Blue Ridge Setup

by Kimberly Rae

  She began herding them from the room. “Out! Out! Come back tomorrow — and only two at a time!”

  Ryan made sure he was at the back of the line. As they neared the door, Cindy turned to him with a knowing smile. “I’ll take the kids back. You stay.”

  He tried to hide it behind a manly tone, but his sincere gratitude came out husky and raw. He had been waiting days for this moment. “Thank you.”

  Cindy exited with a wave, and Ryan closed the door.

  The room was silent. He suddenly wished he had asked for some of Aunt Lavender’s romantic lines, because he was finally alone with the woman he wanted, and as he turned to face her, he had no idea what to say or do next. His heart was so full it was clogging up his brain.

  When he turned, his gaze took in everything, from the inflating stockings around her calves to keep her blood from clotting, to her hospital gown, to the large drain tubes coming from her side down to some kind of drainage apparatus.

  Kayla looked down at the drain tubes self-consciously. “Could you grab me a blanket?” she asked, her voice echoing in the nearly empty room.

  “Sure.” Ryan opened the only thing that looked like a cupboard door. “Found one on the first try.” He pulled out a soft blue blanket and draped it gently over her form. “Sorry it’s not pink.” He winked.

  She blushed. The red hue deepened when his eyes fell just below her collarbone and widened. “What is that?” He fought nausea.

  “It’s a central IV port. I can cover it up.” She pulled the blanket up, but his hand stopped her.

  “No, I just… what’s it for?” His hand tenderly touched the spot where it seemed four or five IV tubes emerged from her skin.

  She fingered the tubes. “They kept having to take my blood for tests, and after awhile, my veins wouldn’t work anymore, so they put this huge long needle in here.” She pointed at the spot where all the tubes met her skin. Ryan felt his face pale. “And then they thread in something, and somehow it makes it so if they need to take blood out, or put medicine in, they don’t have to stick me anymore.”

  She shifted the blanket to show him her arms, and he let out a groan.

  “Oh, honey.” Her arms were black and blue from her wrists to her elbows.

  “I look like I’ve been in a fight, and I definitely lost,” she joked. “The funny thing was, as the guy was putting in the central IV,” she pointed back at her collarbone, “he said that sometimes it doesn’t go down like it’s supposed to and instead goes up to your jugular vein.”

  Ryan swallowed. He was starting to feel dizzy.

  “Well, I thought he was joking, but he wasn’t. And it did! I felt it up here in my neck! Boy was I glad when they fixed that.”

  He wanted to touch her, but could not seem to find a place that was not bruised or attached to something. Finally he reached up and rubbed her cheek. “You’ve been through so much.”

  He was amazed to see her smile. “But I was not alone.” He watched her unfold her right hand, then fold her fingers in again. “That first night it hurt so bad. It was just me in that hospital room, just me and pain and God. And I found out something.”

  “What?” Ryan whispered.

  “He is enough.” Her smile was the most genuine he had seen. “I’ve always known that in a head-knowledge sort of way, but that night I found it out for real. He is enough, and I don’t ever have to base my worth or my dreams or my life on anyone else but Him ever again.”

  She leaned back on the bed. “There’s this verse I found in Psalms that says, ‘It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.’” She sighed. “I’m not saying I want to go through this again, but I am glad it happened. I found something — Someone — I’ve been looking for all my life. He had always been there, but now I know Him myself. And I know He will never leave me or forsake me.”

  Ryan felt tears sting his eyes. He reached for Kayla’s hand, lifted it, and pressed a kiss into her palm. There were no words big enough for such a moment, so he said two small ones. They were frail and inadequate, but he meant them with all his heart.

  “I’m glad.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Today. She was coming home today. Ryan felt as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.

  Or maybe more like Christmas Eve. He had spent the morning working non-stop on the walkway, keeping his hands and at least part of his mind busy as he waited for eleven o’clock.

  Despite the fact that he had set his watch alarm, and checked it several times to make sure it was set, he still could not refrain from glancing at his watch every few minutes, willing the time to go faster until he could go to the hospital. He would be there to help her into the car, to drive her home, to escort her inside. A tender desire to protect swelled up and filled him, something he previously had not even known he possessed.

  When Jose came running through the yard, Ryan welcomed the distraction. He stood and stretched his shoulders, flexing to relieve the tension of working bent over all morning.

  “Hey, Jose. What’s up?”

  Jose threw his arms around one of Ryan’s thick legs and started bawling. Caught completely off guard , Ryan had to take a step back to keep his balance.

  “Whoa! What’s the matter, buddy?” Ryan tried to peel the child off his leg so he could kneel down and be on eye level, but Jose’s grip was surprisingly strong. At odds, Ryan stood mute, patting Jose’s head with an awkward rhythm as he waited for the child to stop clinging to him.

  The noise of a motor brought Ryan’s gaze up toward the road. What was the church van doing there? Cindy was supposed to be with the teens at Jose’s house, finishing the repairs. They had it all planned; he was going to drive Kayla by the house on the way home from the hospital to surprise her.

  It might as well have been a hive full of angry, wild hornets buzzing out of the van. Ryan watched the teens approach. He still had his hand on Jose’s head, who still had his face buried in Ryan’s leg and his arms wrapped solidly around it.

  “You are not going to believe what just happened!” Karl punched the air with a tight fist.

  “That was so not cool.” Elizabeth’s usual even temper was definitely out of alignment. Even Cindy looked perturbed. “We were asking Jose’s mom about finishing the cleanup and repairs when a group of guys showed up.”

  “Like they owned the world.” Joe was squinting in the sun. Ryan had no way of reading his mood without the usual eyebrow indication.

  “The one big guy, he starts yelling before he even gets out of his car,” Karl continued, fist still clenched, looking around the yard as if trying to find something to hit. “Going on about how we needed to get out of there, and what were we looking for, and we shouldn’t be snooping around other people’s houses, and he knew what we were after. Like we were going to steal some of the junk in that place.”

  Ryan was about to start asking questions when he heard a whimper against his leg. He looked down and could see Jose shaking. His little body vibrated fear against Ryan’s leg.

  This time Ryan was able to pry the small arms away so he could hunch down and face the boy. “What is it, little guy? Don’t be scared. Nobody’s upset with you.” Ryan sent a look to the group. “Are you?”

  “Course not, little dude.”

  “We aren’t mad at you.”

  Jose wiped his nose with his arm, then wiped his arm on Ryan’s pant leg. “I know you aren’t, but he is! He hates me.”

  “Who does, little buddy?”

  “He says his name is Mike. He says he’s my mom’s boyfriend, but I don’t believe him because he’s not friendly at all.”

  Ryan looked over Jose’s head to see Cindy say quietly, “The big guy, the one in charge of the group who kicked us off the property.”

  Jose whimpered again, and Ryan put an arm around him. “Are you scared of him?”

  The boy nodded. “He said it was my fault — that I was the one who brought everybody to the house, and they would snoop around a
nd find stuff. And if they did, he said he was going to kill Frog, or maybe worse. I don’t know what he means.” Wide eyes looked up at Ryan. “What does he mean doing worse than killing Frog?”

  The group of teens went completely silent. Ryan saw Elizabeth rubbing her arms as if she was cold. Joe’s hands were two hard fists. Jainey finally spoke. “Something is wrong at that place, Ryan. Those guys were scary. And they were really mad.”

  He nodded. “I’m sorry, everybody. We definitely won’t go back there.” He rubbed his hand over Jose’s uncombed hair. “We won’t go back to your house again, so maybe your mom’s boyfriend won’t get mad.”

  “He’s always mad,” Jose said as he kicked the ground. “Usually at my mom.” The small round face looked up at Ryan. “I think — I think sometimes he hits her.”

  “It’s my fault,” the boy continued, now shuffling his feet on the freshly-mowed grass while Ryan stood stunned. “If I wasn’t around he wouldn’t get mad. He tells me to get lost until he’s gone, but I never know how long he’s going to be there. And there’s nothing to do in the neighborhood. We have a baseball field, but no baseballs or bats. It’s boring.”

  Cindy approached. “He’s right about that. I’ve scoped the neighborhood, and most of the houses have no yard to speak of, no trees to climb, or places to play. The baseball diamond is just a fenced-in section of dirt. I’ve seen the kids playing in the street, or just standing around, waiting for trouble.”

  Elizabeth followed to stand next to Cindy. “Hey, I’ve got an even better idea than fixing up Jose’s house! What if we did a Bible Club in Jose’s neighborhood? Like the one we did in Pakistan?”

  Jainey lit up. “Sure! Then we’d be helping, but we wouldn’t be near Jose’s house.”

  “And we already know what to do because we’ve done it before.”

  “It won’t be the same without Miss Kayla, of course, but she taught us how to do it.”

  Jainey grabbed Ryan’s sleeve. Between her and Jose, he was starting to feel like a piece of taffy. “Can we? We’d do a good job. I know we would. Can we?”

  “I think it’s a great idea,” Ryan began, but was interrupted by the cheering girls. “If…”

  “If what?”

  “If you get some adult volunteers from the church to help you.” Ryan raised a questioning eyebrow in Cindy’s direction, and she nodded assent. “And permission from your parents — and maybe their help too — and you’ll need to be careful as you go around the neighborhood inviting kids. That will definitely have to be done with adult supervision. I won’t be able to be there if it’s during the day — I’ll be working—”

  “And holding hands with Miss Kayla if he gets the chance.” Joe’s eyebrows were back up.

  Ryan fought the flush creeping up his neck. As if her name was the magic signal, his watch started beeping. “Oh, that’s my cue. Gotta go. It’s time to bring Kayla home from the hospital.”

  He had tried to keep his voice steady and even, but he could feel the excitement running down his arms and tingling his fingers.

  Jose yanked on his pant leg. “Mr. Ryan, don’t leave. Please. If I go back home, he’ll kill my frog. I don’t want him to kill Frog. Frog didn’t do anything wrong.”

  A groan worked its way up his throat, but Ryan swallowed it. Any other day… any other time…

  Laverne Bloom excited the house, clad in a long, white skirt and spring yellow blouse. “Ready, dear? It’s time to go get our Kayla.”

  “Our Kayla.” Karl snickered.

  “Come on, ya’ll, back to the van.” Cindy began herding the teens toward the vehicle. “Let’s head back to the church and start planning this Bible Club.”

  Ryan stood watching helplessly as the group rode away. He had almost begged them to stay there with Jose so he could go get Kayla, but he knew arriving home to a crowd of exuberant youth would be too much for her right away.

  Why did Jose have to have a crisis right now?

  “Miss Lavender, it looks like I’m needed here at the moment. Do you think Dr. Bradley could help you get Kayla settled into the car? I’ll help once she gets here.”

  Laverne Bloom peered over the situation with a keen eye, noticing Jose’s quick jump when a car drove by with speaker’s blaring. He quickly hid behind Ryan’s solid legs, his small hands gripping Ryan’s jeans.

  “I see.” And Ryan could tell she truly did. “I believe what would be best for our visitor would be a walk up the hill to see our beautiful view, away from… everything.”

  She opened the door of her pastel purple vehicle. “And don’t worry about Kayla. I’m sure Dr. Bradley will not mind helping. As he is officially retired now, he had already mentioned perhaps riding with us to help settle Kayla in.”

  Was Ryan seeing things, or was Laverne Bloom blushing?

  “Well, little guy.” He reached down and patted Jose’s shoulder, refraining from a disappointed sigh. So much for the Christmas morning feelings. “What do you say we go for a hike up a hill together? I’ll show you a cool stream and some fuzzy green moss that grows on rocks.”

  ****

  Even through Kayla’s weakness and fatigue, she could tell her new doctor and her aunt were sparring about everything. How to set the wheelchair correctly. How to get her into the car safely. Which route to take that had the least potholes.

  When they finally arrived at the house, Kayla stepped from the vehicle, her legs weak, but her gaze expectant. She looked around the yard, noticing the tools left unattended beside the walkway. It was nearly halfway finished and looked beautiful.

  But where was its creator? She had not expected Ryan to welcome her home with open arms exactly, but she had hoped he would at least be there with a smile, glad to see her back.

  A weariness, thicker than the physical, drained her of what little strength she had left. “I think I’d like to go lie down, Aunt Lav,” she said, still gripping the car door for support.

  Dr. Bradley circled the car to her side. “Allow me to help.” With one arm around her waist and the other under her elbow, together they made slow progress toward the side door.

  ****

  Ryan and Jose had just started their descent when he saw the car pull into the drive. He sped up his steps, but when Jose slipped on one of the stones, he reigned himself in. He watched with envy as the doctor supported Kayla as he had wanted to do, as the doctor walked with her as he had imagined doing, as she glanced up and smiled at the doctor as he had hoped she would smile at him.

  By the time they made it down the hill and to the house, both Laverne Bloom and the doctor were enjoying the swing he had installed as they drank tall glasses of iced tea.

  “Oh, you just missed her, dear,” Laverne said. “She was understandably tired from the trip and everything, so she went right inside and to bed. Maybe you can see her tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow. The word felt heavy in his ears.

  He looked down at his young friend. “Well, Jose, should I take you home now?”

  Jose’s shiver was a clear answer.

  “Okay, well, how about we ask Miss Bloom here if we can use the extra scraps of wood she has in her shed and build us a tree house back by the creek?”

  “Really?” Jose bounced up and down. He rushed to Laverne Bloom’s side. “Could we, could we really? Our own tree house? In a real tree?”

  Laverne laughed, catching his enthusiasm. “Of course you may, child. I had a tree house when I was young, and it was my favorite place to go and daydream.”

  “What’s a daydream? Like taking a nap?”

  She laughed. “No, dear, it’s when you let your imagination take you anywhere you want to go and do anything you want to do. I believe my tree house was the first place I began making up stories.”

  Doctor Bradley stood and turned to Ryan. “Well, now that I’m a retired old man, I think I’ll join you if you don’t mind. Building a tree house sounds like fun.”

  Laverne stood as well. “Gracious sakes, if you’re an old man,
then I’m an old woman, and I just won’t have you implying things like that. Let’s all go help and give Kayla a chance to rest. I won’t be doing any building of course, but at least I can help with the planning part.”

  “Good for you, though maybe it would be best if you let us men be in charge.” Doctor Bradley smiled.

  “Humph. I’ll have you know that I once wrote a book where the main character built a—“ She stopped. “You’re just egging me on, aren’t you?” His smile turned to a laugh and she huffed. “Why you — you — you verbal bully. If you think for one minute that I’m going to act like some Gone with the Wind southern belle and start swooning at your chauvinistic comments, you’ve got another thing coming. Why I —”

  “Well, you never know, Miss Blossom. We southern men have charm enough to make the ladies swoon, you know.”

  “Fiddlesticks.” Laverne flapped her hands. “Those women were swooning because their corsets constricted their lungs, and they couldn’t catch a full breath. Swooning was foolishness on the part of women, sacrificing health and comfort to attract male attention. A heap of nonsense, if you ask me.”

  “So what would you do to attract a male’s attention?”

  Laverne sputtered as they made their way toward the shed. “Well, gracious, why on earth would an old woman like me even want to attract a man’s—”

  “I thought you just said we weren’t old.”

  “Well, I — you —” She followed the doctor at a spritely pace. “You are just trying to get my dander up, Stephen Bradley, and let me tell you something; it’s not going to work!”

  “Oh it’s working all right.” Doctor Bradley, Ryan and Jose shared a grin. “It’s fun, too.”

  “Well, I never. Look at all you men ganging up on me. I’ve half a mind not to bake that apple pie I was going to cook for you after supper tonight.”