Karen giggled and said, “I suspect that I am truly pregnant. I have been feeling a little nauseous in the mornings before I get some food into my belly. I suspect that is one of the signs that I am pregnant. Time will tell the tale. All we can do now is hope for the best. I want you to know that I love you dearly and hope this pregnancy provides us with a child to love. You do understand, don’t you, that I could abort the pregnancy as women sometimes do?” James kissed and said, “We will simply try again. One of the benefits about being married is that I don’t have to feel guilty if I get you pregnant. Instead, I get to celebrate.”
As Karen lay in the bed in the hotel room beside Donald, she listened to the night sounds coming in through the open windows. She heard the howling of the wolf pack followed by the howl of a single lone wolf. The sounds were frightening, yet Karen felt compassion and closeness to nature after her time in the forest with the wolves. She made a promise to herself to spend time in the outdoors with her child so he or she could grow up with the same sense of comfort and understanding as she did with all of nature’s creatures.
Chapter 6 – Down in the Everglades
As James stood beside the minister and the other members of the wedding party, Jill and her father began the long walk along the brick sidewalk of Jill’s beach house. Jill had never allowed James to see the white wedding dress she was wearing. He could not believe how beautiful the woman he was about to spend the rest of his life with looked. She was simply gorgeous.
James knees felt weak as he waited beside the minister to see his bride walking with her father, Timothy. When the minister asked Jill’s father who offered his daughter’s hand to her intended groom, Timothy smiled at James and allowed him to take hold of his daughter’s hand. Then Timothy offered his right hand to James and said, “James, I offer you my daughter’s hand in marriage. Be certain you do nothing to disgrace this marriage. I trust you to remember my warning. God and I will be watching over you. I wish you both the very best.” Jill turned to her father, kissed him on the cheek and then stepped up onto the first step of the patio beside James.
With the ceremony complete, James and Jill turned to face their friends and guests, James turned to Jill, kneeled down on one knee and bowed his head to honor her. Then he stood back up and gave Jill a long lingering kiss. The entire gathering began to clap their hands. James offered his arm to Jill and they began the walk down the brick sidewalk. They walked towards the living room entrance where they would greet their guests as husband and wife.
When the catering staff opened the doors to the house, the aroma of food overwhelmed the guests. As each guest shook James and Jill’s hands, they stepped inside the living area where the serving staff offered them a cold beverage. Since there were only thirteen of them, there was plenty of seating indoors and the air conditioning felt exquisite to everyone after being outdoors in the heat of the day. When they were all indoors and comfortable, the caterer’s began moving everyone through the serving line, assisting him or her as needed. Once a guest filled their china plate with the food of their choice, they walked out onto the closed in patio where they found their assigned seats at tables set with white tablecloths and sterling silverware. The water glasses were all of fine crystal and resided beside delicate, yet sleek long stem wine glasses. The guests were all discussing the fine qualities of the beach house, as Jill called it. The mansion as two of her friends called it.
Once all of the guests had found their seats, Jill and James carried their plates of food to the middle set of tables with the other members of the wedding party. Jill tapped her water glass with her spoon and waited for everyone to quiet down. When she had their attention, she said, “I want to thank all of you for joining James and I for our wedding celebration. I would have liked to invite more of our friends, but as you see, we have limited seating space in my beach house. I would also like to take a moment and tell you a little about this beach house, which I have learned some of you call, The Jillian Mansion.” There were a few giggles and Jill turned to see where they came from. She pointed to two of her coworkers and said, “Yes, those words came from two of my best friends.” Then she took a deep breath and said, “This beach house was originally built in 1949, just before the start of the Korean War. The home belonged to a wealthy couple who made their fortunes in oil and the stock markets. Those were troubled times and the couple soon discovered that their two sons had joined the Army to fight against communism. Within six months of their sons’ arrival in Korea, they both died when a landmine exploded under their feet. The parents of the two dead soldiers were so distraught over the death of their sons; they sold this mansion to my father for the sum of ten thousand dollars. My father, Timothy, never lived in this home, but kept it, cared for it, and paid the taxes until I turned twenty-one years old. At that time, he sold the place to me for the sum of one dollar. I have lived here since then. The fine china and crystal glassware you see before you today was stored in cabinets all around this home when I took ownership. There are sixty some acres of prime real estate here and the taxes are killing me. If you will each leave a one hundred dollar bill under your plates when you finish eating, I will be most appreciative.” Everyone began to laugh, but James stood up, opened his wallet and removed a bill. He placed it under his plate and sat back down. Jill began to laugh and said, “I seem to have married quite the comedian. He will pay for that later tonight in the bridal suite.” Then Jill said, “Thank you all again for joining James and I today. Enjoy your meal and hang around for the fireworks as soon as it gets dark.” Everyone heard a voice ask, “Are we staying for the fireworks outdoors, or the ones in the bridal suite” James choked on his sip of wine and almost spit it out on the floor. Jill patted him on the back and handed him a napkin.
***
The Vacation Clinic needed two people to travel to Florida to meet with a wealthy client. Sally made the final decision on who she wanted to go, hoping that James and Jill would take some time for themselves along the way. They had not taken a honeymoon; they simply continued working as if nothing in their lives had changed. Sally planned extra time and money into the trip in hopes they would use some of it for themselves.
When the plane took off from LAX, with Jill and James riding in first class seating, the stewardess announced what the movie for the flight would be. Jill was excited. She seldom went to the movies, but she had wanted to see this movie ever since her colleagues first told her about it. Watching it on the plane forced her to sit back and relax; there were few distractions other than her bladder.
By the time they arrived in Florida, they had spent almost five hours in the air. James wondered aloud how anyone could manage the long trip if seated in coach. Their pilot circled around the airport multiple times waiting for landing clearance. When he finally got clearance, he announced, “Ladies and gentlemen. We will be experiencing turbulence during our landing sequence. The control tower has placed us on an alternate runway. Just to be safe, make certain you stow all of your belongings as the flight crew directs. Snug up your seatbelt and prepare for a bumpy ride. We will be just fine, just some big bumps on the way in.”
Jill turned to James and said, “Wished I would have peed earlier.” The stewardess standing beside her said, “You have three minutes. Use only two of them.” Jill quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped into the restroom. She hurried and quickly returned to her seat. She looked up at the stewardess and said, “Thanks for that. I was getting desperate.” When a bell dinged, the flight crew all sat down and buckled themselves into their jump seats.
After the pilot firmly planted the wheels of the aircraft on the ground, most passengers had both hands holding onto the armrests. The landing was extremely bumpy and James felt the plane move sideways more than once. The stewardess sat quietly in their jump seats, but they too knew the landing was less than ideal. When the stewardess walked past one of the first class seats, a lady asked why the pilot did not divert to another airport. The stewardess smiled and said, �
�Not enough gas in the tanks for that.”
After James and Jill found their luggage, they walked over the counter where they could take a shuttle over to where they would be boarding a small twin-engine plane. The customer lived on a ranch out near the everglades and the easiest way to get to his place was by plane or helicopter.
When they arrived at the small municipal airport, their pilot greeted them. He walked with James and Jill out to the plane and loaded their luggage in the back. Then he helped get his passengers seated and buckled in. He put Jill up front in the copilot’s seat to help balance the small plane. Jill had noticed that the plane had wheels and skis under it, probably so the pilot could put the plane down on a lake if necessary.
The pilot started the engine and let it warm up while giving his passengers some information about the plane. He also told them that they would be landing on the lake and taxiing up to a wooden dock. He laughed and said, “The man you are going to visit is extremely wealthy, but is too cheap to build a proper boat dock.”
Once they were in the air, the pilot turned west, followed along a major highway for a few miles and then turned southwest towards the everglades. Just as they could see the marshy land below them, the plane made a strange sound. The pilot looked over his instruments and realized that there was a problem with the cooling system. Just then, a black object flue just under the plane and the pilot cursed. At that point, the pilot keyed his radio and called back to the airport control tower, notifying them that he had hit a bird, possibly two, and damaged his engine. Jill froze in her seat when the pilot told the tower that he would have to put the plane down short of the airfield.
The pilot turned the plane around and tried to make it back to the major highway. He told the tower that he wanted to land alongside the highway so he could have a place to take off again after he made repairs to the plane. He swung around and lowered the plane towards the ground, looking for a safe place to land. When he spotted a grassy area along side of the highway, he notified the tower of his intentions and lowered the plane down. Jill saw him flick a switch and heard a strange buzzing sound under the plane. The pilot said, “I have raised the wheels and put down the skis. We should be able to skid along the green grass without damaging my plane.”
As the plane got close to the ground, James could see flashing lights along the highway. Dozens of police cars were down there, probably trying to keep people from crashing into each other as they watched the plane land along side of the highway. The landing was hard and the plane skidded from side to side as the skis dug into the grass and dirt underneath. Just as Jill thought the plane was going land safely, they hit something hard. The plane veered hard to the right and slid up against a concrete wall along the edge of a stream. The impact jarred Jill and she felt something hit her hard on her right side. She suddenly could not breathe and she lost consciousness.
After what seemed like only seconds, Jill woke and realized that James was talking to her. He was gently shaking her, trying to get her to respond. She looked around and asked, “Are you alright?” James lied and said, “I am mostly okay. Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” Jill told him she had hit her side on the door of the plane and knocked the wind out of her lungs. Then she said, “I have a tiny bit of blood on my side and my leg hurts, but I think I am okay otherwise.” Just then, someone began pounding on the pilot’s door and then forced it open. A large man checked the pilot and then unbuckled him and pulled him out onto the ground. Some other people pulled the pilot out of Jill and James view. There was a large pool of blood in the pilot’s seat.
After a few minutes, some men had James out and were working to get Jill’s seat belt unlatched. One of the men finally pulled out a large pocketknife and cut the belt. Within moments, Jill was out and being carried a short distance from the plane. As they sat her down on the ground, she could see a small fire burning under the plane near the engine. She could no longer sit upright and slumped down in the grass.
When James woke, he realized he was in a hospital. He must have fallen asleep while lying on a gurney. There were doctors and nurses everywhere and he could see Jill on another gurney a short distance away. The doctors were near her and a technician had rolled a portable X-ray machine over her and was taking pictures of her chest.
After a few minutes, one of the nurses asked James if the woman he was watching was his wife. James looked up at her and said, “Yes. Is she okay?” The nurse smiled and said, “She has a couple of broken ribs on her right side and a couple other minor injuries, but she will be okay.” James asked, “Can I sit up?” The nurse said, “Not now. You have a broken bone in your leg that needs attention and a cut on your arm that the doctors will stitch up.” Then James asked about the pilot. The nurse said, “James, the pilot died in the crash. I thought you knew that”
Six hours later, the doctors moved James and Jill into an observation room very close to the emergency room. The heart monitors they wore in the emergency room remained connected to their chests. The doctors had sewed up the gash in James arm and set his leg. The leg would require a cast later today and the doctors planned to monitor him for a day or two to discover the reason for blood in his left ear and in his urine. Jill had two broken ribs, a puncture wound in the right side of her chest and a broken bone in her right lower leg. The puncture wound was very concerning to the doctors and they were monitoring Jill very carefully.
James talked a little to Jill. The nurses had heard them trying to talk and had moved their beds close together so they did not have to strain to communicate. Besides, the nurses figured the best medicine for both of them right now was their ability to comfort each other. Jill talked with a very low volume. Her ribs hurt if she strained at all. When the nurse walked up with a tray filled with tiny white cups containing pills, Jill wanted to know what each pill was. The nurse gave Jill one single pill at a time, explaining in detail what the medicine was intended to do. The last pill she gave Jill made Jill giggle. The nurse said, “You may find this funny now, young lady, but when you try to poop with those broken ribs, you will be very glad I gave you this stool softener.
Once James had taken his pills, both he and Jill drifted off to sleep. When James woke, he was alone in the observation area. He yelled for a nurse and she came running. James said, “Where is Jill? What happened to her?” The nurse calmed James and said, “They just moved her to her own room and they will be moving you upstairs near her in a few minutes.” James smiled and said, “Sorry I yelled.” The nurse checked his blood pressure and looked into his ear. Then she said, “If I give you a urinal, can you pee so the lab can check for blood. We need to know if there is a tear inside your body that caused you to bleed earlier.”
Once James was in his room, the nurse on that floor told him that Jill was two rooms down and was doing fine. She said, “We gave her some medicine so she would sleep. Those broken ribs are very painful and rest is the best thing for her right now. When she wakes, I will get a wheelchair and let you sit with her for a while. You seem to be on the mend. I just found out that you are scheduled to have a cast put on your leg in about an hour, if there is no swelling.”
It was dark in Jill’s room when she woke. She yelled James name and a nurse quickly walked to her room and turned on her light. The nurse walked up to Jill’s bed and asked, “Jill, you are okay. We moved you to your own private room on the fourth floor and James is just down the hallway. Are you in pain?” Jill explained that her ribs hurt the worst, but her leg throbbed. The nurse raised the bed sheets, checked to make certain there was no excessive swelling and then said, “Your leg is broken about six inches above your ankle. If the doctors feel the bones will heal on their own, they will place the order for you to have a cast. Jill asked, “Is James okay?” The nurse nodded and said, “He has been asking about you. I told him when you woke up that I would bring him down here in a wheelchair to talk to you. I will check and see if he is awake now. I will also check to see if I can give you some more pain medication.”
It was almost midnight when the nurse stepped into James room and turned on a small light. James shaded his eyes and then asked, “How is Jill?” The nurse said, “If you are up to it, I will wheel you to her room so you can see for yourself. She is quite worried about you as well.” James slowly moved himself to the edge of the bed. The nurse told him to sit still until he was certain he would not fall. Another nurse walked into the room pushing a small wheelchair and moved up close to the bed. She said, “If you are steady, you can move into the wheelchair. Go very slow and tell me if anything hurts that you did not already tell us about.”
When James entered Jill’s room, she began to cry. James wheeled himself close to her and said, “We are both okay, Jill. Everything will be okay.” As he kissed the back of her hand, she asked, “Has anyone told my father yet?” James said, “The human resources director has been in touch with Sally and she drove to the beach house and talked to Timothy. He is doing all right. Sally is looking after him and will make certain he is cared for.”
Three days later, James rolled his wheelchair to Jill’s room and then moved up close to her bed. Their doctor had said he planned to release both of them today, if all of their tests came back with the correct numbers. Sally and her brother planned to fly to Florida and then drive James and Jill back to California whenever the doctors gave a release date.
When Jill’s nurse walked into the room, she stepped up to Jill’s bed and placed a clipboard in front of her. Jill looked at the paperwork and quickly signed the form. Then she looked up at the nurse and put her finger over her lips, letting the nurse understand that she was not to say anything. The nurse smiled at Jill and said, “We will be in shortly to take you down for your tests. I will wheel James back to his room. You can ask him to return after the runner returns you to this room.” When the nurse stepped around to James’s wheelchair, he protested. Jill spoke to the nurse and said, “Nelly, could you give me five minutes to have a discussion with my husband before I go down for my tests. I have neglected to pass along some important information to him and the time for that discussion is now.” The nurse walked around to the end of the bed and said, “I will hold off the runner until you press the nurse call button hanging on the side rail of your bed. Try to keep the discussion short. Radiology has a full schedule and the doctor will not let you go home today without the results of that test.”
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