“What about dinner?” Libbie asked. “I have it cooking right now.”
“I’m so sorry, Libs. Why don’t you ask the girls next door to come over for dinner? I’d hate to see it wasted.”
Libbie thought about that a moment, then smiled. That might be fun. “Okay. I’ll save you a plate of food, too.”
“Thanks for understanding, hon. See you in a while.”
Libbie hung up and quickly stirred the rice again, then turned down the burner’s flame. She went out on the porch. It was icy cold outside, but luckily, no snow had fallen yet. She figured that by the first week in November they’d have snow for sure.
She glanced over to the girls’ cottage and saw both cars. Running over there, she knocked on their door. Jackie answered.
“Hey, Libbie. Great to see you. What’s up?” Jackie asked.
“Hi, Jackie. I have a whole chicken in the oven and rice cooking, and I’m making gravy, too. Jack just called and said he’d be late and miss dinner. Would you both like to come over and eat with me?”
“Would we?” Candy said, coming to the door. “Are you kidding? Lead the way.”
The girls followed Libbie back to her cottage, a bottle of wine and one of 7 Up in hand, and they all had wine spritzers while Libbie finished making supper. Libbie had already drunk half a glass of wine earlier, so the second glass made her feel silly and light-headed.
She took out the chicken and made the gravy, then placed it all on the small table.
“Wow!” Jackie said, watching as Libbie served the food. “How do you know how to cook so well?”
“Jack’s mom taught me. When I was growing up, our housekeeper made all our dinners, so I never learned to cook until I started hanging out at the farm with Jack.”
“Housekeeper, huh?” Jackie said. “I figured you must have been a rich girl from the car you drive, but you must have been really rich if your family had a housekeeper.”
Libbie shrugged as she passed out the plates. “I never thought about it. It’s just the way we lived.”
They all sat down and served themselves. Candy had already refilled their wine glasses, using the last of the wine and 7 Up.
“Oh, Libbie. This is delicious,” Candy said. “You can cook for us anytime you want.”
Jackie agreed. “This is amazing. Thanks so much for inviting us. We haven’t eaten this good in weeks.”
The girls talked about school, their part-time jobs, and the boys they’d dated since school started. “You’re so lucky to have Jack,” Candy said between mouthfuls of food. “He’s so nice, and a hard worker. All I meet are guys that think they’ll get sex if they buy me a burger and fries. Can you imagine? It may be the swinging seventies, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give it up for a burger.”
Jackie giggled and Libbie followed suit.
“How did you and Jack meet?” Jackie asked.
Libbie told them her story as they finished eating and emptied their glasses. She felt warm all over, and everything that was said made her giggle uncontrollably. If one of the other girls laughed, she’d start, too.
On slightly wobbly legs, Libbie cleared the table and the girls helped her. She rinsed the plates and stacked them. Her heart was racing wildly and she felt like she had enough energy to run a mile. She liked how happy and energized she felt and she didn’t want it to end.
“We’re all out of wine,” Candy said, tossing the empty bottle in the garbage. “And there’s no more at home, either.”
“Let’s go get some more,” Libbie suggested quickly. “I’ll buy it since I drank yours. The liquor store doesn’t close until eight.”
The girls were more than willing to go. “Can we take your car?” Jackie asked hopefully. “I’ve been dying to ride in it.”
“Sure.” Libbie grabbed a coat, her wallet, and keys. They all piled into the car, with Jackie in the front seat and Candy in the back.
The three talked and giggled on the ride into town and no one noticed Libbie swerving slightly as she drove. She parked at the liquor store and gave Candy some money.
“Can you get two bottles?”
“Sure can,” Candy said. She and Jackie went in and bought the two bottles of wine using their fake IDs. They picked up a six-pack of 7 Up, too. They were out in a flash and Libbie drove the dark streets home.
“I’ll bet this car can go really fast,” Jackie said. “Like a race car.”
“Sure it can,” Libbie said. They were on the dark lake road now. They’d passed her parents’ house already but weren’t at the resort yet. “Want to see how fast it can go?” she asked, and then stepped down on the accelerator.
The girls whooped and hollered in delight as Libbie took first one curve and then another. Libbie squealed along with them. She’d never done anything like this in her life, and her heart raced with excitement.
Just as she hit the third curve, a deer ran out onto the road in front her. Libbie swerved to the right, and her car careened off the road. The last thing Libbie heard was Jackie screaming before everything went black.
Jack drove along the lake road a little past eight thirty. Fixing the car had taken much longer than he’d anticipated, but it had given him three hours of overtime pay, so it was worth it. He was putting a little money away each check to buy Libbie an extra-special Christmas present. She deserved it. He knew that her life had changed drastically since marrying him and that things weren’t always easy, yet she never complained. And she’d also been giving him the majority of her checks from the library so he could add it to their savings for a house. He knew he was lucky to have Libbie in his life, and he wanted to show her on their first Christmas how much he appreciated all she did.
As Jack rounded the last curve before the resort, he saw the glint of a car’s taillight on the side of the road in someone’s yard. Suddenly, two girls came running out onto the road in front of him, and he had to swerve and stomp on his breaks to miss hitting them.
“Jack! Jack! It’s Libbie. Hurry!” The girl with dark hair yelled as he rolled down his window. He suddenly realized that these were the neighbor girls. He looked ahead to where the car was and could see in the beams of his headlights that it was a Mustang, slammed into a thick tree trunk.
“Libbie,” he gasped, as he realized what he was seeing.
He grabbed a flashlight from the glove compartment and jumped out of his truck, running to the Mustang’s driver’s side. The girls were next to him, crying. “She’s stuck behind the wheel and she won’t wake up,” the dark-haired girl said. Jack didn’t know if she was Jackie or Candy. He’d never spent enough time around them to remember who was who.
Jack ran around the back of the car and crawled into the passenger seat, and that was when he realized how badly crushed the Mustang was. The hood was smashed up like an accordion, almost all the way to the front seat. The driver’s side had taken the brunt of the hit, and Libbie was pinned behind the steering wheel, her head against the back of the seat. There was only enough room for him to squeeze in beside her with the passenger seat pushed all the way back. The window had shattered and glass was everywhere.
Jack turned his flashlight on Libbie. There were cuts on her face, and a huge bump was already swelling up on her forehead. “Libbie?” he said softly. “Libbie? Wake up, sweetie. Please wake up.” Tears filled his eyes. He held his breath and strained to hear her breathe. He was relieved when he finally heard her softly inhaling.
“What’s going on out here?” An older man wearing a robe over pajamas came out of his house with a flashlight in hand. He walked up near the car, his face suddenly appearing shocked at the scene before him.
Jack pulled himself out of the car. “Call an ambulance!” he said. “My wife is hurt. She’s stuck in the car.”
The old man didn’t even question Jack. He turned and ran back to his house.
The girls were still standing out by the car, crying softly. Jack turned to them. “Are you two okay?”
The blond girl nodded.
“We’re fine. We just want Libbie to wake up.”
The cold night air seeped through Jack, making him shiver.
“Can one of you get the blanket from under my truck seat?” he asked quickly. “And then you two should go inside the truck and sit. It’s warm in there.”
The dark-haired girl nodded, and they both ran to the truck. She brought back the blanket and handed it to Jack. “I’m so sorry, Jack. I really am. We never meant for this to happen.”
Jack just stared at her, unable to process anything other than the fact that Libbie was hurt. “Go back to the truck. It’s freezing out here.”
She ran off, and Jack squeezed his way back into the car. He tried placing the blanket around Libbie as best as he could. She was pinned in so tight he couldn’t get it around her very well.
“Libbie, please wake up,” Jack said, his voice cracking. He carefully picked away the glass from her hair and clothes. “I love you so much, Libbie. Please, please wake up,” Jack whispered.
Libbie’s eyelids fluttered, and she rolled her head in Jack’s direction. “Jack?” she asked softly.
“Libbie. Oh, Libbie. Are you okay?” Jack asked.
“My arm hurts,” Libbie said, before closing her eyes again.
Jack ran the flashlight over her but couldn’t see much of her arm. It was tucked tightly to her body, pinned under the steering wheel. “An ambulance is coming,” Jack told her. “It’ll be here soon.”
The elderly man came back out and checked on Jack, saying the ambulance was on its way. He’d brought out blankets for the girls and took them over to the truck. All Jack could do was sit there beside Libbie and wait.
Finally, the ambulance came along with a police car and a fire and rescue vehicle. After examining the situation, the responders were able to push Libbie’s seat back far enough to lift her out of the car and onto a stretcher.
Jack stood by nervously. “Please be careful. She said her arm hurt.”
The girls came out of the truck and an EMT checked them over, too. Other than a few cuts and bruises, they were fine, and neither wanted to go to the hospital. A police officer offered to drive the girls home in Jack’s truck so Jack could ride in the ambulance with Libbie.
Jack answered the EMT’s questions as the ambulance buzzed into town to the hospital. Yes, she’d woken up for a few seconds. She’d said her arm hurt but didn’t say which one. No, he hadn’t been in the car during the accident.
Once at the hospital, Jack was held back to fill out forms while they wheeled Libbie into emergency. When he was finished, they still wouldn’t let him go back with Libbie. The receptionist told him to wait until a nurse or doctor came out to talk to him.
He paced the hard linoleum floor of the waiting room for over an hour. The lights were harsh and glaring, and it smelled of antiseptic. He couldn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to be with Libbie. He was her husband, for God’s sake. He should be back there. Finally, a woman in a white uniform and cap came out and walked over to him.
“Are you Mr. Prentice?” she asked.
Jack nodded. “Yes. How is my wife?”
“She’s fine. She has a broken wrist and a large bump on her head, but there is no sign of concussion. The orthopedic specialist will be in tomorrow to set and cast her wrist,” the nurse said. “For now, we’re moving her to a room for the night.”
“I want to see her,” Jack said.
The nurse shook her head. “She’s sound asleep. The doctor gave her a sedative to calm her down. She was pretty shaken up. You should go home and get some sleep and come back in the morning.”
Jack could only imagine how terrified Libbie had been, waking up in a hospital without anyone she knew with her. It broke his heart just thinking about it. “I need to see her,” he insisted. “I need to see for myself that she’s all right.”
“You can see her in the morning,” the nurse repeated. “Believe me, she’ll sleep through the night.” With that, the nurse walked away, back through the emergency room doors.
Jack walked through the halls of the hospital until he found the waiting room and the night receptionist desk. He told her who he was and to let him know if anything changed with Libbie. Then he walked over to a corner of the room where it was darker and sat in one of the hard chairs. He’d wait all night until he could see Libbie.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jack awoke early the next morning when the sunlight streamed in over him through the big plate-glass window. He was scrunched down in the chair, and someone had draped a light blanket over him during the night.
He sat up, feeling the strain in his back muscles from lying in the chair all night. Running his fingers through his hair, he hurried up the stairs to the second floor and found Libbie’s room. She was sitting up in bed with a tray of food in front of her on a table. There was a cast on her arm and small cuts on her face that were already scabbed over. She looked up at him sorrowfully.
Jack ran over to Libbie and carefully wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her cheeks and gently wiped her tears. “Oh, Libbie. I was so scared. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Where were you?” Libbie said groggily through her tears. “I kept asking for you last night but they wouldn’t bring you to me.”
Jack pulled back and looked into her eyes. He could tell she was still drugged. “I was here all night. I slept in the waiting room.”
“Oh, Jack. I’m so sorry. I don’t even know what happened. I was driving with the girls in the car, and then I woke up with the doctor and nurses around me. No one will tell me what happened. Are Jackie and Candy okay?”
“Yes, they’re fine. An officer drove them home in my truck. I’m sure they’ll be by today to check on you. They were very upset last night. But right now, all I’m worried about is you. How do you feel?”
“I have a terrible headache, and my wrist hurts. They’re giving me medicine for it, but I’m still in pain. They woke me up early this morning and the doctor set my wrist and put the cast on. He said it has to be on for at least six weeks.” Tears welled in Libbie’s eyes. “I feel so terrible, and stupid. We were just having fun last night, and then this happened.”
“Shh, shh,” Jack said soothingly, wrapping her in his arms. “All that matters is you’re alive. You don’t know how scared I was last night when I saw your car. I love you so much, Libbie.”
Jack sat on the bed beside her and held her until her tears finally stopped. A nurse came in and took the food tray away and smiled reassuringly at him. Libbie fell asleep in his arms, and he gently laid her back against her pillows and carefully moved off her bed. He decided this would be a good time to call her parents, so he walked across the room and was almost to the door when it flew open and Randall and Abigail came storming in.
“Where’s my daughter?” Abigail screeched, glaring at Jack. “Why didn’t you call us? I had to learn from a neighbor that my daughter was in the hospital.”
“I was just going to call you,” Jack said, but a soft cry from Libbie made them all turn toward her.
Libbie sat up in bed, staring at her parents, a hazy look in her eyes.
“Libbie. My baby. What happened to you?” Abigail wailed, rushing to her side. “Look at you. My poor, poor girl.”
Randall followed her to Libbie’s bedside while Jack stood across the room, dazed. He watched as Abigail fussed and Libbie began to cry again. Anger welled up inside him. Abigail wasn’t comforting Libbie, she was agitating her.
“How are you, dear?” Randall said, his voice soothing.
“I feel terrible,” Libbie said, tears falling down her cheeks. “My head hurts so bad and my wrist hurts. And I wrecked my beautiful car, Daddy. I’m so sorry.”
“Now, now, sweetie. You don’t have to worry about that. We can replace your car. Let’s just worry about getting you well again.”
“We need to get you in a private room,” Abigail said sharply. “And I want to talk to the doctor immediately. You shouldn’t be in any pain.” She p
ushed the buzzer for the nurse. Jack stood there, dumbfounded, as he watched Abigail order the nurse around and insist Libbie be moved and that the doctor be called in right away.
“Mom, please don’t make a fuss,” Libbie said in a small voice.
“My daughter deserves the best of everything,” Abigail insisted, turning to stare at Jack. “How could you have let this happen? Where were you last night that you couldn’t drive our little girl to town? Out sitting in a bar somewhere, no doubt.”
Jack’s mouth dropped open. What was wrong with this woman? How could she be so nasty at a time like this? “I was working late. I was on my way home when I found her.”
“Work? I’ll bet you were. You should have been home with our daughter. What kind of a husband leaves his wife all alone to fend for herself?”
“Mom, it wasn’t Jack’s fault,” Libbie said, but her words sounded weak. Jack could see that all the tension in the room was wearing on her.
“We should leave her alone and let her rest,” Jack said.
“Not until I speak with the doctor,” Abigail shrieked. “You leave. I can take care of my daughter.”
Jack had never talked back to a parent in his life, but he was just about to tell her to leave when the doctor came into the room and Abigail’s wrath was turned on him instead. Jack took a deep breath and walked over to hold Libbie’s hand. By now she was crying uncontrollably, and he couldn’t get her to settle down.
A nurse came in and, on the doctor’s orders, gave Libbie a sedative. Everyone was told to leave the room, but not without first promising that Libbie would be moved to a private room. Once in the hall, Abigail turned on Jack again.
“The next time something happens to my daughter, you’d better call me immediately. Do you understand?” She turned on her heel and walked down the hallway.
Randall placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “She’s just upset, son. Don’t let it get to you. And don’t worry about the hospital bills. We’ll take care of it.” He gave a small smile and then headed in the direction his wife had gone.
Finding Libbie Page 15