbed the sterile suture and bent to the task. “shit,” she whispered just as she was ready for the first stitch.
“What’s wrong?” Jane asked softly, trying not to show with her voice the fear she felt.
“I’m leaking; leaking milk,” Sarah said in frustration, looking down at the wet spots on the front of her blouse. “It’s time to feed one baby, at least, but he’ll just have to wait until I’m done here.”
Just then, Benji came to the door, peeking into the room with a squalling baby on his shoulder. “Ye did say this is my uncle, aye? I mean,” he said, not waiting for her answer, “I think yer son is hungry, and I’m not equipped to feed him.”
Sarah took a deep breath of annoyance, not knowing whether to scold her grandson—couldn’t he see she was busy—or should she suggest he ask Evie if she could play wet nurse.
“Can I hold him?” Jane asked.
“You can’t move,” Sarah said sternly, then saw the sadness on Jane’s face. “But, if Benji will put him next to you, and you don’t move, then yes, he can lie down with you. But, if either one of you moves while I’m stitching, then you, young man,” she said in mock scolding of Benji, “need to take him for another walk until I’m done here, okay?”
“Yes, Grannie,” Benji said obediently, and walked up to his prone and slightly bloody fiancée. He gently lay Wee Raymond down alongside her, then took a step back to admire the sight. She looked so right with a baby lying next to her.
The infant boy immediately hushed at seeing the strange new face, forgetting to resume his crying. Instead, he grinned, cooed, and patted her chest, knocking at the sterile drape Sarah had around her work area. Jane’s left arm was crooked up next to her body. She moved her hand out from under her chin and was able to hold onto his little fist with her long fingers. “He’s very handsome.”
“He likes you,” Sarah said as she appraised her new situation. “Are you going to be able to control him with that one hand?”
“Aye,” Jane said, totally relaxed at the proximity of the red haired baby boy. “Is this what Benji looked like when he was a baby?”
“Very much so,” Sarah said. “Benji, why don’t you see if your grandfather needs some help?”
“Yes, ma’am. I willna be far,” he said to Jane, th
en walked out the door backwards, a big smile on his face at the sight of her holding a baby.
“Now, just a little more pain, and then you’re home free,” Sarah said to Jane.
Jane didn’t move a muscle other than the ones that focused her eyes. She peered up at Sarah, asking her wordlessly what she meant. “Oh, ‘home free’ is a phrase where I’m from. It means were out of the woods, no longer in danger…” Sarah babbled, finally deciding it was better to shut up then continue the awkward definition.
Sarah felt a miniscule twitch from Jane, but other than that, both she and Wee Raymond were quiet and content. Jane hummed a little song to the baby and both of them—all three of them counting Sarah—were soothed by it.
“Did he fall asleep?” Sarah asked as she piled all of the surgical tools onto the tray table. She took them to the sink; she’d clean them later.
“No, he’s awake. I don’t think he was too hungry; I think he just wanted to suck. Can I move now?”
Sarah was back to washing her hands again. “Yes, you can move, but don’t sit up too quickly. I don’t want you passing out, that is, fainting.”
Jane stuck her finger into Wee Raymond’s mouth and broke the suction. A little bit of bluish white fluid slobbered out as she did. She quickly wiped it away, trying to mask her shock at seeing it: mother’s milk! She grasped him with her good left hand and brought him up over the left shoulder, rubbing his back with her pinky.
“Suck!” Sarah squawked as she realized what Jane had said. “He’d do that? I mean, Leah and Evie have nursed him for me a few times; he’s comfortable with them, but you didn’t just have a baby, did you?”
Jane shook her head quickly. “No, I’ve never had a baby. I’m sorry; I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.” Jane sniffed and bit her bottom lip. She was only trying to help calm him. And besides, it felt so good.
“No, no, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Sarah soothed. She thought for a moment, then added, “Well, I guess you’ve already been acknowledged as one of the family by the youngest member. If you don’t mind me asking, what is your relationship to Benji?”
Benji stepped forward. He hadn’t spoken, and wasn’t sure if Grannie knew that he had come back into the room, but now he could lay claim to her. “She’s my fiancée. We’re to be marrit as soon as I, or ye, or Grandpa, or someone, anyone, can figure out how. And,” Benji added with a comical full body twitch, “the sooner the better.”
Benji felt a firm hand clasp him on his shoulder. “See, what did I tell ye?” Jody said to Sarah, “I told ye he’d wait. Now,” he added with a sour tone, “we’ll have to figure out how to get it done right.”
“Excuse me,” I said as I walked into the now crowded surgery. “I think we have more family showing up. Leah, James, and Bibby just arrived. You have more kin to meet! So, Benji, after you do the meet and greet, would you help your grandfather pluck those chickens? Yer long fingers have to be good fer somethin’ besides pickin’ yer nose, aye?” I mocked.
“Come on, lad. A few introductions then we can leave the ladies be. We’ll go out and do the women’s work of pluckin’ chickens while they chatter,” Jody said as he herded Benji through the door. “Uh, I dinna need to give ye the talk about the facts of life, as Evie calls them, do I?” Jody asked with a mix of mirth and apprehension once they were out of earshot of the others.
“Ach, no,” Benji began, then changed his mind as soon as the first words had escaped his lips. “My father did have a talk with me a long, long time ago. Now, which parts go together?” he asked in jest, then burst into laughter, smacking his grandfather on the back. “But, he never did tell me how ye make a bairn…” he continued with a grin.
James had just finished unhitching the horse when he saw the two men heading to the barn. He walked up to join them, very curious about the man who looked like Jody on steroids.
Leah and a squalling Bibby were already out of the wagon and on their way to the house. Jody paused and introduced his grandson to the pair.
“Oh, so yer Leah!” Benji exclaimed. “Ye sure look like yer mother. Ye ken, I missed ye by this much,” he said, as he put his thumb and index finger apart by a scant quarter of an inch. “I meant to come back with ye last year. But, I’m sure it was meant to be that we dinna travel together. I met, and got to be good friends with, yer brother-in-law, Billy, and his mother—Bibb the First, would that be? Ye did say this was Wee Bibb?” He stroked the fussy, bald-headed, little girl under her chin. The child thrashed her head side to side in frustration, trying to decide if she wanted to be tickled and cajoled by the nice man, or scream because she was in a poopy diaper.
“Yes, this is Bibb Elizabeth Melbourne, and she is in desperate need of a clean clout. So, if you’ll excuse us, I’m sure we’ll get a chance to talk more later. But!” she said before he could turn to leave, “how are they: Bibb and Billy?”
“Last I saw them, Bibb, Billy, and Peter were all doing fine,” he said, making sure she understood that Peter and Billy were still a happy couple. “And no cancer,” he added, realizing that that was probably what she had been referring to.
“Great, glad to hear it,” she said over the now screaming baby Bibby. “Later, dude,” she called back familiarly over her shoulder. He seemed like a very nice man.
Ж
“Mom, where can I put her down to change her?” Leah asked when she walked into the kitchen, forgetting even to say hello to her mother. “She’s a mess and could use a butt bath if you have any water warmed already. Oh, hi,” Leah said in surprise when she saw Sarah and an unknown, very exotic looking woman come in from the surgery.
“Jane, this is my eldest daughter, Leah. Leah, this is Jane, Benji’s fiancée. Benji’s your sister-in-law Mona’s oldest son, or only son. I don’t know if she had any more or not. Oh, and Jane knows about me,” I explained, referring to my status as a woman from a future time.
Jane would probably figure out on her own that Leah also wasn’t from ‘now’ after talking to her for about ten seconds. This was my hint to her that she didn’t need to be subservient around her either.
“Glad to meet you, Jane. And, this is my stinky butt daughter, Bibb Elizabeth Melbourne. Her father is out there with Jody and Benji. I just barely met him, but,” Leah shook her head, “we’ve sure heard all about him. I don’t think there’s an antic or caper that boy ever did that we haven’t heard about at least three times. Of course, he’s a man now, but he sure had a colorful first five or six years living near Grannie and Grandpa. Mom, a little help here, please.”
I brought a pan of warm water, a rag, and a clean clout and held Bibby Liz’s legs while Leah did the dirty work. Leah wrapped the clout through her daughter’s legs then secured it with a shiny diaper pin with a pink plastic duck-shaped cap. I looked up and saw Jane’s eyes blink in shock at the colorful apparatus. “Real handy little items,” I explained, then let the subject drop.
“How old is she?” Jane asked, as she admired my granddaughter.
“She’s the same age as her uncles. They were all born within an hour of each other. Now that was a very busy day,” I said, bobbing my head in recall. “At least, she’s easy to tell apart from them, with or without the diaper,” I said as I rubbed her bald-head. “Yep, she’ll have dark hair when she finally gets it. Just like her mother, me, and my mother before me.”
I watched as Jane lifted up her head and looked out the door. She was watching Benji talk with Jenny, my blondie. “That’s Jenny, my adopted daughter. My other children are under the tree, tearing apart their dog.” I saw her eyes open wide at the remark. Those big, dark orbs didn’t make a sound, but they sure said a lot. “It’s a toy dog; a rag stuffed doll that they don’t ever seem to tire of. Yes, I really did break the mold with those three: all red headed.”
“Three—at the same time?” Jane asked.
“Yup, I’m a tough old broad,” I said, then looked over at Leah. “Tougher and older than I look,” I added with a squint that said, ‘
Just believe it; don’t question it, okay?’
“I still say you’re pretty,” Jane answered with a blush that, although I couldn’t see in her skin, I could tell by her demeanor.
“So, what brings you and Benji here?” Leah asked without preamble as she settled back on the chaise, legs up and breast bared, to feed her voracious little vixen.
“Benji wanted to see his Grandpa,” Jane answered, “and…I…um, came along with him,” she finished, looking back and forth in embarrassment.
I spared her a detailed explanation by announcing, “I’m sure Benji will tell us the whole story at dinner or whenever he’s ready. I’m going to feed my little ones first, so anyone up to it, grab a baby, a biscuit, and I’ll bring the noodles.”
Jane helped me feed my three. I could see her fascination with their hair. “It’s not common. I mean, red hair in white people is unpredictable unless both parents have red hair. If that’s the case, their children will positively have red hair. Were you born in Africa?” I asked.
“I think so,” she replied. “I know that my mother said I was a very small child when she came over on the boat. I didn’t have any teeth yet. They let her keep me because I didn’t need to eat food. She was suckling me. They said they wanted her to keep the milk coming. Um, wet nurses,” she said as a question, as if she wasn’t sure of the polite term, “were at a premium. I kept her milk coming in so I could stay with her. She was always feeding someone else’s child,” she said reflectively.
“I just asked because if you never had a white parent, you probably won’t have any red haired children with Benji, although, depending on whether there is a white parent in your children’s spouses, you might have red headed grandchildren. I’m not an expert, but that’s what I remember from school. It has to do with recessive genes, and, by the way, are you right-handed or left-handed?”
The Great Big Fairy (The Fairies Saga Book 4) Page 23