Ding Dong!! Is She Dead?

by Alathia Morgan

  “I think I speak for both your mother and I, since you have robbed her of speech; when I say it’s about time that you got serious with a girl that has some sense in her head.” James gave G.G. a loving smile.

  “I believe that I will go and take a nap with your mother, while you check on Allie. I am certain that Megan and Sally will be just fine with Mark and Karen. Who knows where that will lead considering Mark’s past?” Steering G.G. from the room, James left the young people time to mingle.

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  Megan walked out with Karen to see the barns, while Mark went ahead with Sally hanging onto his every word. Megan was in no hurry to see the horses, but was enjoying an afternoon that seemed relatively carefree.

  Karen was glad to see them enjoying themselves outside since they had been cooped up in a hotel for most of the week.

  “How are you really feeling this afternoon?” Karen asked.

  “I’m feeling pretty good as long as I don’t laugh too hard. My wrist is starting to itch in this cast, but I’m starting to feel more like myself. I think it helps seeing Sally happy and knowing that there are people who genuinely care about what happens to us.”

  “There were times, when I was with Mike in the beginning when I would just scream and hope that someone would hear so that they could rescue me. I gradually assumed that I was the freak and that all husbands did this to their wives. No one was going to rescue me because it was normal. I’m still not sure that I can change enough so that Sally will choose a different life for herself.” Megan looked kind of sad.

  “Honey, none of this is your fault. Mike should have known better than to treat his family like this. Somewhere in the process, Mike decided that he would use his fists rather than his brains. You know the saying you catch more flies with honey then vinegar? Well, obviously Mike’s momma never explained that principle to him.”

  Karen earnestly hoped that sometime Megan would be able to let the truth into her heart so that she would know the difference in circumstances and choices. Circumstances were what life handed a person and what they then chose to make of them was up to them. Megan’s choice had some horrible consequences to it, but she could choose to move past her mistakes and look to a better future. Not everyone got a second chance.

  “While I couldn’t have been the reason Mike is the way he is, I do feel bad that Julie and Allie have gotten hurt because of me. If I had just told Allie to go away, then this wouldn’t have happened to them.” Megan couldn’t even look at Karen as she said this.

  Mark was glancing at them occasionally, but made sure that there was enough room for them to have a semi- private conversation.

  “Megan, Allie, Julie and I have all made a choices that we won’t let bad things go unpunished. We can’t sit around while people are killed, raped, or beaten. We have to help those that need us. I know that Julie and I both took an oath to protect those in need of our help. Allie is just a precious angel that stood up for you when you couldn’t do it for yourself. If you asked any one of us, we would all do it again.”

  “Besides, Allie considers you and Sally family now. That says a lot about the way that she feels about both of you. I think that you will be given a wonderful opportunity while staying here to see how a real family operates with each other. This is one of the best families that I have ever been around. So maybe a little love will rub off on y’all while you’re here. Just be open, to it okay?” Karen gently touched Megan’s arm to turn her until they were facing.

  “I’m not sure that I can, but I will try for Sally’s sake. This whole place just makes you want to take a deep breath and know that everything will be all right. Is that even possible after all that has gone on lately?” Megan left Karen with that unanswered question and walked over to see what Sally had found so interesting.

  Karen just smiled and looked around the peaceful fenced land, knowing that this place could really heal wounds. She knew from personal experience that life could go on and the people that loved you could make all the difference in how well your spirit healed.

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  Getting the ladies settled in the basement apartment; wasn’t that hard. Justin and Mark carried their things down in just two trips. Megan and Sally would share one room and Karen would take the other. Since Allie was already asleep, Justin set her suitcase inside the door of the guest room for whenever she woke up.

  Karen checked all the exits and ways that someone could gain entry into the house. They did have an alarm system, but they only set it when they went out of town for more than one day. There was always someone around to keep an eye on things. Karen made sure that they were planning to set it each night before everyone retired. While they normally didn’t lock the doors until bedtime either, the Greenleys were more than happy to lock the front and side doors leaving only the kitchen door open until bed time.

  Sally was supper excited to staying there in such a big house. She couldn’t wait until the next day when she could try out the horses. Karen had to explain the rules that would apply for going outdoors and what to do in an emergency.

  Since it was Sunday night, the rule was that everyone had left overs or fixed sandwiches so that there was no cooking since lunch was normally quite a large meal. They put it all out on the counter and then everyone heated up what they wanted. Once they were all at the table, enjoying an evening of family time, G.G. brought up something that only a good Southern woman would suggest.

  “I think that while you ladies are staying here you should learn how to ride a horse.” Smiling at Sally’s enthusiasm, she got down to what she knew could be an issue with some people. “I would also like all three of you, Megan, Sally and Allie to learn how to shoot a gun. Karen already knows how and all of the ranch hands that work here know how as well.”

  Megan wasn’t real sure how they had gotten on this topic. “I have not wanted to have a gun around the house with Sally, but Mike always had one in a lock box since he had to have one for work. I was just hoping that I never gave him a reason to use it.”

  Sensing that it made everyone uncomfortable when she spoke like that about Mike in such dramatic details; she hurried to explain her reasoning.

  “I’m sorry y’all, I have been trying to change my frame of mind from the way I have lived life so far. Most of the time I was too scared of what might happen to me, I didn’t even try to start thinking of things like that. Somehow he could always read my mind and know when I was being disloyal. So now, when I think about something, I just say it out loud so that it seems real. If I had told someone about this before, it might not have gotten to this point. Do you really think it would okay for both of us to learn how to defend ourselves?” Megan realized everyone was staring at her.

  Knowing that Megan was completely without confidence, G.G. spoke up. “Sweetie, my children learned how to protect themselves when they were about Sally’s age. We had all sorts of animals out there that could hurt them if they were not prepared. I think that considering the way that things have been going, it wouldn’t hurt if you and Sally could kill a snake if you had too.”

  “Karen, do you think that you could be in charge of target practice? We have plenty of guns and there is an area out back that is set up for target practice. I would feel much safer if Sally knew how to handle any guns that she might come across. The ranch hands don’t leave them laying around, but accidents do happen.” G.G. was smiling like she had just solved the solution to world peace. There was nothing to say to her at that point except yes ma’am.

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  Waking suddenly, Mike was confused about where he was. It didn’t look like a prison hospital and there certainly weren’t any bars on the doors.

  He looked around, unsure of where this hospital was located. The colors were different from the hospital in his town of Royce City, so this must be one of the bigger hospitals in one of the larger towns that surrounded the area. What Mike didn’t remember, was how had he gotten there? Had there been an accident?<
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  Figuring that the nurse would be able to enlighten him, he started trying to find the remote thing so that he could press the button. When he moved though, pain shot thru his side and all along his chest. Moaning, he stopped moving and the pain lessened, but definitely didn’t stop hurting. Thankfully, the nurses had been keeping an eye on his recovery to see when he would awaken.

  “How are you doing there, Mr. Box? Are you feeling any pain?”

  “Lady, of course I’m feeling pain. What in the hell happened to me?” Mike wasn’t going to be nice, not when he felt like this.

  “Now, watch yourself sir. You were in an accident and a nice man brought you in, even though he didn’t have to. We aren’t sure exactly what happened, but you were banged up pretty good. They had to go in and stitch you up on the inside since you were bleeding internally. Also, you have several cracked ribs. That plus the concussion were enough to cause a lot of pain, but we have been holding off on the pain medications today to allow you a chance to wake up. The doctors were able to sew up the main problems, but have been concerned since you hadn’t woken up yet. Do you have any family that we need to call?”

  The nurse had been checking all of his vitals as she explained his circumstances to him.

  “No, no family. Do you know who the guy that dropped me off was? Could he come back and explain where he found me? The details are kind of foggy to me.”

  Mike wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to be telling people, but was pretty sure that since the nurse had called him Mr. Box, that was the name that J.D. had given them.

  “I will definitely call him when I get done with you, but I need to know what your pain feels like on a scale of one to ten?” The nurse seemed to be in no hurry to administer the pain meds.

  “Well, I would say close to a ten because I couldn’t even find the remote to call you with because I hurt so badly.”

  Mike was going to make sure that he was taken care of since Megan wasn’t there to do it for him. Mike couldn’t understand why Megan wouldn’t be at the hospital, but assumed that he must have been undercover which is why J.D. had left him there to get better. Making sure that the nurses provided him with the best care that their facility could provide, was Mike’s main priority until he could remember what had happened.

  “We will give you some meds in this I.V. and I’ll check on you in about an hour. If the pain hasn’t gone away, then we will up the amount that we are giving you. Will that be okay, Mr. Box?” The nurse was setting the correct amounts into the I.V. dispenser.

  “Yes, ma’am that will be fine. I’ll just close my eyes until you get it done.”

  Mike had barely closed his eyes when he began to see the room had gotten completely dark.

  Seeing a light under the door, he walked toward it and then saw that there was someone in his way. He grabbed the person and when they began to struggle, he wrapped his arm around their neck so that they would pass out and quit flailing about.

  Before they could pass out, the light started to get brighter and suddenly the person began screaming which caused the light under the door to shine directly into his face. Suddenly the door was thrown open …

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  Allie was walking thru a room that she had never been in before, when someone grabbed her from behind cutting off all of her breath. She tried to scream and struggle, but her arm was pinned to her side, the stranger had wrapped an arm around her neck starting to choke her. The blackness seemed to close in, but there was light at the end of the room under the door. Trying to reach out for the light, Allie woke up screaming.

  Justin was there trying to calm her down. “It’s okay there is no one trying to hurt you. I’ve got you. It will be alright.”

  It had seemed that someone was trying to stop her from making it to the light. If she had just gotten closer to the door with the light she might have seen who had been attacking her.

  Allie tried to take deep breaths as she realized that it was only a dream. This dream had seemed so real so that her throat was sore again from the person trying to choke her screams.

  Justin was rocking her gently and Allie relaxed into his embrace. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked around the room she had been sleeping in. There was a reading chair with a lamp and table next to it. The dresser had been moved so that it could easily scoot in front of the door and there were two tables that were placed exactly in front of each window. There was a large wardrobe that took the place of the closet; it looked big enough that someone could hide in it. She had been sleeping in a high poster bed that had silky, see through blue material that covered the top and was twisted around each pole with silk forget-me-not flowers and tied at the bottom with ribbons that matched the material. This was definitely not Justin’s room. Now that Allie was more aware of her senses, she realized that Justin had been sitting by the bed reading in case she needed him.

  “Justin, you really didn’t really have to stay with me. I mean I know that your family is hanging out in the other room and I don’t want you to feel obligated to stay with me all the time.” Allie wiggled out of his arms to look at his face while saying this.

  “Allie, my family has been in bed for quite a while now. We got Megan, Sally and Karen settled in the basement and Mark went home. We have a house rule that boys and girls don’t sleep in the same bed. Mom, made an exception tonight since we haven’t been con-noodling together and it really seems to help you sleep.”

  Justin just kept holding on to her so that she wouldn’t try to get up yet. He enjoyed being able to feel macho and protective of a woman.

  “Oh, my goodness. What will your mother think of me? I have been a terrible guest.” Allie sat up putting her hand to her mouth in horror. “She has been so nice to me and all I did was eat her food, cry and fall asleep in her house. Ugh! I really love her though, she is so nice.” Allie was ready to start crying again.

  Justin pulled her close to him again, laying her head on his shoulder. “It’s okay, my mom is glad that she could help take care of you and Megan while both of you ladies heal. I know that it has been a long week or two for you and she is perfectly willing to make sure that I stick around to help you out. In whatever ways that help might be needed.” Justin winked suggestively at her.

  “Except, no con-noodling, huh? Purely platonic sleeping in the same bed with each other for weeks with no end in sight, definitely no con-noodling could happen from this situation.” Smiling Allie was able to see the humor in their situation.

  “So she couldn’t get you married in a normal self- respectable way, so she sets this up hoping that you will produce a grandchild for her to spoil in the next year. Sneaky, woman.”

  Justin started laughing. “I think that you hit the nail on the head with that one. Only mom won’t admit that to anyone, the rules can’t be broken or everyone would do it. So this time she is only bending the rules slightly to justify meddling in my future. I’m sure that her matchmaking senses are all a flutter. Why didn’t I see that?” Justin hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “The rest of the family won’t let her meddle in their affairs so she decides to pick on me.”

  “Really Justin, you have a wonderful family that looks out for you. That is something that not everyone has in their life. I have never had a family, not a real one that is.” Allie wasn’t looking for self- pity, it was just frustrating that those who did have a wonderful loving family always seemed to take it for granted.

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong, Allie. There are days when I would love to walk out that door and never speak to some of my family. The reason I don’t is because I love them too much to do that. While there will always be arguments and disagreements, that is part of what our family does, we are always there for each other. I know that is hard for most people to understand when we joke around or diss each other, but there is not one of them that I wouldn’t give my life for.”

  Justin knew that there were many people even in their home church that didn’t understand the
way their family dynamics worked.

  “I have seen a lot of families through the years and most say that they are a loving family, but when it comes to taking care of those in the family, most are sadly lacking. I mean look at Megan’s family, no one had tried to make Mike quit what he was doing. Even the officers that he worked with had no idea what was going on. I know that I sound cynical, but there have not been many good examples of what a family really means in my life.” Allie was hoping that this family would rub off on Megan and Sally just a little bit.

  “I think that you might be right that we do tend to take our family for granted when so many out there don’t have more than a mom or dad. It’s just the way it has always been for us. I guess you could say that we are family entitled. I may not have a large trust fund, but I have a great family fund stored up for the day that anything goes wrong and I need their love and support. I am sure that once you stay here a few days you will realized that what this family says it really means. There are no take backs on declarations of love in this household. I’m also certain that my mom has adopted all of you into the family.”

  Justin was hoping that when the time came Allie could accept that someone might be able to love her for the rest of her life.

  “Then this is really awkward to be sleeping with my “Brother”. Just not sure how adopted I want to be into this family if that is the kind of behavior that goes on.” Allie shook her finger at Justin. “I’m not sure if I can deal with all this closeness. Let’s go get something to eat.”

  Allie hoped that he took her statements teasingly, because she really wasn’t sure how well she could handle people who might really love her. Leaving that kind of love to go back to the way her life had been so far made her feel really lonely and hopeless.