by Barbara Ebel
“I wish I knew,” Danny responded. “But I’ll still keep my faith. Prayer can’t hurt a thing.”
Casey nodded. “Put in an extra prayer for me. I’m going to talk to your attorney about this.” He wiggled his bandaged finger.
“Mark already knows about Rachel,” Danny said, “so it shouldn’t take long. But he’ll tell you that legal proceedings involving morally-bankrupt people are never easy.”
Chapter 8
Danny woke extra early, hoping to see David in the hospital before going to the office.
But he still didn’t know what Sara’s plans were for the day and he wanted to give her the support she may need after yesterday’s tragedy. He contemplated calling Bruce Garner, the previous head of the group, to fill in for his appointments. Bruce worked there a few hours each week, so he may be willing to help Danny out.
As he pulled on a pair of trousers, Sara stirred. He zipped up and sat on the edge of the bed as she rubbed her eyes.
“Can you bring me into the hospital this morning with you?” she asked. “My obstetrician wants to fit me into her schedule since I need a D&C and it’s a quick procedure. I can’t eat or drink before going in.”
“Yes. We’ll go together. I’ll stay with you as much as I can. I’m going to call Bruce and ask him to fill in the entire day for me.”
“I have to call school, too,” she said, sitting up.
Putting his arm around her back, Danny pulled her in close. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I was looking forward to another child, too.”
“I know you were. We both were.”
-----
When Danny called Bruce, he was happy to help out. Sara contacted the principal to request a sick day and then they both headed to the hospital. By mid-morning, Sara donned a surgical gown and was soon groggy with sedation. Danny kissed her good-bye as they wheeled her back to the OR and then he went upstairs to the ICU to check on David.
Danny brought the chart inside the room where the respiratory therapist was fine-tuning ventilator settings. “The morning’s blood gas is back, Dr. Tilson,” he said, handing him the sheet.
“Thank you,” Danny said as he scanned the lab values. “You can keep the present settings. His CO2 is as low as I want it.”
After looking at all the nurses’ notes from overnight, Danny scrutinized every aspect of David’s care. The youth’s lab values were decent and the early morning’s CT scan on the computer looked no worse than the day before. David’s physique was still robust, his arms nicely toned, and his legs muscular from playing sports. He felt rather sad because he knew the longer David stayed bedridden in his present condition, the more likely he would look more aged and sickly.
When Danny finished his exam, he stood against the sink and called Annabel on her cell phone. At least he hadn’t found her in David’s room; perhaps she’d gone back to class today. There was no answer so he left her a message … the second one of the morning.
-----
“Sara did fine and she’s ready to go home,” a nurse told Danny when she exited the recovery room. He followed her back where he found Sara failing miserably at getting dressed behind the curtain.
“Let me help you,” he said. “You’re probably still groggy.” She sat in a plastic chair; Danny crouched down, gathered her pants at her ankles and slipped them up. She held onto him as he pulled them over her high-cut underwear. “Let’s go home,” he whispered in her ear.
A volunteer wheeled Sara to the lobby entrance and Danny helped her into the car. The clouds hung like soggy cotton balls and a misty rain washed the car as they pulled away from the front door.
After they rode in silence for half the trip, Danny finally spoke. “Are you okay?”
Extending her left arm, she looked at him. “I didn’t tell you but I had names picked out.”
“Would you like to tell me what they were?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter now. I think I’ll keep them to myself.”
“Okay.”
“By the way,” Danny said, “Mary and Casey give you their love and condolences; they said for you to come home to them. Mary can keep her eye on you this afternoon. I’d like to go with Casey to see Mark Cunningham about his accident.”
“I couldn’t ask for a better sister-in-law, could I?”
“Maybe since we’re not married, she’s not technically your sister-in-law but we could change that.”
“I do consider her as good as a sister-in-law. She was before and she still is. That’s a sneaky way for you to try and have us remarry.” She gave him a small smile.
Danny took her left hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m sorry. You know I love you, don’t you?”
“I think so,” she said, pressing back. “Yes. I’m sure of it.” Her smile grew wider. “And yes, let’s visit with Mary and Casey when we get home,” she added.
-----
Danny left Dakota and Julia downstairs with the babysitter while Sara rested on the upstairs couch. To be close to her, Mary sat on the floor and quietly sketched on a canvas propped against the coffee table.
By mid-afternoon, Danny and Casey left for Mark Cunningham’s office. The rain had let up but the roads were still wet. They dodged a puddle of water outside of Mark’s building and went upstairs.
As usual in his attorney’s waiting room, Danny glanced at his watch every five minutes. “It’s better to meet Mark over a meal,” Danny said. “He shows up on time.”
“In all these years,” Casey said, “I don’t think I’ve ever met your attorney except in a restaurant as he left.”
“And you’ve never accompanied me to any of my voluminous court appearances. From a malpractice case, to divorce proceedings, to child support issues, to being accused of going against visitation rules and keeping Julia, to who knows what else. I’ve put Mark’s kids through college.”
Casey ran his hand over his crew cut and laughed. “And this is the first time I’m ever seeing a lawyer. I guess the more powerful you are, the bigger target you make so that’s why you need to keep an attorney employed.”
The door opened and a woman hurried through the room, the man behind her trying to keep up. “I don’t know why you need a pre-nup anyway,” she said.
“A guy can’t be too careful these days,” he said as they exited.
Danny laughed. “They’re starting off on a slippery slide.”
“Well, there you go,” Casey said. “They’re not even married yet, he hasn’t had an affair yet like you, and they already have a lawyer.” He poked Danny in the arm.
“Exactly. Mark gets business no matter what. I bet the bad economy didn’t even put a dent in his cash flow.”
“It probably made it better,” Casey said.
“You can go in now,” the receptionist said, looking over the counter.
With quick baby steps, Mark came around his desk when they entered his office. Over sixty years old, his full head of hair was now showing its first sprinkling of gray.
“Any friend of Danny’s is a client of mine,” Mark said, taking Casey’s outstretched hand. “I hear you’re a paramedic and the brother-in-law.”
Casey nodded as Mark pointed to the two leather chairs.
“I was just telling Casey how busy you are,” Danny said.
“No different than the both of you. We’re all in the business of putting people’s lives back together, no matter how you look at it. And the worse they’ve fallen, the bigger our jobs.”
“But Mark,” Danny said, “most of my patients have a definitive end point in their care and I don’t see them again. Divorce court and custody issues, depending on the nastiness of one of the parties, can go until a child turns eighteen or twenty-one. If a child is two when the parent’s divorce, it can be upwards to eighteen years that one of them will be paying your bills.”
Mark smiled as he lowered into his chair. “You’re correct. And to be candid about it, most people don’t know that when they file for divorce. Not o
nly that, but look at your situation. Rachel is a noose around your neck and you never exchanged vows. Like I said a long time ago, men should keep their dicks in their pants and not be putting them where they don’t belong.”
“But never mind,” Mark added. “You can always go to law school if you want. I’ll write either of you a letter of recommendation.”
Danny laughed. “That’s generous of you but I think I’ll stick with a surgical drill.”
“Suit yourself. Now, I understand you need my services,” Mark said, looking at Casey.
Casey raised his bandaged left hand. “I lost part of a finger under a hood of a car. The driver who started the car and caused this showed no empathy. It was but an inconvenient moment in her charade of a life. I’d like to recover my medical bills.”
“I’m glad to hear it wasn’t your fault.” He slipped a legal pad in front of him. “Let me get a few basics. What’s your full name?”
“Casey Hamilton.”
“And what’s the finger-chopper-offer’s name, the respondent?”
“Rachel Hendersen.”
Mark sat tall. “Oh. I take that back. It was your fault. Any man who sticks one of their appendages into anything of hers is asking for trouble.”
Casey frowned and Danny put his hands over his eyes.
-----
“You never told me,” Casey said when they left Mark’s office, “what an interesting character your lawyer is.”
“But his humor and bluntness can be painful.”
“He says what others dare not say, like an echo of your subconscious.”
They both took the staircase and, at the bottom, Casey turned on his cell phone and listened to his voicemail while they walked to the car.
“That’s too bad,” Casey said after deleting the message. “It was my partner. I won’t see him before he leaves. He wanted to tell me that my new partner’s name is Tony Dixon and everyone is looking forward to my return.”
“That means the health-care females who have anything to do with you.”
Casey shrugged his shoulders.
“Have you ever noticed,” Danny asked, “that there is just a fraction of a percent of men who reach fifty and age to be more handsome than they previously were?”
“Like a few movie stars.”
“Well, ask Mary or Sara and they’ll tell you that that’s what’s going to happen to you.”
-----
Rachel left the medical center’s children’s hospital at 4:00 p.m. When she got to her Mazda, the first thing she did inside the car was to pull out the small calendar in her purse and crossed off the day’s eight hours of community service as sentenced by the judge. It was the most pleasure she had derived from this Saturday so far.
After all, she thought, I’m not a fan of helping disabled kids reach out for their toys in the playroom or assist the physical therapists in teaching those with genetic disorders how to walk or wipe slobber off of youngsters with mental problems. Her skills were as an operating room tech making a salary in an outpatient surgical center and this mandate they gave her was just a bunch of b.s.
Yet she’d grin and bear it for three months as it beat going to trial for the offenses she’d been charged with. Phil Beckett had done a good job getting that prosecutor off her back but she had done as good a job in getting the judge to see her point of view so that he had gone soft on her.
She put on her sunglasses and drove away from the medical complex, the sun warming the inside of her car. Tomorrow’s visitation with Julia was all set except for the last and most important detail. She wasn’t happy about doing it because she’d already gotten rid of one dog – Dakota - in the past few years. However, now the importance of getting another was paramount.
Not very far from her apartment complex was the county shelter. Dogs get recycled, she thought, no sense in finding an expensive purebred this time. If she got a dog that had an unstable history already, the happier it’ll be just to sit in her apartment during her long working days; it will be there mainly to enamor Julia anyway.
Rachel pulled into the small parking area in front of the building. For a community shelter, it wasn’t too shabby. Some rich person had probably screwed their bratty kids, she thought, and dumped their trust money inheritance right into the pet facility.
That’s the kind of thing that she should do. Find some terminally-ill guy dreaming of a woman – one who stupidly believes she would want to help him into his chair and think he’s magnificent. She would be as good a charity for some man’s will as any.
All she did was open the front door but it created a cacophony of barking in the room behind the front lobby.
“Hi,” a booted man said as he restocked pamphlets on a table. “We’re closing in an hour. Are you here to look at cats or dogs? Or donate supplies?”
“I’d like to see your dogs. If you have something that a cat didn’t just drag in here, I want to surprise my little girl tomorrow.”
“A dog’s for life, though.” He gave her a questioning look.
“Sure. I know that.” She tapped her foot.
“Come on then. Happy to oblige.” He led her to the back; kennels lined the right and left walls, twelve in all. Some had two dogs to a pen.
“Looks pretty clean in here, especially for me dropping in unannounced.”
“We try. Walk around. I’d bet most of these dogs would make a fine pet.”
“I don’t want anything too big. My daughter is small and I live in an apartment.” She walked down the right side. Pitt bulls, terriers, big dog retriever types, and a mixed poodle either ignored her or barked. Halfway through the other side, she stopped.
With pleading eyes, a white, brown and black dog wagged its tail at her. “Looks like a beagle,” she said.
“It may even be a purebred. She’s a beauty. Gives us no trouble. We’ve only had her three days.”
“Where from?”
“Showed up on a man’s farm without a collar. He had enough pets to take care of.”
Rachel stooped down and put her hand through the bars.
“She’s just short of a year old. Almost fully grown at eighteen pounds. The breed is easygoing and she’ll make a nice family addition. She’s fixed, too.”
Rachel stood up; the dog sat down but didn’t take her eyes off of her.
“All right. Good. She may be the perfect thing.”
“You mean dog.”
After the two adults took care of the paperwork, the wide-eyed little dog took a car ride home to Rachel’s apartment.
Chapter 9
Danny helped Julia put on leggings and a cotton dress while Dakota laid nearby, his head between his paws. “Are you ignoring Dakota these days?” Danny asked.
Julia grimaced and turned away from the dog.
“Dakota loves you. I think he misses being your good buddy.”
The dog pounced up and nuzzled his head into both of them.
“See?” Danny said.
As she started walking away from Danny, Julia extended her elbow into Dakota.
“Please don’t push Dakota away like that when he’s being good.” Danny patted the dog on his head and followed his daughter. “Let’s go to church now and then you’ll see your mom.”
“I don’t want to go to church,” she mumbled.
“That’s where we’re going, sweetheart.” Outside the bedroom, Danny handed her a jacket and then carried her to the car.
With such a terrible week, Danny was going to Sunday mass no matter what. Once there, he lit a votive candle for David Bell. When he finished, he put his arm around Julia; she’d been fidgeting the whole time.
“Daddy, I want to light that one and that one,” she pointed. “Mommy doesn’t just light one candle.”
“I thought you two didn’t go to church,” he said questioningly.
Julia clammed shut and Danny shook his head. Maybe that’s another reason to call this age the ‘terrible twos,’ he thought; they’re impossible to figure o
ut. He added three people to his prayers: Sara, Annabel, and Julia.
Danny realized Sara had gone through mourning for her unborn baby and, although she’d gone back to work by the end of the week, she was still depressed.
And then there was the issue with Annabel. He had left several messages for her but she was ignoring his calls. It seemed like she wanted him to feel guilt over David. But he refused to doubt his innocent role in her boyfriend’s injury and Danny would not allow his teenage daughter to convict him otherwise.
Next came Julia. Although Rachel was her mother, she was still a Tilson and he didn’t like her newfound attitude of shunning the family.
Clasping his hands together in prayer, Danny whispered, “I’m sorry. I have a plate full. But all my prayers are for others. He smiled; he was praying like he did when he was a little kid. Interesting, he thought. He guessed it was common for human beings to go back to their roots.
-----
Rachel lingered outside in her carport waiting for Danny to drop off Julia for visitation. She wanted to sweep her daughter away from him without much of a discussion, especially anything to do with her private life in case he asked.
She was glad Danny knew nothing about the charges that had been brought against her after Leo Ramsey’s conviction and the grand jury case, or that she was ‘serving time’ with community service. It had been easy to keep it all quiet. Lucky for her, it all stemmed from Knoxville and not Nashville. If she implemented her plan, she couldn’t afford for Danny to get wind of it or he would use any or all of it against her.
The Lexus pulled down the street and Danny got out. He unstrapped Julia and she immediately scrambled out of the car. “I think she’s looking forward to the visit,” he said as he approached Rachel. “You look tired,” he added, noticing her more carefully. “It’s not like you.”
“You’d look tired, too, if you had as many problems as I do.”