by Aimée
Ella forced herself to sit down, wishing Carolyn was there to keep her company. Doctor Roanhorse, Ella’s best friend, had purposely stayed away out of respect for Rose and Clifford. Many of the Dineh, The People, believed the tribe’s ME was contaminated with the chindi, the evil in a man that stayed earthbound after death. Even though Rose was tolerant of Ella’s friendship with Carolyn, it was no secret that her mother was also a traditionalist.
During unconsciousness, tradition held that a person’s ‘wind breath,’ or soul, was temporarily lost. No one was supposed to approach the body for fear of driving that living spirit away, and this rule applied even more strongly to someone like Carolyn whose work brought her in contact with chindis. Although Rose was in the operating room, Carolyn had even refrained from going to the observation post the interns used, or being anywhere in the area while the surgery was taking place.
In deference to her friendship with Ella, however, Carolyn had come by with coffee and for brief visits in the waiting room twice already. It was that support that had helped Ella deal with what haunted her thoughts.
As Ella stared across the room, lost in thought, she saw Officer Michael Cloud appear. The barrel-chested cop and his family were longtime friends of her mother.
“Any news?” he asked, reaching over and turning the sound down on the television set.
“Not yet. She’s still in surgery. Do you know what happened? I haven’t received any reports yet.”
Michael nodded. “That’s why I’m here. I thought you’d want to hear this directly from me, since I was the first officer at the scene.”
Ella sat up. “Go ahead.”
“Dispatch sent me after a waitress at the Totah Cafe called the station. She saw a car veer over into the wrong lane and strike another vehicle, your mother’s car, head on.”
Ella felt the blood draining from her face. “Was it a murder attempt then?”
He shook his head. “DWI. The other driver was Leo Bekis, a tribal attorney. The breathalizer showed he had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system.”
Anger darkened Ella’s spirit, and she began to lose control. If Bekis had been there right now, she might have shot him. “You mean that my mother’s fighting for her life because of a drunk driver?”
Michael nodded once.
“Was the drunk killed?”
“Minor cuts and bruises.” Michael averted his gaze. “They’ve been keeping him under observation, just in case. He passed out on the way in, and they aren’t sure if it was just the alcohol.”
Ella’s rage buzzed around her like a swarm of bees, overwhelming the flash of disappointment she’d felt for a second after learning that the drunk had not died. As she looked at Michael she noticed he was staring down at his boots. He was holding something back. A second later, she knew what it was. “Bekis has been arrested before for DWI, hasn’t he?”
“Twice. Seems he always manages to make bail after a few hours in the tank, and avoid a suspended license.”
Ella caught sight of a man being led out of an examining room by a police officer. A bandage was on his forehead and the back of his hand, and he had a black eye. He was barely able to stand on his feet. “Is that him?”
Michael nodded. “I remanded him into the custody of another officer as soon as my backup arrived at the scene. I didn’t want to see this thrown out of court for any reason.”
Ella started across the hall, and Michael put a hand on her shoulder, holding her back.
“Don’t, Ella,” he said. “You’ll only make it easier for him in court.”
“Why was that piece of garbage still driving a car?” she managed through clenched teeth.
“He’s a lawyer with friends who are also lawyers—and judges. The most he’s ever been forced to do is pay a fine and do a few hours of community service.”
Ella looked at the man who had walked over to stand beside Bekis. It was Robert Kauley, who was known for accepting cases that a maggot couldn’t stomach. It seemed particularly fitting in this situation. “I’m going to have a few words with Kauley.”
“Why don’t you cool off first—” Michael said, then stopped as a nurse hurried over to tell Ella that her mother was coming out of surgery.
Ella hurried down the hall, arriving just as the doors to the operating room swung open and Rose was wheeled out on a gurney.
Ella hurried to her mother, and fell into step beside the nurses taking her to the recovery room. Rose had IVs in both arms, and looked battered and bruised, as if someone had beaten her half to death. Her graying black hair was tucked into a white cap, and Ella could see a bandage beneath. “I’m here, Mom, and I’ll take care of everything. You just get better.”
“She can’t hear you now, dear,” the nurse wearing green scrubs told her gently as they walked down the hall. “She’ll be unconscious for a while longer, but the doctor will be out to talk to you soon.”
“Will my mother be okay?” Ella whispered the words, struggling to keep her voice from breaking.
“The doctor will explain all that to you,” the nurse said obliquely, then disappeared, along with Ella’s mother and an orderly, through the double doors leading to the recovery room.
Ella paced back down the hall, restless and afraid, sensing that the news wouldn’t be good. What the hell was the doctor waiting for? She stared at the double doors leading to the operating room, tempted to go in. As she took a step toward them, Dr. Natoni came out.
He looked grim, and even worse, cautious. Ella suspected that, in this case, it meant that there’d be no absolutes as well as no positive good news. She braced herself.
“Mind if we sit down?” Natoni said, gesturing toward the sofa. “I don’t know about you, but I’m beat.”
She followed him wordlessly, impatience tearing at her restraint. “Don’t string me along, Doc. Get to the bottom line.”
He shrugged. “Okay. Your mom will live, Ella, you don’t have to worry about that. It was a miracle and the seat belt, I suppose. There doesn’t appear to be any brain damage, just a mild concussion, but her legs were badly broken, and there’s some major nerve and tissue damage there. She’ll need a wheelchair for a while until she starts to heal. But even though we have a good prognosis, it’s possible she may never be able to walk again without crutches. The worst-case scenario would be a wheelchair, but I don’t see that happening.”
The relief that Ella had felt upon learning that her mother would survive was suddenly replaced with the disturbing news that Rose could face life on crutches, or even a wheelchair. Her mother was finally adjusting to widowhood and beginning to discover a new life for herself. She was active socially, taking comfort in old friendships now renewed. Yet once again she would have to adapt, rebuild, and find new ways to define herself. It was all so unfair. Her mother had been through enough.
“This isn’t conclusive, you understand. The extent of her recovery depends on how her physical therapy goes and how she heals. I’m betting that eventually Rose will regain full mobility. She is such an active, positive person, I can’t see her giving up.”
Ella heard the reassurance in Dr. Natoni’s voice, but his words seemed to come from a distance. Inside, she still felt the fear and anguish her mother had experienced from the accident.
“I think her belief in the old ways will really help her now. As an MD, I’m not a traditionalist. Far from it. But I do know that mental attitude can be crucial to the recovery process. Once she’s over the initial trauma, your brother might be able to do more for her than we can at this facility.”
Ella glanced across the hall into the waiting room where she’d spent the past few painful hours. Leo Bekis, in handcuffs, was being led over to a row of chairs along the far wall, where some of his relatives were waiting to see him. Bekis would most likely sleep the night away in jail, then wake up with nothing more than a few muscle aches and a bad hangover. Her mother, meanwhile, might face months or years of pain and frustration trying to learn to walk aga
in unaided.
When Leo tried to talk to his visitors, his speech was so slurred and incoherent the family quickly stopped asking him questions. Ella noticed Gladys Bekis; they’d gone to high school together, though Gladys had been a senior when Ella had been a freshman. Gladys gave her a look filled with pity, then came over.
“I know that you must be really upset now,” Gladys said. “But it was an accident, and Leo is sorry. He hasn’t been feeling well lately.”
The statement seemed almost laughable. Ella’s hands clenched into fists. “How can you make excuses for that drunk?” she muttered, and turned away. “You’re almost as pathetic as he is.”
“Wait. You just don’t understand,” Gladys said, and reached for Ella’s shoulder.
Ella spun around, staring coldly right into the shorter woman’s face. Gladys turned white and stepped back. Ella got right back into her face. “My mother is going to live, which is damned lucky for you and for your drunken brother. But she may be on crutches the rest of her life. I’m going to make sure your brother pays for his crimes this time. Count on it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Ella became aware of Lulu Todea and another local reporter hurrying toward them with a camera. Bekis’ family must have seen them at the same time, because Leo’s brother, Paul, quickly came over and led the speechless Gladys away.
Lulu came directly up to Ella, while the second reporter targeted the Bekis family.
“I understand Leo Bekis had been drinking when the accident happened,” Lulu said, holding a tape recorder up in front of Ella’s face. “You probably know by now that this is the third time he’s been arrested for DWI. How does that make you feel?”
Ella knew she shouldn’t say anything, but she couldn’t hold back. “That man went to college to learn the law. He knows right from wrong in legal terms better than most of us. Still, he chose to dishonor his profession and family by getting behind the wheel drunk. Look at his condition right now, and verify the facts for yourself. I intend to do everything I can to see that he suffers as much as my mother does.” Ella took a deep breath, trying to calm down. That’s when she heard Gladys speaking on behalf of her brother.
“He didn’t do anything wrong. Yeah, he admits to having had one beer at a friend’s, but that’s it. The tests are incorrect. You’ll see. He took a bump on the head, and that’s what’s making him dizzy.”
Kauley stepped forward. “The Breathalyzer tests are notoriously inaccurate. My client was taking cough medicine. That’s why the alcohol level tested high.”
Fury ripped through her. Ella turned to cross the hall, but, before she could reach the attorney or his client, Michael Cloud intercepted her.
Another officer led the handcuffed Bekis away, allowing him to stagger down the hallway as the reporter took photographs.
Ella smiled mirthlessly as she turned to face Lulu. “You know how a drunk man walks. I think you can see where the truth lies.”
Suddenly, Leo’s brother Paul shoved the photographer and, as the man stumbled, the camera flew into the air, hitting the floor with a crunch. Paul moved in on the photographer, who was scrambling for the camera, but before Paul could land a punch, Officer Cloud stepped between them. Intercepting Paul’s swing, he twisted his arm and pushed him against the wall hard.
“Paul Bekis, you’re under arrest for assault.”
Suddenly Gladys yelled and leaped on Michael’s back, trying to pry him away from her brother. Ella grabbed her away roughly, and, forcing her to the floor, handcuffed her hands behind her back. Gladys struggled for a few moments, but Ella was bigger and stronger, and the other woman finally gave up.
A camera flash went off right in front of Ella’s face. Through the dots of brilliant light that hung in front of her eyes, Ella saw Lulu had pulled out her own camera.
“Get that damn thing away from me before I cite you for interfering with an arrest,” she snapped.
“I’m just doing my job,” Lulu answered.
“And I’d be doing mine in arresting you. Now give us some room.” Ella wasn’t sure where he’d come from, but Officer Jimmy Frank appeared and reached for Lulu’s camera. The reporter stepped back automatically to avoid Jimmy’s grasp. “Thank you for stepping back, ma’am,” Jimmy said, smiling coldly.
As Ella led Gladys down the hall, she heard Jimmy talking and taking control of the crowd before things continued their downward spiral.
Outside, Gladys started pleading to be released, but her words fell on deaf ears. Ella turned the sobbing woman over to Michael after he’d placed Paul in the back seat. “I’ll be in soon to make a report. This is one disturbance I can’t wait to see reach the courts. But right now, I have to stay here.”
“Understood.”
By the time Ella returned to the waiting room, Jimmy Frank was the only one there. “Good job,” she said. “We needed another officer on the scene.”
“I’m glad I decided to stop by. I heard about your mother and decided to take my sixty-one here.”
Ella nodded. “I appreciate the help. Go have your dinner. You’ve earned it.”
“Glad I could help out. If there’s anything else I can do, just name it.”
“Thanks. Right now, all anyone can do is wait. My mother is in recovery, still asleep. At least she didn’t have to see this circus.”
Ella returned to the waiting area, and bought a cup of hot cocoa from the vending machine. It tasted like cardboard, and the scalding liquid burned her throat, but it was better than nothing. It was good to feel something besides anger. She managed to stay seated for only a few moments before restlessness forced her to her feet and she began to pace again.
Carolyn Roanhorse came up as Ella tossed the empty cup into the trash with a vengeance.
“If you stay here, wearing a hole in the carpet with your pacing, you’re going to go crazy.”
Ella looked at her friend. “I feel so helpless. I’m a cop, for cripes sakes. It’s my job to keep civilians safe, but we can’t even keep drunks like Leo Bekis from getting behind the wheel time after time until they destroy someone else’s life. The system really sucks.”
“Yeah, but not all the time, and not on everything. Don’t condemn all you’ve dedicated your life to, based on this one incident.”
“I can’t get it out of my mind. Do you know that my mother may be on crutches the rest of her life? Maybe even a wheelchair.”
Carolyn exhaled softly. “But at least she’s alive.”
“You know my mother. These past three years she’s worked hard to make a life for herself without my father. She’d just reached that point where things were where she wanted them to be, and now, this happens.”
“Don’t sell Rose short. She’s got a will made of iron, that’s how she survived the murder of your father. She’ll have a hard road ahead, but it won’t be the first time.”
Ella stared down the hall at the recovery room door. “That walking six-pack will have a million excuses for his actions, but none of those will be any help at all to my mother. She’ll be dealing with the results of what he did long after he’s forgotten all about it.” Rage made her shake again, and she stuck her hands in her pockets to control them.
Carolyn looked at her, a worried expression on her face. “Go home. Look around your house to see what might need to be changed to accommodate a wheelchair, or run five miles across the mesa. Get busy and start working off that anger, or it will eat at you like a cancer. Staying here, waiting for your mother to regain consciousness, is not a good thing for you now.”
Ella nodded, realizing that Carolyn was right, yet still feeling guilty about needing to leave. All her life she’d been the type to make things happen. Patience was one Navajo virtue she was able to practice only when she was expecting a big payoff, like having a trap slam shut on a criminal. The kind of waiting she was doing now led nowhere, except to the hope that no more bad news would follow when her mother finally awoke. Ella just wasn’t suited for this.
She s
ighed. “I can’t leave and take the chance she’ll wake up alone, confused and surrounded by strangers.”
“Then don’t go for long. Come back in an hour. You’ll be in better shape to deal with things then.”
Ella took a deep breath and nodded slowly. Carolyn was right. She couldn’t stay here, pacing endlessly, with Leo Bekis’ drunken face flashing across her mind. She glanced back at the recovery room doors. “Yeah, maybe I should leave, just for a bit. I serve no function standing around here, and there are other things I need to do.”
Saying good-bye to Carolyn, Ella strode down the hall. It was late now, but she knew that if she asked, her crime scene team would make a special trip to the site of the accident. They’d make sure the department had a case that would stick.
As Ella stepped out into the cold night air, the icy blast made her shudder and gather her jacket against her. It was early March, but it might as well have been January. Ella slipped into her Jeep and turned the heater controls up to max, trying to ignore the cold air coming through the vents. It would warm up soon.
As she sped down the dark highway, memories of her days as a young girl, of her relationship with her mother, flashed unbidden to her mind. She remembered cutting her own long black hair short because boys on the bus had been pulling it. The results had been disastrous and her mother had spent hours with a pair of scissors trying to even it out so it wouldn’t look so bad for school pictures coming up.
Ella was given the choice of wearing a floppy hat, or going with short hair uncovered. To this day, her mom kept the photo of Ella in that hat on the wall. Ella remembered how the hat had set a brief fashion trend for the fourth grade, with all the other girls looking for hats of their own.
Her mother had not always approved of Ella’s choices, but she had respected her daughter’s right to follow her own path.
Tears welled up in Ella’s eyes. Her path had been to become a law enforcement officer, but when it had come down to it, she hadn’t been able to keep one pathetic drunk from almost taking her mother’s life.
Approaching the Totah Cafe, Ella slowed down and looked for the orange paint sprayed on the road by the investigating officers. Once she saw the marks ahead, she pulled off onto the shoulder and stopped. Flashlight in hand, she stepped out and walked over to where the collision had occurred. The wreckage had been cleared. The investigating officers had already done their work here, measuring every mark and position as they reconstructed the accident on paper. She walked around, not really expecting to find anything, but needing to look for herself.