21 Hours

by Dustin Stevens

  "I wondered how long it would take you to get here," a familiar voice said. It was the only sound in the small cemetery, even the birds above hearing the pain in her voice. Still she sat without looking at me, her gaze poised on a particular stone in front of her.

  "How'd you know I'd come here?"

  "I knew you'd do the math and figure it was just as fast to drive as fly from where you were. Probably cheaper too."

  "That part never entered my mind," I said, closing the gap between us. I could see a small footpath beaten out in the grass to where she now sat.

  Clearly she'd still been spending a lot of time here.

  Slowly she stood and turned, her full height not even reaching my shoulder. Just a few years north of fifty, she still looked like she could pass for forty. Her curly blonde hair sat high atop her head in a messy pile, a few stray ringlets framing blue eyes and high cheekbones. A wan smile traced her lips, though it was plainly evident she'd been crying. "And let's be honest, you can't pass through without stopping to see your father."

  I merely grunted a response to that part, walking forward and enveloping my mother in a tight bear hug. I truly love the mountains and I love working the ranch, but I'll be damned if it doesn't get hard being away from her, Lex, Annie.

  Ricky, well, him I could take or leave.

  "Hello, Mama," I said softly, her pile of hair crushed against my cheek. Below my chin I could hear her crying again as she clung to me, her hands grabbing at the flannel shirt inside my jean jacket.

  Over her head I could see my father's tombstone, the gray marble as polished and clean as the day we laid it. Fresh flowers sat on the ground in front of it, daisies from the planters my mother kept going in a greenhouse year round. Casting a glance around I couldn’t help but notice how dilapidated the other plots are, many of them feeling the effects of winter, while my father's looks like it belonged in Arlington Cemetery.

  "Hey, Pop.”

  Against me I could feel my mother squeeze tighter for a moment before releasing her grip and pulling me down to the small bench in front of the tombstone.

  "I take it Lex told you she called," I said, still holding my mother's hand as we stared at my father's headstone. Her tiny hand felt ice cold inside mine, the knuckles drawn white beneath her skin. I could hear her sniffling, but she didn't seem to be crying at the moment.

  "Yeah," she whispered.

  "Have you seen her?"

  I sensed my mother's head bob beside me. "I was there overnight with her. I left just a little bit ago to come here and wait for you."

  A thousand questions, everything I'd been rolling around since leaving Wyoming, fought their way to the forefront of my mind. One by one I forced them back, focusing on what was absolutely necessary at the moment. "Why here? Why not wait for me at the hospital?"

  Her grip grew a touch tighter. "She can't tell the story again. Right now she is hanging on by a very thin thread and if she goes through it again, she might snap. Especially if she has to tell it to you."

  "Why's that?" I ask, already suspecting the answer.

  My mother slid her eyes to my face with a look that relayed I should know the answer. "Because she wants her baby and she wants blood. Telling you that in a hospital full of people might not be the best idea."

  My suspicion was correct.

  "Is she okay?" Again, I know there's no way in hell she is, but okay is a relative term in these situations.

  "She still hasn't slept, and hasn't left Ricky's side, but I think she's as well as can be expected. Her in-laws are there with her now."

  As well as can be expected.

  Again, it's all relative in these situations.

  Slowly I pushed the air out of my lungs and ran my free hand down the front of my jeans. I was still wearing the clothes from the day before, dust from the ring on my Levi's and the faintest trace of burnt cowhide on my shirt.

  Packing wasn't real high on my list of priorities when I left.

  "Alright, start at the beginning. What happened?"

  My mother closed her eyes and lowered her chin to her chest. She remained that way for several long moments, willing herself not to cry. When the urge passed, she spoke without raising her head or opening her eyes.

  "This is exactly what I heard her tell the police when they came last night. Every Friday, Ricky gets off early and picks Annie up from daycare. Together they get ice cream and then they go to the park."

  As much as I loathe the man personally, he has proven to be a good father and provider. It is part of the reason I make such an effort to stay away and leave them in peace.

  "Yesterday was no different. They hit Dairy Queen, went to the park behind the elementary school by their house, and went home. When they got there, Lex was sitting on the front porch waiting for them. Said she didn't notice the black SUV parked across the street at the time, but after thinking on it was pretty sure it was there all afternoon."

  Reflexively my hands tightened into balls on my thighs. Just as fast I released my right hand to ease the grip on my mother's hand and jammed my left thumbnail into my mouth. The familiar metallic taste of blood crossed my tongue, but I could care less.

  "Ricky pulled his car into the driveway and unstrapped Annie, the two of them bouncing across the yard towards Lex. As they did, three men emerged from the black SUV and sprinted towards them, all dressed in head-to-toe black, all wearing ski masks."

  I closed my eyes as she talked, replaying the scene in my mind. I kept my mouth shut and forced air in and out through my nose, willing my heart rate to stay under control.

  "Lex saw the men coming before Ricky did. She went rigid on the porch as Annie got to her, only gasping out a warning a second before it was too late. The first man slammed into Ricky and they both rolled to the ground in a tussle. The other two went after Lex and the baby, everyone screaming bloody murder by this point.

  "The second man got to Lex as she stood and tried to run inside, caught her with a fist to the side of the head."

  "Wait," I interrupted, my heart rate pounding like a jackhammer in my ears, "they beat Lex too?"

  Again my mother nodded her head. "Back of her head has a hell of a knot on it. Knocked her out cold. Gave her a concussion."

  It was everything I could do not to swear in front of my mother. I turned my head to the side in case any mutterings slid out, making a slew of promises to myself that I would find every last one of these sonsabitches.

  "That's the last thing she remembers. When she came to, Ricky was face down on the sidewalk and a neighbor was standing over her with a washcloth." A small slurping noise slid from her lips and her shoulders wracked violently against my mine. "Annie was gone."

  I sat in silence for several long minutes, processing what I'd just heard. The rage inside me was threatening to burst through every available opening, but I knew I couldn't let that happen just yet. There would be time for that later. "What did the police say?"

  "Standard stuff. They were doing all they can, but that with no real eyewitnesses, physical descriptions, or leads, it was going to be an uphill climb.

  “Can you believe that? They actually told a hysterical mother it was going to be an uphill climb."

  Of course I could believe it. Everything to a cop is an uphill climb. They get so bogged down in the process sometimes, they forget to use their damn common sense.

  "That's when she called me?"

  "That's when she called you." My mother's voice was back to flat and even. Like me, her emotion was simmering just beneath the surface, though hers was of a much different nature than mine.

  "What happened to Ricky?"

  "His nose is completely shattered, as are his left cheek and orbital bones. He's still unconscious at the moment and they're actually giving him drugs to keep him there. Doctor says it looks like someone hit him across the face with a crowbar or baseball bat."

  Asshole or not, I didn't want that to happen to him. Not only would it make things harder on Lex, but mor
e importantly right now it would be one less man around should I need him.

  "Mama, I hate to leave in such a hurry, but-"

  "Go," my mother whispered, cutting me off. "Time is crucial. You don't have any to waste."

  "Are you going back to the hospital?" I asked, rising to my feet.

  "I'll be there in an hour. I just ran home to change, come find you, and get some food to take back. Her mother-in-law can't cook for crap, you know that."

  I appreciated my mother's attempt at levity, but couldn't find a laugh within me. Instead, I squeezed her hand once more and stared back at our automobiles parked side by side. "I'll find her."

  "I know you will," she whispered, returning the squeeze but keeping her eyes down.

  "You know though, it might require me to do some things. Some things a lot worse than what happened before."

  Slowly my mother raised her face to me, tears again pooling at the bottom of her eyes. For the first time ever, she looked to wear every last one of her years on her face. "You do whatever you have to do. You just bring that little girl home."

  Drawing my mouth into a tight line, I nodded at her. I turned over my shoulder and raised my chin to my father, then retraced my steps back to the truck.

  Less than twenty minutes after pulling off the interstate, I was back on it and headed towards Columbus.

  Chapter Four

  For a Saturday, Sacred Heart Hospital on the outskirts of Columbus was surprisingly busy. Not Mardi Gras on Fat Tuesday busy, but active enough that I stood at the front desk waiting a long time for someone to help me before finally giving up. After that I tried flagging down nurses as they scurried past, all dressed in garish outfits and carrying clipboards. When that didn't work either, I cornered a janitor and had him give me directions to the intensive care unit.

  He was busy going about his chores and barely spoke a word of English, but he grasped my tone and broken Spanish enough to send me in the right direction.

  Dwarfed in comparison to some of the medical giants in the city, Sacred Heart's entire ICU was housed on two hallways. Each of them extended out in opposite directions from a central intersection, both carbon copies of one another.

  To my right was a sign announcing it to be the long-term care wing of the ICU. The hall was almost empty, with just a pair of nurses shuffling along and a single old man staring through a glass pane. I assumed his wife of fifty years was lying on the other side of it, but I didn't have the time or the energy right now to go find out.

  By contrast, the hall to my left was alive with people. Scads of nurses, orderlies, and doctors moved through, all of them in a hurry and headed somewhere. Small cadres of crying or worried families dotted the hall, clumped together and talking in hushed tones or staring stonily into space.

  At the far end I recognized Ricky's sister and entered into the maze, falling in with the flow of hospital personnel as it slipped through the groups of bystanders.

  I cast sideways glances to some of the people as we walked by, each of their faces wearing the same pain my family did twelve years before. For a moment, I was right back outside that hospital room across town, a scared kid waiting to hear what the doctor would say about my father.

  With a shake of my head I tossed the thought aside and walked up to the sister. I think I remembered her name being Bonny, but can't be certain. Definitely not sure enough to actually use it.

  I looked her a question as I approached, casting my eyes between her and some guy I assumed to be her husband. Somewhere in the back of my mind I vaguely recalled Lex telling me she got married, but again, I can't be positive.

  Nodding slightly, she raised a single finger and jabbed it across the hallway. Thankfully, she wasn't in any more a mood to talk than I was.

  Another nod in reply and I hooked a left toward the doorway and peered inside. Ricky's parents, Jim and Sue, were both standing by his head, looking down at him. Jim stood with one hand stuffed in the pocket of his slacks, the other along his wife's back. Sue leaned slightly back against him, a handkerchief pressed to her face and a light pink cardigan enveloping her body.

  I'd met them both a time or two before. They both knew Ricky and I didn't exactly like each other, though sensed the begrudging respect we gave one another. They were both nice enough people to treat me much the same way.

  In the opposite corner sat Lex in a chair she'd dragged up alongside the bed. I could only see the right profile of her face in the dim light of the room, though it appeared clean and bruise-free. Her eyes were red, but dry. Her blonde hair was roughly pulled back in a tangle from her face.

  She sat leaning forward in the chair, an oversized grey hooded sweatshirt swallowing the top half of her. The bottom half was dressed in jeans and running shoes as she idly chewed on her fingernails.

  Something told me hers were in even worse shape than mine.

  Using the back of my hand, I wrapped softly on the door twice and stepped inside. All three heads snapped towards me, the knocks sounding like cannon fire in the silent room. The only other sound was the persistent beeping of a heart monitor and the rise and fall of a breathing apparatus.

  Lex was on her feet before I got a step into the room. She buried her head in my chest and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing so tight a pair of vertebras in my lower back cracked. As she did, she tried to keep her face turned away from me, but the enormous lump behind her ear and rainbow of color along her jaw were too obvious to ignore.

  "O," she whispered.

  One hand I slid to the back of her head, the other around her shoulders, and drew her in tighter. Despite standing nearly five-foot-ten she was still a half foot shorter than me, more than that in my boots. A mixture of pain and anger welled in my throat as the image of her face filled my mind.

  Consciously, I swallowed it down.

  "Hey, you," I whispered back.

  Jim and Sue Borden both watched us silently, their expressions flat. Looking over Lex's head I slid my gaze to Ricky laying prone in the bed and asked, "How's he doing?"

  Sue's face crinkled as if she was going to cry and she pressed the handkerchief back into place. Jim pulled her a fraction closer and said, "He's hanging in there. Lot of damage, but the doctor says it's mostly cosmetic."

  "Good," I murmured. The first thought that came to my head was I certainly hoped that was true, because the cosmetics looked like hell. The entirety of his head was wrapped up tight like a mummy, gauze covering everything but his mouth. There, a breathing tube stuck out several inches with thick, clear tubing running over to the machine beside him.

  Lex pulled back slightly away from me and said, "You look like you could use some coffee."

  I picked up on the insinuation and nodded. "Drove straight through. Some coffee would be fantastic."

  Lex turned to her in-laws and said, "We'll be in the cafeteria if you need us."

  Both of them nodded but said nothing.

  Lex led me back through the maze of people and into the cafeteria, filling two cups of coffee and paying for them in record time. Clearly it wasn't her first trip down for caffeine. Normally I'd offer, or even insist, on paying, but I let it go without comment. We had more pressing matters to get to.

  "You look like hell, O," Lex said as way of an opening. My given birth name was Felix, and hers Alexa. Our father liked the letter X in names and decided since he had twins it was the perfect opportunity to invoke it. It didn’t matter that one name was Spanish, the other Russian. We would be Felix and Alexa, the O'Connor twins.

  Over time, Alexa's name got shortened to Lex. Fearful that mine might then become Flex or even worse, Lix, my parents started referring to me simply as O. To the world, we've each been known as such ever since.

  "Likewise," I said, drawing the coffee over in front of me. I could see steam rising from the open top of it, but didn't care as I upended the cup. It was a little hot, but it tasted good. Over half of the cup went down at once.

  "I spent the night at the hospital waiting
on my husband in emergency surgery and praying my daughter was alive. Before that I got my face pounded in," Lex said. "What's your excuse?"

  "Nothing that good," I conceded. I tried my best to meet her gaze as much as possible, but kept having to avert my eyes. The sight of her face was difficult to see. "Drove straight through to get here."

  "That explains the look, not the smell," Lex said, gingerly taking a drink of her coffee. Thin afternoon sun streamed in through the window beside us, illuminating our table. Outside the telltale signs of spring were beginning to show in the forms of tree buds and green grass.

  "I was branding when you called. Didn't even stop to change."

  Lex bobbed her head. "Thanks for coming."

  Around us the cafeteria was nearly empty, too late for the lunch crowd and too early for dinner. A few stray workers wandered by with coffee or sodas in hand, but otherwise the entire corner of the room was ours. "What's going on with Ricky?"

  "The doctors got his nose opened up and reset the bones. Bout all they can do until the swelling goes down and the pressure recedes. He'll probably have to have some cosmetic surgery later on to put everything back the way it should be."

  Several smart remarks came to mind, but I let them pass. "At least he's stable."

  "Thank you," Lex said, her red-rimmed eyes boring into mine. She didn't have to finish the sentence, her intent was already clear.

  I shrugged. "I know we don't get along, but that's not important right now. Besides, he can be an ass, but he doesn't deserve that."

  Lex raised her eyebrows and turned to gaze out the window. Beside us, a woman with dark hair approached. She wore charcoal slacks and a blue blouse, a small handbag over her shoulder. Fairly attractive in an official sort of way, she easily picked us out of the cafeteria and walked over. "Alexa Borden?"

  "Yes?" Lex said, twisting her head from the window and starting to rise. Across from her, I released my coffee cup and did the same.