by Gregg Stutts
“Oh dear,” Rose said. “I thought we would be able to go home today.”
Max put his arm around Rose and hugged her tight.
“So what does that mean?” Max asked.
“I’m going to recommend we do something called a Ventriculostomy,” the doctor said. “Basically, we cut a small hole in the skull and insert a tube that allows us to drain off some of the fluid.”
Rose began to tremble. Max held her closer.
“So then when are you thinking he can go home?” Max said.
“I think if we do the procedure today, he could go home in a few days. Certainly, by Sunday,” the doctor said.
“Can you give us a few minutes to talk?” Rose said.
The doctor motioned to Max to follow him into the hallway and said, “Don’t take too long. We need to get this done. Soon.”
As Max stepped back into the room, his cell phone buzzed. It was his attorney.
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“Max, it’s Tom Murphy. I’m sorry I’ve been out of touch, but I’ve been buried getting ready for a trial.”
“No problem,” Max said, lying only a little. “I just wanted to see how things are looking on my case.”
“Well, I wish I had some good news for you, but the district attorney is dragging his feet,” Tom said.
That wasn’t the news he was hoping for.
“Are you there?” Tom said.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Max said. “I’ve got a playoff game to coach in two days and I’m suspended until the charges are dropped.”
“I really wish I could help you, Max, but all we can do right now is wait until the DA gets back to us,” Tom said.
“But I was literally in full view of thousands of people when he was killed,” Max said, louder than he had intended. A nurse poked her head in the room and gave Max a look.
“Let me try calling him again, but I can’t promise any news by tomorrow. I know that’s not what you want to hear. Waiting is the hardest part,” Tom said. “I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”
Max didn’t say anything else. He hung up, slipped the phone in his pocket and sat down next to Rose.
“We should let them know to do the procedure, shouldn’t we?” Rose said.
“I’ll let the nurse know what you’ve decided.” Max stood to leave when Rose grabbed his wrist.
“He’s going to make it, isn’t he?” she said.
“He’s going to be just fine, Rose. A bump on the head isn’t going to stop Willy.”
Ten minutes later, Rose had signed the consent form and they were wheeling Willy’s bed out of the room to take him to surgery. Max realized the doctor wasn’t playing around when he said it needed to be done soon.
Max couldn’t leave Rose alone now, so he called the school and explained the situation, then called Michelle and suggested she come to the hospital right away.
He couldn’t help worrying that maybe the situation was more serious than he’d realized and Willy wasn’t going to be okay after all.
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While they waited for a report on Willy, Max went to the lobby for some coffee. He’d had enough of the burnt stuff in the family waiting area. On the ride down in the elevator it struck him that waiting was such a common thing that there were dedicated areas to wait. Hospitals and doctor’s offices have them. So do car dealers. And restaurants.
Waiting for just one thing was hard enough. But he was waiting for news about Willy and the charges against him. Both were becoming more difficult. The longer the waiting went on, the harder it was to remain positive.
The longer it took to hear from his attorney, the tougher it was to control his imagination. What if they really did try him? Even if the strategy was to pressure him into giving someone else up, he knew there was no one else to give up. He didn’t know anything. If it came to making some kind of deal, he didn’t have any cards in his hand. There was no one to point a finger at.
Right now, the only finger was pointing at him or maybe Michelle. And the longer it pointed, the more concerned he was becoming. They couldn’t charge him with murder, but his history with Donnie was well known and the murder weapon was found in his truck with his and Michelle’s prints and Donnie’s blood on it.
Would twelve of my peers actually convict me of something?
He pressed the button for the elevator to go back up to Willy’s room. Again, more waiting. He was never good at waiting. He was good at planning and executing. Not waiting.
Finally, the door opened. A man pushed past him and almost knocked the coffee out of his hand. “Hey!” Max yelled, but the man hurried across the lobby without looking back. He hit the button for the 3rd floor. Just before the doors shut, he caught a quick glimpse of the man as he pushed his way through the revolving door. He shut his eyes and tried to remember where he’d seen the man before.
When Max got back to the room, Michelle was already there. “How did I miss you downstairs?”
“I guess you were focused on your coffee,” she said.
Rose was staring out the window. Max whispered to Michelle, “Do you think we should let their children know it might be more serious than we first thought?”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Michelle glanced at Rose. “Let’s wait until we hear from the doctor. He should be back soon with some news. I don’t think it’s a very long procedure.”
They tried to keep Rose occupied, so she didn’t worry, but Max and Michelle were having a hard enough time not worrying themselves. Max turned the television on and flipped through the channels. He wasn’t used to watching television in the middle of a weekday, so he stopped on The Weather Channel.
Northwest and Central Arkansas were now under a Winter Storm Warning. Freezing rain and sleet were expected in Conway. And areas north of Conway could expect sleet changing over to snow beginning at noon on Thursday continuing into Friday morning. The National Weather Service said it would be the earliest snowfall in over fifty years.
Since it looked like riding the team bus to Conway was out of the question, he would have to take his truck. If he threw some sandbags in the back, he’d get okay traction. Hopefully, the roads would be clear after the game late Friday night. He didn’t want to get stuck.
As he considered his options, Willy’s doctor walked in.
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Rose was still staring out the window and didn’t notice the doctor. “Rose?” Michelle said.
“Yes, dear?” she said without taking her eyes of her husband.
“The doctor is here.”
Rose sat down. The doctor pulled up a chair next to her. Max studied his face for any clue as to Willy’s condition.
“Mission accomplished. Everything went fine. We’ll keep him for a couple more days, but I feel good about saying you can take him home on Friday. Saturday at the latest.”
Rose wiped her eyes. “Thank you. Thank...” Her voice cracked and she began to cry. Michelle hugged her tight.
“He’ll be in recovery a little longer then we’ll bring him back up here.” The doctor excused himself and was gone.
It was another hour before they actually wheeled Willy back into the room. His head was bandaged, but otherwise he looked good. He was awake, but barely. Rose gave him a big hug and told him she loved him. When she finally let him go after a minute, Max and Michelle had their turns.
Rose pulled up a chair and resumed her faithful position at Willy’s side. She held his hand in hers and never stopped looked away from him.
“Willy, you gave us a scare,” Max said. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “My head is a little sore, but other than that I feel good.”
“That’s so good to hear,” Michelle said.
“I just have one question,” Willy said.
“What is it, dear?” Rose said.
Willy looked at Rose, then at Max and then at Michelle. “So, who are you people?”
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Willy slowly looked at each of them and said, “Do I know you?”
Max felt his heart sink. The doctor never mentioned the possibility that Willy would suffer memory loss. Maybe it had been in the fine print of all the forms Rose signed. The ones Max encouraged her to sign.
Max looked at Michelle. Rose turned to both of them. They were speechless. And then Max saw it. The corner of Willy’s mouth was curling into a smile. Then he said, “Gotcha.”
Rose actually punched his arm hard enough that it would probably leave a bruise worse than the one on his head. “What am I gonna do with you, Willy?” she said while repeatedly kissing his face. “Just so you know, you’re going to pay for that, old man. You wait until we get home.” She kissed him again and laid her head on his chest. And Willy put his arms around her and hugged her tight as a tear ran down his cheek.
It was another moment Max and Michelle felt privileged to witness. This couple who’d been together for more than fifty years was more in love and was more playful now than they’d probably ever been, although Max felt sure Rose really would make him pay for what he’d done.
Max put his arm around Michelle and whispered, “I want that to be us some day.”
“Me too,” she said.
They sat together for a few minutes when Rose said she needed to use the restroom. Michelle offered to walk with her. Willy watched them leave. After they were out the door, he said, “Max, I need to tell you something, but I don’t want Rose to know. Not yet.”
Max sat down in Rose’s chair and leaned close. “What is it, Willy?”
“I didn’t have an accident. Someone ran me off the road.”
Chapter 92
Thursday, November 7th
Max was up at 5:30 Thursday morning. The first thing he did was check the weather. The meteorologists seemed to miss way more winter forecasts than they got right, but so far it looked like they were getting this one right. Freezing precipitation was already falling across Northeast Texas and Eastern Oklahoma. And the storm system was slowly tracking to the east.
The busses would be leaving the school in ninety minutes to try and beat the storm. The plan was to get out of town and into Conway before the storm hit and made travel impossible. He poured a cup of coffee into his NASU travel mug.
With everything that was going on, he hadn’t thought much about the problems the university football program was having in the wake of the Donnie Black scandal. Max still felt terrible that Joe Patterson had lost his job as a result. He thought about contacting him a couple times but didn’t. He hoped Joe wasn’t blaming him for what happened.
By 7:10, he had a bag packed and was ready to go. He poured a cup of coffee for Michelle, but remembered she might not be able to stomach it. The first hour in the morning seemed to be the worst time. After that, she was at least able to tolerate the sight of food.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he sat down on the bed next to her.
“Not as bad as yesterday,” she said. “Don’t worry about me. Maybe you’ve forgotten how tough I am.”
“I just hate leaving you,” he said. “It would be fun to have a snow day together. They’ve already closed schools.”
“I’ll be fine. Really. You got me stocked up with groceries and firewood, so I’m all set. I’ll probably get a fire going, read a book, maybe watch a movie.”
“Okay, I better get going then. I don’t need to test my truck on snow covered roads.”
“Yes, please get out of here and be safe. Call me when you get there.”
Max leaned over to kiss her forehead, but Michelle met his lips with hers and pulled him to her. A peck on the forehead wasn’t at all what she had in mind. After a long moment, their lips parted and she said, “You’ll be home at what like 2:00 a.m. on Saturday?”
Max nodded.
“Well, I’ll be waiting up.”
He smiled. “I’m counting on it.”
A minute later, the warmth of Michelle’s embrace was replaced by a blast of cold air as he stepped outside. He hesitated for a moment. He considered going back inside and crawling into bed with his wife, but he shut the door behind him and walked to his truck.
While the engine warmed up for a couple minutes, he thought about what Willy said when they were alone. “Someone cut me off the road.” Had someone really cut him off or was Willy just confused coming out of the anesthesia? He seemed so sure.
Max put the truck in reverse and backed out of the driveway. He waved to Michelle who was standing at the door. She blew him a kiss and waved goodbye.
Don’t go.
It would be nice, but whether he was allowed to coach or not, he needed and wanted to be at the game. How could he look at his team on Monday and tell them he wasn’t at the game? He put his truck in drive and waved to Michelle one more time.
Don’t go.
He sat in the middle of the street for a moment, then took his foot off the brake and stepped on the accelerator as a storm was bearing down on his home.
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Michelle waved goodbye to Max and watched until his truck disappeared at the end of the street. She knew he needed to be with his team but couldn’t help feeling hurt that he’d left. At least she was stocked up on food and firewood and if she wasn’t pregnant, some good wine, too. And Max would be home in time to at least enjoy Sunday together.
She looked out at the front lawn covered with yellow and orange colored leaves from their oaks and maples. In a few hours, everything would turn white if they got the snow that was forecasted. It reminded her of the Bible verse that said, “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”
She ran her hand over her stomach. She sure didn’t feel as white as snow. If there was one moment in her life she wished she could take back, it was the moment she decided to call Chris just a couple months ago.
She closed the front door and locked it, then also slid the deadbolt into place. She went to the kitchen to make some tea. As she turned the corner into the kitchen, she screamed.
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Twenty minutes after leaving home, Max moved maneuvered into the left lane to turn south onto the interstate.
Don’t go.
Unless they had one of the bus drivers with the lead foot, he might even catch up to the team busses. He set the cruise control to seventy-four miles per hour. He would have set it higher, but his truck didn’t rattle quite as violently if he kept it under seventy-five. Twenty minutes later, he passed the first of six exits for Fayetteville, the home of the Arkansas Razorbacks, who were having a great season under their new head coach.
I should turn around.
Max turned the radio on and tuned it to a Fayetteville talk station. The winter storm was already creating problems to the west and would make a mess of the road he was on before the day was over. The worst would be the bridges, one of which he was about to cross.
It looked like he’d be able to stay just ahead of the storm and get settled in Conway before it got bad. The team had reservations at the Best Western, but to not violate the terms of his suspension, he booked a room at the Hampton Inn, which was just two miles from Conway High School.
Under different circumstances, he would have invited Willy to come along. A couple days with Willy would be like a couple dozen sessions with a counselor. He still had many questions about his marriage and his relationship with God. Whatever it was Willy had, Max wanted it.
A little over an hour after leaving home, Max turned east and merged onto Interstate-40.
It’s not too late to go back home.
“Yes, it is,” he said out loud.
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“Hi, Shelle. Miss me?”
Her legs were like rubber. She turned and ran to the front door, but it felt like she was moving in slow motion. He grabbed her arm before she was even out of the kitchen. And pulled her to the kitchen table and shoved her into a chair. “Sit down, Shelle. We have
a lot to talk about.”
She tried to stand, but he pushed her down again. He pulled up a chair close to her and sat down. He didn’t even look like the same man she’d been with in New Jersey. Dark, vacant eyes and a pained expression replaced the kind, compassionate face. She wanted to run again but knew she wouldn’t make it.
“What are you doing here?” she said. “You need to get out now! How did you even get in here?”
