To Protect and Serve

by Pat Adeff

  “What happened?” Nancy softly asked as she knelt down in front of the couch so she’d be at eye level with the girls.

  “I hate Daddy.”

  Nancy couldn’t have been more shocked! Christy had said it with such vehemence! Nancy then looked at Kate. Kate was starting to quietly cry.

  “Girls! What happened?”

  Neither was willing to say anything more. Nancy got up, told the girls to wait there and went into the kitchen. Jonathon was still reading the newspaper and drinking his coffee.

  “What happened here this afternoon?”

  “Why? What do you mean?” Jonathon actually looked almost blank.

  “The girls are upset. What happened?”

  “Oh, nothing really. They threw away their baby bottles.” He went back to sipping his coffee.

  “Why’d they do that?”

  “Because they are getting too big for bottles.”

  “Jonathon. They don’t really drink out of them anymore. They just play with them. Very rarely, Christy likes one at bedtime if it’s been a really rough day. You didn’t make them throw their bottles away, did you?”

  “Look, Nancy. I think you’re being too soft with the girls. They are big girls now and need to get rid of all their baby stuff. You keep bitching at me that I’m not being a dad, now you’re bitching at me because I’m parenting. Make up your mind.”

  Nancy felt sick. She went back into the living room and sat down with the girls. After some more questions, it came out that not only had Jonathon made the girls physically throw the bottles away while they were crying, but he made them “wave bye-bye” to the bottles.

  He had explained to the girls that it was kind of like the funeral they’d had the week before when their pet hamster had died. Nancy couldn’t fathom how Jonathon thought that particular correlation would possibly help.

  She wasn’t sure what to do at this point, but knew for sure that her girls were hungry. She stood up and got them to go wash their hands for dinner.

  Everyone sat quietly around the table while Nancy served up the chicken and dumpling dinner that she’d started earlier that day in the crock-pot. She added a salad from the fridge and pudding cups for dessert.

  Kate and Christy ate a little, Nancy ate even less and Jonathon ate as usual. When dinner was done, Nancy took the girls upstairs and got them into bed. By the time she was done with that, Jonathon was buried in the computer, so she cleaned up the kitchen and got things set up for the next day’s breakfast.

  Now it was ten years later, and Nancy was hearing these things again, but seeing them in a new light.

  “Girls. I’m sorry. I should have made sure you didn’t have to go through anything like that. I guess I just didn’t believe that your father would actually be that callous.” Nancy’s voice was choked with unshed tears.

  “Aw, Mom. Lighten up. We lived. Besides, we know you pretended not to notice when we each retrieved a bottle out of the trash bag they were in.” Kate was almost laughing.

  “Yeah! And remember when you pretended to not see the bottles when we put them in the dishwasher?” Christy was also laughing.

  Nancy was able to smile slightly. “So, whatever happened to the bottles?”

  Both girls jumped up off the couch and ran to their respective rooms. Within seconds they were both back, laughing and holding out their bottles.

  “Good grief! I always wondered what you did with them.” Nancy was feeling much better now.

  “Mom,” said Kate. “You are a good mom. Please don’t worry anymore!”

  “Yeah, Mom,” chimed in Christy. “Consider it as training for the type of guy that Kate and I AREN’T going to look for!”

  “Girls, your father is a good man. He just --”

  Nancy was cut off mid-sentence by the girls, “Mom! Stop already!”

  Laughing, Nancy said “All right. Anyone interested in ice cream?”

  The girls were up and racing for the front door. Kate grabbed the car keys as Christy grabbed the latest coupons from the table beside the front door. The ice cream parlor was only a two minute drive.

  “You just want to see Brett,” Christy was taunting Kate.

  “I do not!” Kate was unable to suppress her grin.

  As Nancy followed the girls to the car, she smiled and sighed. Yep, life was going to turn out all right after all.

  She had the girls. She had her health. She had a great job. Who needed a man? Nancy didn’t really want to take that thought any further. She knew lots of women who lived great lives without a man. But for some reason, she couldn’t remember who they were right then.

  When they got to the ice cream parlor, the girls and Nancy had a hard time deciding which ice cream combinations they wanted. Nancy had trouble deciding because she really wanted to lose a couple of

  pounds, yet she really REALLY wanted some chocolate. So she ordered the kid size cup as a compromise.

  Christy finally ordered what she wanted – French vanilla with crushed Butterfinger candy.

  However, Kate was having a heck of a time deciding, so Brett (bless his heart) took the time to make sure she tasted every single one of the flavors.

  Nancy and Christy took their cups of delight and by silent agreement went outside to sit at one of the benches. When Kate finally appeared, they’d finished theirs and were waiting patiently.

  The drive home consisted of Christy asking twenty questions about Brett, and Kate fielding the questions like a seasoned politician. Nancy loved the fact that the girls were intelligent and witty. Intelligence from their dad and witty from her. She smiled to herself. Witty beat intelligence any day of the week.

  CHAPTER 4

  The top of the birthday cake had looked like a forest fire.

  Nancy was laughing on the outside but cringing inwardly. Was she really that old now? She didn’t feel that old. In fact, her life’s theme song was Bryan Adam’s Eighteen ‘til I Die.

  She’d just finished blowing out all the candles from her surprise birthday cake. The girls had somehow managed to fill their house with friends in the fifteen minutes it had taken Nancy to run to the store earlier that afternoon for a gallon of milk that the girls “just had to have.”

  “Where’s the fire extinguisher?” joked Christy’s boyfriend, Jackson.

  “Forget the extinguisher! Where’s the firemen!” chimed in Kate.

  The guests laughed and poked fun at Nancy. They all knew the soft spot she had in her heart for firefighters and cops. To Nancy, these guys were true heroes. Because her uncle had been the Fire Chief for Crestline, Nancy had grown up around firefighters, cops and EMTs and she’d admired them all her life.

  As the afternoon turned to early evening, the guests left one-by-one until it was just Christy and Jackson, and Kate and her current boyfriend, Joey.

  “Hey, Mom.” Kate was getting her purse and sweater. “We’re going to the movies. Wanna come?”

  Nancy wanted to go, but being a fifth-wheel just seemed too much. “No. You go ahead and have fun. I’ve got some things I’d like to do around here.”

  “You’re sure?” Christy was grabbing her motorcycle helmet and jacket.

  “Yep. I’m sure. But thanks for asking!”

  Standing in the front doorway, Nancy watched the girls leave with their boyfriends and was once again struck with how beautiful they’d grown up to be. They’d also managed to find good men. Obviously a trait Nancy was lacking. Sighing, she decided to keep busy. No need to go there.

  First Nancy looked through the basket of clothes that needed mending. Later. Then she pulled out all the paperwork for paying bills. Tomorrow. She even opened the oven door to see how much work it would be to clean. Forget it.

  She finally decided to treat herself and watch a movie at home. She picked out a Keanu Reeves flick and settled down with a bowl of popcorn and a cup of herb tea. The movie had just gotten to Nancy’s favorite part where Keanu’s character falls in love with an older woman, when the phone rang.


  With her eyes on the TV screen, she picked up the phone and answered. “Hello?” Nancy was expecting her dad and mom to call and wish her Happy Birthday. Instead she heard crying.

  “M-mom?” Kate was trying to stay calm, but Nancy could hear the panic through the tears.

  “Honey? What’s happened?” Nancy sat up straight on the couch. Her insides were drawing tight and it was becoming hard to breath.

  “Mom...” Kate’s breath hitched and she let out a sob. “Mom, we were in an accident.”

  “Where are you?” Nancy was on her feet, trying not to think about the worst that could happen. “HOW are you?”

  “Oh, Mom. We didn’t see the truck. It just came out of nowhere!” Nancy could hear voices and traffic noise in the background. She heard a man’s voice and Kate’s cell phone switching from one hand to another.

  “Mrs. Adams?” a male voice asked.

  “Yes. This is Nancy Adams. Please tell me what’s happened. Is anyone hurt?”

  “Mrs. Adams. This is Officer Saunders of the Orange Police Department. Can you meet us at Memorial Hospital? That’s where the paramedics are taking her.”

  “Kate? Kate’s going to the hospital?”

  “No ma’am. It’s Christina. They’re taking her and Jackson to Memorial. Do you know how to get there?”

  “How bad is it? Are they…are they still alive?”

  “Ma’am, do you need me to send a car for you?”

  Oh, god. He won’t even say if she’s alive! “No. I’ll drive. Please let me talk to Kate again.”

  Once again the phone switched hands.

  “Mom? Are you coming?”

  “Kate? How bad is it really?” Nancy readied herself for the worst.

  “I don’t know. There’s blood everywhere and Christy’s already gone in an ambulance. Jackson is still here. He’s moving, so he’s at least alive. Oh Mom!” Kate’s voice sobbed again.

  “Honey, please let me talk to Joey.” Nancy tried to keep her voice somewhat level. She heard the phone change hands again.

  “Uh, hi, Mrs. Adams.” Joey’s voice cracked and sounded much younger than his 20 years.

  “Joseph. I need you to get Kate in the car and follow Jackson’s ambulance to the hospital. I’ll get there as soon as I can. And drive carefully!”

  “Okay. The ambulance is pulling out right now. We’ll see you at the hospital.”

  And with that, the line went dead.

  As she placed the receiver back in the phone cradle, Nancy started to feel fingers of panic plucking at her spine and stomach, and almost gave in to the roiling emotion.

  NO! Through sheer determination, she stopped and pulled her thoughts together. She grabbed the insurance cards off the dresser, her purse, cell phone and car keys and headed out the door.

  As she was backing out of the driveway, she kept thinking “Everything’s going to be all right. Everything’s going to be all right.” It was the mantra that got her through the evening traffic and to the hospital. Although the traffic was not particularly heavy, it seemed to Nancy that she was driving in slow motion and that it took forever to arrive.

  CHAPTER 5

  As Nancy flew through the sliding doors into the Emergency Room waiting area, she was assaulted by the smell of disinfectant with the underlying tang of injured flesh and vomit.

  The place was packed and noisy. All the chairs were filled, and people were standing along the walls and in the corners. There were several couples, young and old, a few families, a flock of worried cheerleaders, and a baby crying in pain. Usually Nancy would have paid attention to the baby and the mother holding and rocking her child. However, one of HER babies was behind the double doors leading into the treatment area of the ER, and she needed to get there - NOW.

  She spied the ER admitting desk. Navigating through the injured and ill, she rushed over to the line of people waiting to check in. Nancy was feeling the panic start to bubble out, and just about the time she decided to be very rude and cut in front of everyone, the double doors to her right opened up.

  “Mom! Over here.” Kate and Joey had been on the lookout for her.

  Nancy hurried over to them and after giving Kate a swift hard hug, and checking to make sure she was okay, they led her inside and down the corridor, walking rapidly towards the two end units. Lining the hall were gurneys with patients in various stages of pain. One of the beds held a frail older woman who was plucking at her blanket while whispering “Please” over and over in an eerie voice. An EMT stood at the foot of the woman’s bed, writing notes on a clipboard. Another bed had a teenage boy in a football uniform holding his left elbow with his right hand. Behind the sweat and messy hair in his face, Nancy could see the fear and the tears he was valiantly trying to hold back. Well, that explained the contingent of cheerleaders in the waiting room.

  They finally made it to the end of the hall. At the first curtain, Nancy peeked around and saw Jackson sitting up with his eyes closed and a nurse checking his blood pressure. Jackson looked pale and exhausted. He had a wide bandage around his rib area. The nurse nodded and smiled at Nancy to indicate that he was alright.

  Nancy smiled back and then moved to the next curtain. Taking a deep breath she pushed the curtain aside.

  Nothing.

  The bed was empty. There were bloody dressings scattered on the counter and floor. There was blood on the rumpled sheet on the bed.

  She couldn’t breathe. Where was Christy? Why was there so much blood!? Nancy was looking around to find someone to answer her questions when she heard a faint “Mom?”

  Being pushed down the corridor on a gurney, with a huge white bandage around her head was Christy.

  “Mom!” Christy held out her hand and Nancy’s feet finally started to move.

  “Oh, honey. Are you all right? What happened?” Nancy gripped Christy’s hand like a vise between both of hers.

  “Mom! Ease up. I’m OK.” Christy even managed a watery half-smile. She held up the hand that Nancy was squeezing in two.

  “Oh, honey. I’m sorry. I’m just so glad to see you’re alive.” Nancy loosened her grip a little, but not much. “What happened to you? There’s so much blood!”

  “That’s from her head wound. She took twelve stitches.” The doctor came around from behind Christy’s gurney and helped the orderly maneuver the bed back into place in the cubicle.

  Nancy mentally shook her head. The doctor looked no older than her daughter, Kate. It seemed that all doctors and dentists were getting younger and younger these days.

  “Head wounds are notorious for producing copious amounts of blood,” Dr. Darren Coburn explained, then said to the orderly, “Let’s get this cleaned up.”

  The orderly seemed to magically take all the bloody material with him when he left the unit, pushing the other gurney away to the back of the ER. Except for a little spot of dried blood on the gown that Christie was wearing, everything looked clean.

  “Jackson? How are you, babe?” Christy called to him through the curtain.

  No answer.

  “Jackson?” Christy swung her feet around as though she intended to get out of bed.

  “Whoa there little lady.” Dr. Coburn gently pushed Christy’s feet back on the bed. “Just a second.” He smiled at Kate as she moved to stand on the other side of Christy’s bed.

  The doctor stuck his head around the curtain separating the two units. He said something to the nurse, listened, and then turned around and smiled at Christy while he pushed back the curtain which separated the two areas.

  Sitting up in bed was Jackson with huge round eyes. “Babe? You OK?”

  He started to get up and the nurse put a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Easy there. She’s all right. See? Alive and breathing.”

  Christy and Jackson eye’s both filled with tears as they looked at each other, realizing how close they’d come to losing everything.

  Nancy looked around and saw Kate’s eyes filled with tears, too. Joey was valiantly trying to loo
k unmoved; however his own eyes looked pink.

  “Well, we’re a sorry bunch.” Nancy wiped at her own eyes and tried to smile a watery smile at the group. She turned to the doctor.

  “So, how badly were they beat up?”

  “We should get the x-ray results back in a few minutes. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.” He handed Kate a tissue, squeezed Nancy’s shoulder reassuringly and walked over to the nurse’s station to write something in a chart.

  “Okay. So now we wait.” Nancy took a seat in one of chairs between the gurneys and looked around at everyone. “What happened?”

  The four of them started talking all at once. Nancy was able to get from snatches of what they were saying that a truck had run a red light and was going to crash into Jackson’s motorcycle from the side. Luckily Jackson had been paying attention. When he saw the truck coming at them, he sped up so that the truck just bumped the back fender of the

  bike, sending it up and over the curb where the two of them went sky-born.

  Christy’s head laceration happened after she’d gotten up, taken off her helmet and slipped on a patch of oil, hitting her head on a broken piece of concrete laying on the side of the road. Jackson had ended up with a bruised rib cage where he’d hit the handlebars as he flew over them. Thank goodness nothing worse happened.

  “What about the truck driver?” Nancy looked at Kate.

  “I think the police took him away.”

  “Was he under the influence?”

  “We don’t know.”

  “How old was he?”

  “I think around my age,” Joey chimed in.

  Several minutes passed with only small talk happening. In the background there were the haunting sounds of machines beeping, soft crying, and murmuring voices. Punctuating this background noise was the occasional grunt or groan of pain. Dr. Coburn came back holding the x-rays, and gave both Jackson and Christy clean bills of health, telling Christy to make an appointment to have the stitches removed in about a week.