“Ellen! What happened?”
“Oh, Jessica. It’s my own fault.”
Jessica knelt next to her aunt and saw that Ellen’s ankle had begun to swell. “You’re hurt. I’m going to call an ambulance.”
“An ambulance? No, no. If you can just help me get to the car, you can drive me to the hospital.”
Jessica shook her head. “I don’t know if I can get you down the stairs on my own.” She looked around frantically, trying to figure out a way to help her aunt. “What about Ben? Isn’t he going to be here soon? He can help me get you to the car.”
Ellen sighed. “He called and said he had to take care of some things and that he wouldn’t be able to be here until after lunch. After I hung up I just had to go into the bathroom to see how it looked and I tripped on something that was left on the floor. That’s when I did something to my ankle.”
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“Well, it’s not going to kill me, but I don’t think I can walk.”
“I’m sorry, Ellen, but I’m going to have to call an ambulance.”
“It just seems so silly to have an ambulance come for something like this. It’s not life-threatening. It just hurts.”
“Well, do you have a phone number for a nearby neighbor? We really just need someone to come help you down the stairs.”
“Look in my address book.” Ellen pointed toward her bedside table. “Look up Harold Michaelson. He lives closest.”
“Let me get some ice for your ankle first, okay?”
Ellen nodded and Jessica could see she was in more pain than she was admitting. Hurrying down to the kitchen, she created a make-shift ice pack, then wrapped it in a kitchen towel. She raced back up the stairs to her aunt’s side and gently placed it on her aunt’s ankle. “How’s that?”
“It’s cold.”
Jessica bit her lip, worried about the pain her aunt must be in. “I’m going to call your neighbor now.” A moment later she was explaining their situation to the neighbor, who promised to come right over with one of his teenage sons to get Ellen down the stairs and into the car.
Within twenty minutes Jessica was on the way to the hospital with Ellen lying on the back seat. They pulled up to the emergency room door a short time later and a pair of attendants brought out a wheelchair, and soon Ellen was being examined by the on-duty doctor.
Two hours later Ellen had had her ankle x-rayed and it was determined that she would need surgery to repair a torn ligament. The surgery was scheduled for later that week, after the swelling had gone down. In the meantime, the doctor wrapped her ankle and placed a brace on it, then sent her home to rest and to keep her foot elevated.
“Can you believe this?” Ellen said as Jessica drove them home. “What a stupid, stupid accident.”
“I’m sorry you have to go through this. I know it must be very frustrating.”
“I’m afraid we’ll have to set up a bed for me in the living room. I don’t think I can navigate those stairs right now.”
“Don’t worry about a thing, Ellen. I’ll take care of it for you.”
They pulled up to the house, and Jessica helped Ellen out of the car and up the few steps to the porch, then helped her settle into a chair in the sunroom, elevating her foot.
“Oh, Jessica. What would I do without you?”
“I’m sure you would manage fine without me.” But secretly Jessica was glad she had been there. The thought of her aunt getting hurt when no one was home to help her was frightening.
When Ben arrived that afternoon, Jessica had him and his assistant move some of the living room furniture into one side of the room, and then carry down a twin bed from one of the unused guest rooms.
The remodeling work continued, and Jessica tried to work amid the racket, as well as taking care of her aunt, who mostly stayed in the sunroom where she read or napped.
The morning of the surgery Jessica woke early to help her aunt get packed and ready to go. Though the type of surgery she was having was often done as an outpatient procedure, the hospital had opted to keep her overnight, which made Jessica glad since she felt a bit overwhelmed at the idea of caring for the wound.
“I know Mom would have liked to have come,” Jessica said as they pulled up to the hospital.
“When she asked if I wanted her to come, I told her that there was no need since you’re here. This is really a very routine procedure.”
“I’m glad you’re not nervous.”
“Who said I’m not nervous?”
Jessica smiled as she pulled up to the entrance. “I’m going to get a wheelchair. I’ll be right back.” A few minutes later, with the help of an orderly, she helped her aunt out of the car and into the wheelchair.
While her aunt was in surgery, Jessica tried to read a novel she’d brought along, but had trouble concentrating, worried how the surgery was going. Eventually the surgeon came out and told her everything had gone well and that her aunt was in recovery. Relieved, she read until a nurse came to let her know that her aunt was settled in her room and Jessica could come see her.
“How are you feeling?” she asked as she sat at her aunt’s bedside.
“Pretty good, considering.” Ellen pointed to her leg, which rested on a stack of pillows. “But once the pain meds wear off, I might be singing a different tune.”
“I’m sure they’ll take good care of you.”
“Have you been here the whole time?”
“Of course.”
“Well, that was very sweet, Jessica.”
She smiled at her aunt and noticed how exhausted she looked. “I should probably let you get some rest.”
Ellen nodded. “I am feeling rather tired. Would you mind going home and checking on Ben?”
“Yes. You get some sleep and I’ll be back later to see how you’re doing.”
Ellen’s eyes closed before Jessica left the room.
As soon as Jessica walked in the house, she could tell something was different. Though she could hear Ben and his assistant talking, there were no other sounds. And then she noticed that it was darker than usual. She flipped the light switch at the base of the stairs, but nothing happened.
“Uh oh,” she murmured, before climbing the stairs to where the men were working. “How’s it going, guys?”
“Hi there, Jessica. How did the surgery go?”
“It went really well. Ellen is resting. How are things going here? I noticed the hall light-switch isn’t working.”
Ben glanced at his assistant before looking at Jessica. “We ran into a small problem.”
Jessica’s eyebrows went up. “Oh?”
“There seems to be a bit of a problem with your electrical wiring.”
“What do you mean? What happened?”
“Well, Matt and I were going great guns here, running the wire for the new lights Ellen wanted, when we discovered that some of the wiring had been chewed on by mice or some other small critter. As we were repairing that, we quickly realized that the wiring in this old place is in bad shape and needs to be replaced.”
“Oh, no.” Jessica sighed. “So is the power just off in the hallway?”
“I’m afraid not. We had to turn off the main breaker while we worked, and it’s going to have to stay off until we’re done.”
“Isn’t there some way we can have some of the electricity on?”
“Unfortunately, right now it’s an all or nothing proposition. Not only that, but this old wiring is a fire hazard and it would be irresponsible for me to turn it back on in its current condition. I’m really sorry, Jessica.”
“How long will it take you to fix it?”
“Truth to tell, I don’t think I’m the best person for this particular job. Doing work like this on a house as old as this is somewhat of a specialty.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand why you can’t do it.” Jessica felt panic fluttering in her stomach at the thought of her aunt having to come home to a house without electricity.
“D
on’t worry. I know someone who can get the job done right. I’ll have him start first thing in the morning. He’s done this kind of thing before, so I know he’ll do a great job.”
Relieved, Jessica gave him a tentative smile. “Okay. Good.”
That night Jessica went to bed early and tried to ignore the creaks and groans of the old house. Somehow the sounds seemed creepier with the power out, and she was glad to have Hudson snuggled against her as she slept.
~*~*~
“Are you sure you want to go to the house and not a hotel?” Jessica asked Ellen the next morning as they packed her few items and waited for the doctor to give her the final okay to come home.
“Yes, I’m sure. We can get by without electricity for a few days, don’t you think? It will be like an adventure.”
“I guess so. And I suppose I could use a few days away from the computer.”
“Oh, Jessica. I forgot about your job.”
Jessica smiled. “That’s okay. I can go to the library and use their Wi-Fi if the electrician is taking too long.”
A short time later they pulled onto the gravel road and headed toward the house. As they got closer, Jessica saw a familiar truck parked in front and felt her heart sink. Hoping she was wrong, she didn’t say anything until they were close enough that she knew there was no mistake.
The truck parked out front had Judd Construction stenciled on the door. And Ben’s truck was absent.
# # #
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Love At Last (Lily's Story, Book 3) Page 31