Knit to Be Tied

by Maggie Sefton

  “Yeah, I think he’ll be doing better in another few days. Once he’s transferred to the rehab center, he can get settled in. And the physical therapists are going to start working with him tomorrow.”

  “Wow. That soon?” Kelly was surprised.

  “Oh, yes. That’s the usual routine after surgery, especially when the patient is strong and healthy and normally physically fit. Greg will have PT in the morning and occupational therapy in the afternoon. Every day. Seven days a week.”

  “Wow. What’s occupational therapy? I thought everything was physical therapy.”

  “Occupational therapy helps patients learn how to do the ordinary daily routines like brushing their hair, brushing teeth, moving around, getting dressed. Stuff like that.”

  Kelly pictured all the daily routines and movements and motions that she did as a part of getting showered and dressed every morning. “How in the world can Greg do any of that? He’s got a broken arm and a leg in a cast!”

  “Well, they won’t start on getting dressed right away. Both physical therapist and occupational therapist will probably start with simple movements with his good arm. Nothing strenuous, of course. They’ll be careful, don’t worry.”

  “Okay. I’ll take your word for it. Boy, I forgot about all that routine stuff. Good thing Greg is a guy.”

  Lisa gave a short laugh. “Why’s that?”

  “He won’t have to put on makeup,” Kelly said as she accepted the refilled coffee mug from Julie. The sound of her friend’s laughter drifted over the phone.

  • • •

  “Saying good-bye to summer, Kelly?” Mimi called as she walked through the patio garden to the small classroom cottage.

  Kelly looked up. “Bite your tongue, Mimi,” she called, then beckoned Mimi over to her outdoor table in the shade.

  “This is a great place to work on your accounts,” Mimi said, glancing about the garden as she joined Kelly. “Even I wouldn’t mind paying the shop’s bills out here in the summer shade.”

  “Pull up a chair, and I’ll update you on Lisa’s phone call a few minutes ago.”

  “Oh, yes, please do,” Mimi said, her smile vanishing as she settled into a wrought iron chair across the table from Kelly.

  “Lisa said Greg’s fully awake now. All effects of anesthesia and the first heavy-duty painkillers have worn off. Unfortunately, she said that also means he can really feel all of his injuries.” Kelly made a face.

  “Ohhhhh, poor dear,” Mimi said sorrowfully, her face reflecting her concern.

  “I know. I feel the same. Lisa also said that Greg will be transferred from the hospital to the rehab center over there on the west side of town.”

  “So soon after surgery?” Mimi’s eyes went wide in surprise.

  “Apparently patients don’t stay in hospitals as long as they used to years ago. Doctors get the severely injured ones like Greg transferred to rehab centers. I remember Steve and I went to see a friend of his over in one of the assisted-living facilities in town. That guy only had a broken arm and shoulder, but he lived alone so he couldn’t really do a lot for himself at first. He was over at assisted living for about three weeks as I recall.”

  “You’re right,” Mimi said, glancing off into the garden. “I’ve heard others speak about the shorter hospital stays. Even new mothers are sent home the next day.”

  Kelly had to smile. “Well, if they’re not sick, they’re probably anxious to return home, especially with a new baby. Anyway, physical therapists are going to start working with Greg tomorrow.”

  “Goodness. So soon?”

  “That’s exactly what I said, Mimi.” Kelly smiled. “Lisa reassured me that’s the usual routine after surgery, especially when the patient is strong and healthy and normally physically fit. Greg will have PT in the morning and occupational therapy in the afternoon. Every day. Seven days a week.”

  “Oh, yes. Occupational therapy. That’s the normal everyday things we do without thinking.”

  “Well, you’re smarter than I am, Mimi. I had to ask Lisa. Things like brushing your hair, brushing teeth, moving around, getting dressed. Things like that.”

  “Oh, my, it sounds like Greg will be there a long time. Several weeks. Over a month.”

  Just then, Lisa’s voice floated out into the garden. “Hey there, you two. Mind if I join you?”

  Kelly swiveled in her chair and smiled at her friend standing in the driveway beside her car. “Absolutely,” Kelly called, beckoning her over. “I was just updating Mimi with what little I knew about Greg. You can give her all the details.”

  Lisa hastened through the café garden patio without a glance to the surrounding greenery. “I’m so glad I found the two of you together,” she said, depositing her tapestry bag on the table.

  Julie approached them. “Hey, Lisa, do you want something cold to drink? It’s starting to get hot outside.”

  “Actually, I do. Bring me a huge iced tea, would you please? Thanks.”

  “Sure thing,” Julie replied as she continued walking through the garden, ever-present coffeepot in hand.

  Lisa sank into a chair across from Kelly and Mimi. “Boy, I can really use that iced tea about now.”

  “You do look frazzled, dear,” Mimi said in a solicitous voice.

  Lisa gave a short laugh. “Frazzled, huh? That just about sums it up, Mimi.”

  “Has Greg been transferred to the rehab center yet?” Kelly asked, taking a sip of her iced coffee. Thankfully, their table was still nicely shaded by the overarching cottonwood trees and smaller maple trees. The August sun may not have been as intense as July’s, but it was pretty close. Kelly figured her dermatologist would be pleased she was in the shade.

  “He’s being transferred now. That’s why I thought this would be the perfect time to come over here and see you guys.” Lisa released a long sigh. “And catch a breath. I’ve missed classes for two days, but my friends have e-mailed me their notes and stuff. So I’ve been studying while I’ve been sitting in chairs at the hospital. Most of the time, Greg is sleeping. Thankfully. That way he can’t feel how uncomfortable he is.”

  “You poor thing. Have you had anything to eat? You look more than frazzled to me.” Mimi reached over and placed her hand on Lisa’s forearm.

  “I agree, Lisa. I’ll bet you can’t remember the last time you ate something,” Kelly commented.

  Lisa gave a wan little smile. “I had some soup at the hospital cafeteria last night. Ohhhh, and I had a doughnut this morning as I drove over to the hospital.”

  “That’s it?” Kelly stared, astounded. Lisa was always so sensible.

  Lisa shrugged. “That and coffee.”

  “Oh, my goodness, Lisa. That’s not enough—” Mimi said before her cell phone’s ring cut her short. She slipped the phone from her pocket and glanced at the screen. “Oh, my, this is another vendor I’ve been trying to contact.” She swiftly rose from the chair. “Kelly, you make sure Lisa gets some real food, will you? She needs sustenance with all the stress that she’s under right now.”

  “Consider it done, Mimi,” Kelly said as Mimi hastened from the table. Catching Julie’s eye, Kelly beckoned her over to the table. “You need nourishment. And not just the eighth food group, coffee.”

  At that, Lisa gave a short laugh. “Spoken by the queen of caffeine.”

  “Believe me, I know whereof I speak,” Kelly lectured with a raised brow. “I’m ordering you one of Eduardo’s Wicked Burgers, and you’re going to eat it right now. There’s no way you can continue going back and forth to the hospital and keeping up with your grad courses without food.”

  “There’s no way I could eat one of those!” Lisa stared at Kelly, clearly astonished by the suggestion.

  “Then you’ll eat what you can. And I’m going to sit right here with you while you do,” Kelly declared, deliberately using her best
schoolmarm voice. Glancing at the ground beside Lisa’s chair, Kelly reached over and snatched Lisa’s tapestry bag and dropped it on the other side of her own chair. Out of Lisa’s reach.

  “Hey, I need that,” Lisa protested mildly, waving her hand.

  “Not right now. Right now, you’re going to eat,” Kelly ordered. Julie walked up then with a tall glass of iced tea. “Julie, Lisa needs food immediately. Tell Eduardo to look out the window into the patio and see how weak and puny Lisa looks and ask him to serve up one of his Wicked Burgers, please. The faster the better. Lisa’s wasting away even as we speak.”

  Julie grinned. “Oh, we can’t have that. She is looking tired and pale.” Julie peered at Lisa as she handed her the glass. “Yep. You need some of Eduardo’s good food to revive you. I’ll tell him to get on that burger right away.” With that, she sped off.

  Lisa wagged her head. “You two are impossible, you know that? You also know how I hate to waste food.”

  “Believe me, it won’t be wasted. Frankly, I think your innate good sense brought you over here so you could obtain nourishment.” Kelly gave her a big grin.

  “Ahhh, the queen of justification strikes again,” Lisa said with a chuckle.

  “I thought you said I was the queen of caffeine. Do I get two crowns?”

  “Neither of those queens has a crown. Caffeine girl has a coffee cup. And justification . . . well, I’ll have to think on that.” Lisa leaned back in the chair with a sigh. “You know, now that I’m sitting down, I realize that I really am tired.”

  Kelly took another deep drink of iced coffee and noticed Jennifer heading their way with a plate totally filled with a large burger.

  “I heard there was a starving physical therapist outside who was in desperate need of sustenance,” Jennifer said with a smile. “And you’re in luck. Eduardo had just finished grilling some burgers. So voilà! Eduardo’s famous Wicked Burger.” She set the plate in front of Lisa with a flourish.

  “Oh, my Lord,” Lisa exclaimed. “I forgot how big they are. I can’t eat this.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Eat what you can,” Jennifer said, placing the empty tray under her arm. “We don’t want you fainting over a PT client in the midst of a session.”

  Lisa gave a little snort. “I gave all my appointments to one of the other therapists. So I won’t be falling over anyone.”

  “Except yourself if you don’t eat,” Kelly admonished. “Now, take a bite. Those things are beyond yummy. Eduardo puts grilled onions on there, too.”

  “Enjoy!” Jennifer said as she headed toward other customer tables.

  “Okaaaaaay,” Lisa said, carefully lifting the huge burger with both hands. Juice dripped down onto the plate. She took a bite. Then closed her eyes. “Ummmmmm,” she hummed in obvious enjoyment.

  “Told you,” Kelly teased. “Take a bigger bite next time because those grilled onions are in the middle.”

  Lisa did as instructed, and this bite elicited a louder hum of enjoyment. Kelly sipped her iced coffee and smiled as Lisa continued to savor the Wicked Burger. After several minutes, she heard a voice call from the driveway.

  “Hey, Lisa, do you have a moment?”

  Kelly recognized Lisa’s classmate fellow grad student Nancy Marsted waving at them from the sidewalk leading to the shop.

  Lisa glanced over. “Oh, my. There’s Nancy. She’s left several messages on my cell phone and I just haven’t had time to call her back.”

  “You’ve been kind of preoccupied, Lisa. I already told Nancy you were at the hospital and what happened to Greg.” Nancy started walking toward the gate that led into the café patio garden.

  “Oh, Lord, I don’t have the energy to counsel her now,” Lisa said with a worried expression.

  “Counsel her? I thought she was a fellow psychology student.”

  “She is, but I’ve become like a big sister to her. Nancy’s kind of needy. And she comes to me with all the dramas in her life. I’ve heard everything about that boyfriend of hers in great detail. The one who was hit by a car.”

  Kelly couldn’t miss her friend’s dejected look. “You want me to steer her away? I already did that when Greg was first in the hospital. Nancy came looking for you, and I told her you weren’t going to be around for a while because of Greg’s accident. You were at the hospital and then you were going to supervise his rehab. So let me run interference for you again so you can finish. I’ll ask her lots of questions and distract her until you’ve eaten every bit of that burger.”

  Lisa gave a crooked smile. “Thanks, Kelly. I’m amazed I’ve eaten so much already.”

  “Leave it to me,” Kelly said, waving Nancy over to their table as she approached. “Hey, Nancy, have a seat. Lisa’s taking a lunch break because she hasn’t eaten in two days, so we won’t interrupt her until she’s finished.”

  Nancy’s eyes flew wide. “Two days! That’s awful, Lisa.”

  “That’s exactly what I told her,” Kelly said, leaning over the table and focusing her brightest client smile on Nancy. “So how are your classes going?”

  “Uhhhhh . . . fine. They’re fine,” Nancy said, glancing from Kelly to Lisa and back.

  Kelly switched to a more fertile subject, sure to capture Nancy’s attention. “By the way, I mentioned to Lisa that your boyfriend was the victim of the hit-and-run accident. You were very lucky you weren’t with him that night. You could have been killed, too. Or severely injured.”

  Nancy looked up, startled. “I . . . I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Well, I bet your father was happy you were no longer seeing that guy anymore. Your dad’s a counselor, right?”

  “Yes, yes, he is.” Nancy glanced away. “And that’s what I came to talk to Lisa about.”

  “Something about your father? What was it?” Kelly continued to try and deflect Nancy’s laser beam focus on Lisa. She’d noticed Lisa had almost completely finished the burger.

  “I went to the Halftime Bar and tried to talk to Neil, but he turned his back on me. Said he didn’t want to have anything to do with me or the baby. He even said he wasn’t the father! Right there in front of all those people! I called my dad right afterwards and told him everything. I was crying, and Dad got real upset. He said he was going to talk with Neil again.” Nancy glanced anxiously from Kelly to Lisa.

  Kelly paused, wondering what to say. Then Lisa dabbed a napkin to her mouth and focused on Nancy. “Forgive me, Nancy, but Greg’s accident has totally wiped a lot of stuff out of my head. I can’t remember what you told me about your father’s encounter with your boyfriend. Are you sure your father actually talked to Neil at the bar?” Then she popped the last bite of burger into her mouth.

  Clearly grateful that she’d gotten Lisa’s attention, Nancy blurted out. “I know he did! Dad told me he found Neil at the bar that night and tried to talk to him. But Neil didn’t want to listen. He even turned his back on my father.” Nancy’s worried expression intensified. “And that’s when my dad got mad. He told me he accused Neil of abandoning me. And . . . and our baby. And Dad said he kind of lost it then.”

  Nancy’s eyes started to tear up, Kelly noticed. “Well, that’s really understandable, Nancy. You’re his daughter and he’s worried about you. What do you think your father meant when he said he ‘lost it’?”

  “He said he yelled at Neil . . . and got really mad at him. Dad didn’t say anything more. But he looked really, really sad.” Nancy started chewing her bottom lip.

  Curious, Kelly asked, “Do you think your dad got in a fight with Neil?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure if he stayed at the bar longer or what. That’s what’s worrying me. And I’m pretty sure he’s started drinking again. That really worries me, too.” She looked away.

  “I forgot you told me about your father drinking again. Was his speech slurred or something?” Lisa asked after she took a
sip of water.

  Nancy looked back at Lisa then Kelly. “No, his speech was okay. But I think I smelled it. I could always smell liquor on Dad’s breath when he was drinking before.”

  Alcohol and anger, Kelly mused. A dangerous combination. “That’s too bad. Lisa told me your dad was a recovering alcoholic.”

  “Yes, and he’s been sober five years,” Nancy said, her face clearly revealing her worry.

  An idea popped into Kelly’s head. “Didn’t you tell us that your father was a counselor over at Alcoholics Anonymous?”

  “Yes, but I don’t know if they’ll let him continue now that he’s started drinking again.”

  “I have a good friend who also works with AA here in town, and she’s a recovering alcoholic, too. Let me ask her what the procedure is when someone falls off the wagon, as they say. Surely, that’s happened to others. Let me see what she says.”

  Nancy’s big blue eyes widened. “Ohhhh, would you? Thank you so much, Kelly. I really appreciate that. My dad has gotten kind of quiet lately, too. That’s another thing that’s bothered me. Usually my dad is outgoing and wants to talk, but not now.” She glanced out into the garden.

  “It sounds like your father is feeling bad about slipping back into the old habits,” Lisa said quietly. “He’s probably feeling guilty, too, because he can tell he’s disappointed you. Just give him time. I’m sure with AA’s help, he’ll get back on track.”

  “I hope so,” Nancy said.

  Kelly could hear a tiredness in Lisa’s voice, so she decided to run interference once again. “I’ll make sure I talk with my AA friend, Nancy, and I’ll let you know. You can usually see me here at the shop or the café, working on my accounts outside in this beautiful weather.” She gave Nancy a big smile. “Meanwhile, I’m going to the hospital to check on Greg while Lisa goes home and takes a nap. She’s exhausted.” It was a blatant lie, but Kelly figured it was the easiest way to rescue therapist Lisa from needy Nancy. She closed her laptop and started gathering her files from the table.

  Thankfully, Nancy got the message, Kelly noticed. “Well, I’ve got to get back to the university. I have a class in an hour. Are you coming, Lisa?”