On A Prayer

by Mary May

  “You will pay for that Klara, I promise. But I do like a little fight in my women. Makes things more of a challenge.” Roy reached and grabbed for her arm as he came across the passenger side of the truck.

  “Then you will love this!” Klara kicked out hard as she twisted to open the driver’s side door. She heard him grunt as her foot connected with some part of his body. She didn’t hang around long enough to see what she had hit. She flung open the door and bailed out the other side. As soon as her feet touched the dirt road her arm was grabbed again. She whirled around ready to fight for her life only to find Alec standing in front of her. He shoved her behind him just as Roy came around the front of the truck.

  ***

  “Well, well, well… looks like a knight in shining armor has come to your rescue, fair maiden. Tell me, Mr. high and mighty lawyer, do you plan on talking your way out of this? This isn’t a court of law. All your years of schooling won’t help you out here.”

  Alec kept Klara hidden behind him as Roy circled around them, flashing the knife and smiling through his bloody teeth. “Looks like you let a little girl kick your teeth in, Roy; you must be slipping,” Alec goaded.

  Klara didn’t know what Alec’s plan was, but she didn’t think mocking a man with a really large knife and bad attitude was a very good one.

  Roy’s smile broadened. “Yeah, she turned out to be a little hell cat. Head butted me a good one then throat punched me. I’m going to really enjoy taming that little kitty just as soon as we finish our business.”

  They continued to circle one another, Alec mocking and pushing Roy as he held Klara firmly behind him. Finally she saw Roy start to grow angry then Alec really started in on him. He mocked and belittled everything about Roy from his childhood down to his style of underwear. Finally Roy gave a roar of rage and with the deadly knife swinging in a wide arc he lunged at Alec.

  Alec waited until Roy charged him before bringing his hand up that held the large thick stick. He shoved Klara out of the way then brought the stick down hard as Roy swung the knife. He felt a searing pain as the knife sliced across his upper arm. Roy fell against the truck when Alec jumped out of the way at the last second and then slammed the stick down hard on his right wrist, causing Roy to drop the knife. Roy howled in pain, turning back to charge him again. Alec stepped in and swung the stick again like a baseball player swinging for the fence, this time connecting with the side of Roy’s head with a loud crack. He watched as the man’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slumped to the ground.

  Klara got up and ran to Alec’s side. She wrapped her arms around him then drew back when she felt the blood that covered the sleeve of his shirt. “Oh, you’re hurt! Let me see!” She quickly unbuttoned the dress shirt that had a large crimson stain spreading across the front and down the arm.

  “Yeah, it turns out I’m not as fast with my body as I am my mouth,” he hissed as Klara pulled the fabric from the slash in his bicep.

  “Oh, crap, he got you good. Let me go look in the truck and see what I can find to stop the bleeding. You may want to tie him up or something while I’m doing that,” she ordered. Alec couldn’t stop his grin at her bossy tone. He knew in that very moment that he was seriously, no more denying it, in love with Klara Martin. She came back in a couple of minutes with an assortment of different clothing that she was already tearing into strips. Alec had Roy tied up tightly, although he didn’t appear to be waking up anytime soon. He knelt down and checked his pulse then breathed a sigh of relief to feel the steady thumping of his heart. He wanted Roy to go back to prison and receive the full measure of the punishment that he had coming to him. He called 911 while Klara tended his wound.

  “It’s no use, Alec, you’re going to have to have stitches... a lot of them, would be my best guess. I can’t get the bleeding to stop at all. Here lay down or something.” Alec reached down and grabbed her chin, making her stop and look up at him.

  “Klara, are you ok? Did he hurt you…or anything?”

  He searched her eyes and face while she answered. “No, I’m not hurt. I’m fine. You got the worse end of this deal,” she assured him. She looked over at Roy’s still unconscious form and her lips twitched. “Did you really say that Roy wore pink lacy thongs? I think you’re more insane than he is.”

  Alec chuckled then grimaced when the pain radiated through his arm. “Well, Roy has two things in abundance -- his intelligence and his temper. I had to engage the one to disable the other. I’m not exactly a wimp or anything. I can hold my own pretty good most times, but Roy is military trained and crazy. I wasn’t about to try to go toe to toe with him physically. I used what the good Lord has given me… my smart mouth.”

  Suddenly Alec felt very woozy from the blood loss. “You know what, sweetheart, I think I will lay down.” No sooner than he had stretched out putting his head in her lap he passed out.

  “Alec?” She shook him a couple of times while praying that the paramedics would arrive soon, because she didn’t like the way the blood was dripping out from under her makeshift bandages. She applied more pressure and kept praying!

  Chapter 24

  The paramedics and the police showed up just a few minutes later with Abraham right behind them. The man was visibly shaken at the sight of his grandson lying bloodied and unconscious on the ground. The paramedics got Alec on a stretcher and loaded in the ambulance; then they attended to Roy. Klara stood by Abraham, wrapped in a blanket that one of the police officers had given her. She was very worried about Alec. He had lost a lot of blood and hadn’t regained consciousness at all. Abraham wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “He will be alright; that boy is an Adams. It takes more than a little blood loss to take us out of this world.”

  Klara squeezed the old gentlemen back. “Are you talking to me or yourself?”

  Abraham sighed then looked down at her. “Both, I think,” he admitted.

  “He saved my life. I know that Roy would have done unspeakable things to me then killed me if Alec had not showed up.” The terror of the night’s events finally sank in and she began to tremble.

  Abraham pulled her into his arms and held her gently. “You see, you do have a guardian angel. He just wears suits instead of wings.”

  Klara looked up at Abraham sharply. “Oh, my gosh…you are right! Alec has been exactly like my guardian angel, from pulling me out of the river to keeping me safe from Roy. Why would he do all of that? Especially when I have been so mean to him, so unappreciative.”

  Abraham looked at her and shook her his head. “Klara, are you really that blind? Can you not see that he is in love with you? He has worried about you to the point of losing sleep at night. I think he just recently realized it himself. He didn’t set out to love you, but he does. I believe that if you examined your own heart you just might find some similar feelings for him.”

  Klara shook her head. “I’m sorry, Abraham. Alec is a really great guy and I do care for him, but I’m still very much in love with my husband.”

  He laughed. “Little girl, the Lord made our hearts with the remarkable ability to break into a thousand pieces and yet still love. When I lost my Amelia I felt like every reason I had to live was placed in that grave. I loved that woman from the very first moment I saw her, and I’ll love her until I am with her again in glory. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t love on this earth again. Tell me, young Klara, would your husband want you to be alone? Do you think that he is up there hoping that you die of a broken heart all alone and in despair?”

  “Of course not! I know David would want me to be happy and to love again. That’s what true love is, wanting someone else’s happiness above your own. I just don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

  He reached out and tapped her head. “Since when has love ever been logical? Have you ever known it to happen when you expected it to or with whom you expected?”

  Klara didn’t know how to respond to that. Was it possible that when she wasn’t paying attention that she had
fallen in love with Alec? She tried to imagine her life without him bossing her around telling her what she should or shouldn’t do. She tried to imagine not having his smile in her life. She was shocked to discover that it would really bother her not to have him in it.

  An hour later she was cleaned up and on her way to the hospital to check on Alec. She was sure he was giving them heck and telling them how to do their jobs. She was very surprised to walk in and find him still unconscious. “Why hasn’t he woken up? Shouldn’t he be awake by now? Is something wrong?” She peppered the nurse on duty with a barrage of questions. Alec’s grandfather was right behind her wanting to know the same thing.

  “Mr. Adams suffered severe blood loss. He had to receive four units of blood. If he had not been brought in when he was, he would not have made it. He still isn’t out of the woods yet.”

  Klara felt her world spin suddenly and her vision was filled with tiny black dots. “Here, sit her down. Put her head between her knees,” the nurse instructed Abraham.

  Then he asked if she was all right. Everyone’s voice sounded distant and distorted like they were coming out of a barrel. The nurse quickly shoved her head down and told her to breathe deeply in through her nose several times. When she thought the worst had passed, Klara lifted her head and looked at Abraham in panic. He sat down beside her.

  “Klara, he is going to pull through this.”

  She looked at him with tear-filled eyes. “I don’t understand; I was just talking to him. He was laughing and being…I don’t know…Alec. How could he go from that to this in such a short amount of time?”

  The nurse advised that the cut on his arm had sliced the brachial artery, which was the reason for the massive blood loss. Now they had to worry about the possibility of infection or organ failure. She advised that Alec was stable for the time being but that could change quickly.

  “Can I go in and see him?” Then she looked at Abraham. “Oh, I’m sorry. You should go in first, Abraham.”

  He shook his head then helped her to her feet. “No, girl, you go ahead. The good Lord can hear me just as well out here as He can in there. You go ahead while me and the Almighty talk about this.”

  Klara slowly pushed open the door and walked to Alec’s side. He looked so pale and still. She tried to remember if she had ever seen him still before. He was always moving or speaking or getting on her nerves. She pulled a chair up to his left side. His right arm was heavily bandaged so she didn’t want to bump it. She reached and took his hand in hers, feeling the strength in those long fingers even as he lay so still.

  “Alec?” she whispered. “I don’t even know where to start. I have so much to say to you. First off, thank you for everything you have done for me. From jumping into the river to save me to taking care of Scooter and helping me with Matthew. Thank you for keeping me safe from Roy. You have been my guardian angel. I don’t understand why you have been so good to me; I don’t deserve it, but from the bottom of my heart I do thank you.” She lifted his hand, placing kisses on his knuckles.

  “Please…please don’t die, Alec…I couldn’t bear it if God took someone else I loved away from me…please… please come back to me.”

  Klara laid her head on the side of the bed praying desperately for Alec’s recovery. Then she felt his hand tighten over hers. She lifted her head to find him looking at her with a bemused look. “My God, I thought for moment I must be dead to hear you speaking so sweetly to me.”

  Klara gasped then stood up to lean over his bed. “Alec? Are you ok? Are you in pain? Should I go get the nurse? Your granddad is waiting outside. Do you want me to go get him?”

  He slowly shook his head. “No, I only need you to do one thing.”

  She leaned closer. “What? What do you need, Alec?”

  He reached up with his left hand and cupped the back of her head. “I need you to shut up and kiss me, woman.” He pulled her head down and met her lips with surprising strength. His kiss was slow and tender, speaking to her heart in a way his words never could. He finally pulled away but he didn’t let her go. He looked into her eyes. “I love you, Klara. I know you don’t want to hear that, but that’s what kept running through my mind as I was bleeding out. I was going to die and you wouldn’t know how much I love you.”

  Klara leaned down and kissed his lips softly once, twice, then once more. “I love you too, Alec. I didn’t even realize until right now when the nurse said you still might not make it just how much. I’m sorry for everything…”

  He placed his finger over her lips. “No, don’t you be sorry for anything. I love everything about you, even your stubborn hardheaded ways. That’s what makes you…you.”

  Klara pulled away. “I should go get the nurse. “No, I’m ok…Klara, I know you’re not ready, but I want to marry you…someday. I want to fight with you and love you every day for the rest of my life.”

  When she opened her mouth to speak, he again placed his finger over her lips. “Shush, don’t answer me now. You don’t know what you’re feeling right now. Just wait.”

  She rolled her eyes then nipped his finger. “There you go, telling me what I feel or don’t feel. I do want to marry you; I know that much, but I would like a long engagement. Alec, I will always love David. I need you to know that. A part of my heart will always belong to him. Can you be ok with that?”

  He brushed his thumb over her full bottom lip in a soft caress. “ I am more than ok with that. I know you’re not ready for this. I just came out of a nasty divorce myself, remember? So I am all for taking things one day at a time. But I know what I feel for you is the real deal. The stuff that love songs and sonnets are written about. I never understood them before, but I do now.”

  Klara smiled at his pretty words. “Just how much medication are you on?” she teased.

  He grinned. “A lot, most likely, but I’m not speaking from a drug-induced state. I mean every word. When I’m well and clean of every medication, I’ll still mean every word.”

  Klara leaned down and brushed a tender kiss across his lips once more. “Let’s get you well first. I’m going to go get the nurse and your granddad.”

  Two days later a much-improved Alec was released from the hospital. He was still weak and they had to keep an eye on him for infection and other complications. “Have you told Matthew about his mother yet?” Alec asked.

  Klara shook her head as she navigated through traffic. “No, he was already too worried about you. I didn’t want to make things worse for him. I thought it would be best if we could talk to him together. Haylie’s funeral is set for tomorrow at ten in the morning. Do you think we should let him attend?”

  “Let’s talk to him tonight and see how he handles the news. I have heard opposing opinions on letting children attend funerals. I personally think it should be based on the individual child’s maturity level.”

  They pulled into the driveway and they could see Matthew playing with a blue speckled puppy in the front yard. “Good grief, turn my back on the old man for a minute and he buys the boy a puppy. Good thing I wasn’t gone any longer or he would have a pony, too,” Alec grumbled.

  Klara cleared her throat. “Umm…yeah, that would be my purchase, not Abraham’s.”

  He slowly swiveled his head around to look at her. “ Is that so?”

  She grinned at him as she got out of the car. “Yup, she is a blue heeler with mystical powers.” She helped Alec get to his feet. Matthew came running over with the puppy right behind him, tripping over her own feet trying to keep up.

  “Alec! Alec! You’re back!”

  Klara stepped in front of Alec to keep Matthew from throwing himself into his damaged arm. “Hey, kiddo, be real careful, ok? Alec has a hurt arm, remember?”

  Matthew stopped and looked up at the bandaged arm that was in a sling.

  “Oh, yeah…does it hurt a lot?” he whispered, his eyes huge in his face.

  Alec hunkered down so he could be at the same level. “It does a little bit, but when it gets to
hurting too much I ask Klara to kiss it for me and then it feels better.”

  The boy screwed up his face in disgust. “Kissing? Eww! I’m never kissing a girl!”

  Klara nodded to the pup that was bouncing at their feet. “Well, now, Miss Blue is a girl and I saw you giving her a kiss,” she teased.

  Matthew dropped to his knees to hug the wiggling bundle. “Ah, that’s different! She is a puppy; kissing girl puppies don’t count!” he explained.

  Klara laughed and helped Alec to the door. She got him settled in the big recliner and asked if he wanted something for pain. “No, sweetheart, I’m ok for now. Now what kind of mystical power does our unusual pup have again?”

  Klara smooched at the puppy and called it to her then held it up so Alec could see her face. “Look, she has the prettiest blue eyes and they are crossed! The vet said they would straighten out as she gets older, but she is the cutest thing. I couldn’t resist her!” The puppy looked so solemn at Alec like she knew her fate rested in his hands.