Saving Sam

by Lynnette Beers

  Ceremonial and professional, the stiff-collared man cinched another belt around the lower legs. With steadied concentration, he rechecked the placement of the corpse on the gurney, tugged on each strap one more time, and released the brake next to the back wheels. He then guided the decedent out the door and into the hallway; he set a gentle hand on the lower extremities as he rounded the corner and disappeared from Sam’s view through the mirror. The procedure seemed so intimate—the final steps toward burial performed by this one lone man. Sam was right here when the old woman took her last breath a couple hours ago. She shuddered as she recalled the little boy’s wrenching sobs when his grandma passed, the child bereft with inconsolable grief.

  Sam returned to Robert’s side and watched the gentle rise of his chest as the ventilator pushed oxygen into his lungs—keeping him alive with each thrust of air. For a flash second, Sam’s chest heaved as tears brimmed her eyes. But even before a tear cascaded down her face, she composed herself and once again envisioned Robert’s Chevy being rammed off the bridge by Patterson. Weeks after state authorities pulled the truck from the Bouie River, they weren’t any closer to solving the case today than they were the week it happened. Sam’s heart once again filled with anger. She wasn’t ready to let go of hate, wasn’t ready to surrender to despair.

  Chapter Twenty

  Mississippi: Autumn, 2014

  THE OLD BUICK rumbled to a stop in the driveway. The beams from the headlights shone on the house, casting bright rays back into the car. Exhausted and hungry, Sam turned off the engine and hunched forward. She endured twelve hours in the hospital today with only a short break to get a rubbery grilled cheese sandwich and a Diet Coke in the cafeteria while the nurses bathed Robert and changed his diapers and bedding. Not quite ready to face her mom, Sam stared through the windshield and thought about all that’d happened today. She didn’t think she had it in her to handle another day at the hospital tomorrow seeing Robert unresponsive and making no progress, yet her mother continued to have faith that God would heal Robert, that he’d someday be able to come home. Sam knew that’d never happen and knew he’d never want to be dependent on machines to keep him alive.

  Sam gripped her hands around the steering wheel and sat upright. Then she thrummed her fingers on the dashboard as she built up the energy to exit the car, but her body remained frozen. She knew she should go inside to see Mama, to force small talk while they watched one of those inane reality shows, but all Sam wanted to do was lie in bed and text Kim to see if they’d made it to the base of the mountain. She could send a few texts before Kim started her ride. Some suggestive words would surely keep her mind on Sam as she pedaled up the trails. But she remained slumped in the driver’s seat and stared at her phone and scrolled through texts she and Robert exchanged days before the accident. Then, as she did almost every night since Robert’s accident, she reread his last texts:

  You won’t ever catch me in that rough ocean. No fucking way! If I swam in those huge waves, it’d be just my luck to end up breaking my neck and become paralyzed. If that happened, you might as well shoot me! Who’d ever think that my little sister would be braver than me out in the water, huh?

  Sam stared at Robert’s words. Hardly enough to be an advanced directive, Robert’s wishes weren’t clear enough to convince her mother or the doctors that he wouldn’t want to exist with so many neurological deficits. Defeated, Sam felt it to be a waste of her energy to try and convince her mother that Robert would never want to live this way. She vowed to keep quiet tomorrow at the hospital, to not try to change her mother’s view about Robert’s prognosis.

  After she slipped her phone into her backpack, Sam pried open the heavy Buick door and pushed herself up from the seat and stepped onto the gravel. Every muscle in her body ached—from her neck, to her lower back, all the way down to her calves. With her backpack slung over her shoulder, she trudged up the steps leading to the porch. Immediately, she noticed the bright candles set on the railing. The entire perimeter of the porch glowed. She paused on the stairs and glanced at the white tablecloth covering the dingy wooden table. In the center was a bottle of Chardonnay wedged in a metal bucket of ice. Next to that were two wine glasses and a platter of cheeses and meats. A huge bowl of mixed greens sat at the end of the table; other tureens of food were arrayed on a TV tray.

  Sam searched for any signs of guests. Maybe Mama had friends over from church to play cards? Or a date? Perhaps she’d gotten the nerve to ask one of the available deacons over for supper. Sam quickly rejected that idea, for her mother hadn’t dated anyone for years—content to watch her shows, bake pies and cakes, and visit Robert as often as possible. Jane had taken a leave of absence once her vacation time ran out, but with Sam home for a couple weeks, she’d be able to pick up a few shifts at the hospital and not lose more income.

  Sam clomped up the rest of the steps then set her backpack on a chair. The screen door flapped open—and there stood Annie with a wrapped loaf of French bread wedged under one arm, a bag of tortilla chips in the other, and a platter of stuffed mushrooms in her hand.

  Annie grinned and set the food on the table. “Oh, good, you’re home. I hope you’re hungry.”

  Home? Sam thought and glanced at all the food on the table. Perplexed as to why Annie would be at her mother’s house, much less preparing all this food in her kitchen, Sam wasn’t sure what to say.

  ”I fixed all your favorites. Baked brie, crab-stuffed mushrooms, blue tortilla chips with fire-roasted salsa, sliced prosciutto, and those fun little pork dumplings you like so much.”

  “The potstickers from Best Wok?” Sam dipped a finger in the sweet sauce before reaching for a dumpling. “You drove all the way to Collins to get these?”

  “Best Wok is only a short jaunt away. I’ve been working on this for a couple days, ever since you told me you were coming home. Well, your mom helped, too. I called her yesterday and told her about my idea. She fixed the stuffed mushrooms and made the salad. You know how helpless I am in the kitchen. She added some crumbled goat cheese and candied pecans to the salad. But, the wine was my idea.” Annie poured a glass of Chardonnay and handed it to Sam.

  “You found Rombauer Chardonnay in Mississippi?” Sam took a long slurp of the buttery liquid.

  “One of the officers went to Napa with his wife last month, and I asked him to stop at Rombauer Vineyards to bring me back a bottle.”

  “That’s the wine we had for our fifth anniversary...the time we drove up to Napa. I haven’t had this in years. Sounds like you’ve been planning this for more than a couple days.” Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Annie and then took another sip of Chardonnay. She surveyed the bounty of her favorite foods and took another slurp of wine, the liquid cooling her body and relaxing her muscles. The steam from the potstickers wafted over her face, drawing her closer as she hovered over the table to get a better view of the spread of delicacies.

  Annie waved her hands in the air. “Okay, I admit it. I’ve been saving the bottle for a special occasion. You think Marsha would appreciate a fine vintage like this? She’s content with her scotch and water. I know how much you like Rombauer.”

  “Me being home so I can give Mama a break while Robert’s in the hospital is a special occasion? Seriously, what’s going on?” Sam glared at Annie then glimpsed at all the food heaped on platters and in tureens. “After such a long day at the hospital, I expected to come home and have a bowl of cereal while I watched TV with Mama. I was all set on watching Survivor or Dancing with the Stars and falling asleep on the couch.”

  “If you’d prefer, I can pour you a bowl of Cheerios. You more in the mood for dinner on a TV tray?” Annie smirked and held the platter of mushrooms in front of Sam. “Or one of these out here on the porch?”

  Sam plopped a mushroom in her mouth and closed her eyes as she savored the flavorful blend of crab and seasoned bread crumbs. She took a couple more sips of Rombauer. “I never imagined coming home to a full spread like this. I figured you we
re home...with Marsha. Or is she away again?”

  “No, she’s home this week. I figured it’s time for me to be away on business for a change.”

  “You’re going away? Right now, just after I got back to Mississippi? How long will you be gone?”

  Annie clasped her hand on Sam’s arm and pulled her closer then looked at her intensely. “Babe, I’m not going anywhere. I wouldn’t leave you right now. I know how difficult today was for you, so I wanted you to have a nice night, but...I do have another reason as to why I’m here. Just hear me out, okay? Ever since you told me about Johnny Patterson being the man who...did what he did to you years ago, I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind that I want that guy behind bars.”

  Sam shuddered when she heard that name again. In September of 1990, she’d tried as best she could to erase it and his face from her memory. His image used to appear in her nightmares, but over the years that face had faded from her mind—until this week.

  “If they haven’t found him by now, how are they going to find him?” Sam said, her voice feeble and quiet. She reached for the wine then topped off her glass, the bottle already half empty.

  “I’ve contacted all law enforcement agencies within a hundred-mile radius of Covington County. We’ll expand that to two hundred miles if we still can’t locate him by tomorrow.”

  “What about the security tapes from Robert’s work? Anything more from those?”

  “On the day of the accident, right around five o’clock, he’s seen in the stolen Ford right next to Robert’s truck.”

  “Robert has photos in his phone from that last day. He was standing next to his truck in a couple of them. That means...fuck, that means he might’ve captured a photo of Johnny. Robert had no idea the guy in the truck next to him was about to try and kill him.”

  “I’ll need his phone. We’ll search through it and see if we can find any more links.” Annie stepped closer to Sam then pulled out a chair from the table. “Babe, sit down. I need you to listen, okay? Until this guy is found, I’m gonna stay here with you.”

  “You’re staying here? Why would you do that? You have a home, with Marsha. Why would you stay here?” Sam asked then slumped in the old wooden chair.

  “To protect you. Patterson could be anywhere right now. I can’t risk having him in Covington with you here alone.”

  “I’m not alone. Mama’s here.”

  “Sam, it’s best that I be here with you, just until—”

  “What if you don’t find him right away? Does that mean you...move in here, that you stay here for weeks on end? What’s Mama gonna say to that?”

  “Your mom knows I’m staying here, but she doesn’t know the real reason why. I told her my house is being renovated, and I need a place to stay for a couple weeks. Sam, I’m worried Patterson might come after you.”

  Sam took another sip of Chardonnay, the taste of it souring in her mouth, but she poured more and drank another gulp. “A couple weeks? Annie, you don’t have to do this. Having you here seems kind of extreme. I mean, today at the hospital was just me being paranoid. I didn’t mean to scare you when I left all those messages.”

  “Sam, you can’t say no to my plan. I’m here to make sure you’re okay, that you’re safe. With a squad car in the driveway when you’re here, Patterson will be less inclined to come anywhere near the house. Your mom or I will drive you to the hospital each morning, and I’ll pick you up in the evening.”

  “Jeez, what am I, twelve? Annie, this is not necessary. I’m perfectly fine driving Mama’s old clunker to and from the hospital. I should be allowed to drive myself anywhere I please.”

  “Sam, you’re not to be alone—not here, not on the drive to the hospital, not even if you go to the market.”

  Sam knew that once Annie got an idea in her head, there was no talking her out of it. One thing Sam didn’t miss about Annie was her tenaciousness. But Sam knew it was unnecessary and ridiculous to have Annie staying here with her every night until Johnny was found. Leave it to Annie to suggest she guard her here at Mama’s house and have an escort to the hospital. The drives to and from the hospital were the only times she could be alone with her thoughts—to process whatever she saw at the hospital.

  “Annie, it’s totally unnecessary for you to be here every single night,” Sam said, her voice tinged with frustration. “What if I want to go for a run or a bike ride?”

  “Then I go with you.”

  “Yeah, right. You can hardly handle fifteen minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym.”

  “You’ll be happy to know I’m up to thirty minutes on the stationary bike. I should be able to pedal on a bike for an hour or so—far behind you, I’m sure. But the point is, I won’t let you out of my sight until Patterson is found and behind bars.”

  “You make me feel like I’m on restriction or something, like I’m in the witness protection program. Today I just got a little freaked out when I thought Pastor Dan was Johnny. Really, I’m fine. It’d be kind of weird having you stay with me. I mean, you’ve got a partner, and I’ve...well, I think I’ve got a girlfriend.” Although the lines were now clear since their break-up, Sam knew how inappropriate it’d be to have Annie spending the night here—every night, sleeping in the same room and waking up together and sharing a pot of coffee and breakfast like they did years ago. But, even though she was thrilled to experience the newness of her relationship with Kim, she sometimes missed the stability she once had in a long-term relationship.

  “Sam, look at it as a law enforcement agent making sure nothing happens to you as we continue to investigate the case.”

  “You really think he’d come after me? The newspaper articles described how the accident caused irreversible neurological damage to Robert. Isn’t that enough payback for Johnny to...even the score, as he said? Why do you think he’d come after me?” Sam shuddered at the thought of Johnny coming after her again. Annie was right; maybe Johnny would come after her as well. Though the passion for Annie had mostly diminished since their break-up, Sam knew she’d find some comfort having her nearby.

  “We can’t be too sure with a guy like Patterson. If he tried to kill your brother, then there’s no telling what else he’d do.” Annie handed Sam a slice of French bread with a thick hunk of baked brie smeared on top. “Here, eat up. I’m sure you haven’t had anything good in the hospital. I got that fig spread you like. It’s there next to the other cheeses.”

  “This is a lot of food,” Sam said. After she swallowed the bread and brie, she reached for a potsticker and took a giant bite, the savory juices exploding in her mouth. She dipped the other half in the sweet sauce and plopped it in her mouth.

  The screen door creaked open as Sam’s mother peeked her head through the opening. “Y’all look like you’ve got a nice spread of food here. Annie, honey, the pie is out of the oven. I’ve set it on the rack to cool. Ice cream’s in the fridge if y’all want it a la mode.”

  “There’s pie, too?” Sam drummed her hands on the table, which caused the silverware and glasses to rattle. By now the wine had made her more than tipsy, but she continued to take sips in between bites of food. “I’m home for a couple days, and you two stuff me with food. What’s this all about? Why the banquet of my favorite stuff?”

  Jane eyed Annie then winked at her. “Samantha, you were at the hospital all day, and I don’t doubt you’ll do the same tomorrow and the day after. You deserve a nice night with Annie. Heck, even I know when it’s time to take a break, especially after the great progress Robert made this past weekend. He’s responding to stimuli. You saw how he tracked the therapist’s finger with his eyes today.”

  “Well, yeah, only as she moved his head from side to side as the other therapist put her finger right in front of his face. They’re practically doing the work for him.”

  “Samantha, that’s how therapy works. They move his head and arms to do the work, and eventually his brain will catch up. They’re retraining the neurons. Eventually things will
click. It’s still possible for him to grow new neural pathways. You have to trust the Lord as Robert’s brain and body heal.”

  “Mama, there’s been no significant change since Robert was moved from ICU. Doctor Savage today told me Robert hasn’t made any progress, that he’ll never be able to—” Sam stopped talking. It was futile trying to convince her mother of the harsh reality of Robert’s prognosis.

  “Honey, every little bit of change is progress. I sit there each day witnessing how God is watching over him. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Robert will be home soon.”

  Sam slumped forward and reached for a crab-stuffed mushroom then laughed. “Y’all are trying to make me fat. Is that the plan? There’s enough food here for a huge party. Mama, you made pie? Really, what’s going on?”

  “You can’t very well have a feast without your favorite pie.”

  “You made cherry pie with the crumble topping?”

  “Just like you like it. Honey, I’m going in to watch my shows. I still haven’t seen the first episode of this season’s Dancing with the Stars. I Tivo’d that and The Voice last week but haven’t had a chance to watch it yet. Now that Robert has shown some progress, I can relax and catch up on some television.”

  “You want some wine before you go inside?” Annie asked.

  “Naw, I’ve got my drink poured inside already. Y’all enjoy yourselves out here. I picked up a shift at the hospital tomorrow, so I’ll be on the road by six.”

  After Jane went back inside, Annie dragged a chair close to Sam and reached for a hunk of bread. She smeared a layer of fig spread on the bread then set a wedge of baked brie on top. She closed her eyes and took a nibble then followed it with a sip of Chardonnay. “Sodium, carb, and cholesterol overload,” Annie said with a mouthful. “Good thing I’m on Lipitor and going to the gym.” She leaned forward, taking a thin piece of prosciutto and putting it into her mouth, followed by quiet moans with each chew. She waved a slice of thinly-cut ham in front of Sam’s face. “Probably the best prosciutto I’ve ever had. Here, taste.”