Open Skies

by Marysol James

  “Where did she go? Do you know where she went?”

  Jake’s face was broken and crumpled, his eyes were glassy and shocked. Rob didn’t relish having to tell him what had happened, but he knew that this was something that fell on him.

  He took Jake by the arm. “Come on, man. Let’s go get a drink. Maybe a whiskey. I’ll tell you what I know.”

  **

  Julie sat in Tammy’s room, holding her hand. She willed Tammy to open her eyes, even just for a few seconds.

  Tammy looked worse than Julie had imagined on the flight over from Colorado. She had tried to mentally prepare herself for what she might be confronted with, so she’d called on every single medical drama she’d ever watched on TV for reference. She pictured a massive head bandage and black eyes and cuts and bruises on Tammy’s face. She added machines and tubes and IV’s, and maybe a cast on her arm or leg. She was merciless: she forced herself to look at Tammy like this, no flinching or looking away. She thought she was ready.

  The reality completely shocked her. Tammy wasn’t recognizable. If Julie hadn’t been physically brought to her bed, she’d have walked right on past. The realization that her friend had been beaten so badly that she had literally disappeared took Julie’s breath away. The room started to spin and the black spots appeared; the doctor grabbed her arm and sat her down. He knelt beside her, talking softly, as she recovered.

  It was bad, he told her later. They wouldn’t know how bad until Tammy woke up. Julie clutched Tammy’s mother’s hand when the doctor told them that, trying to both offer comfort and draw some of her own.

  Julie and Tammy’s parents – Hilda and Ray – took it in turns to sit with her, waiting for Tammy to wake up. They didn’t want her to be alone when that happened. So here it was, midnight, and Julie was sitting with Tammy while her parents went home to get some rest. They were shattered, since they’d been with Tammy the whole day and the whole night before. Julie had told them to come back in the morning – she’d stay through the night.

  She watched Tammy breathe, thanking God that she could breathe on her own, despite the beating. The doctors said that was a very optimistic sign, and Julie held on to that fiercely. If Tammy was breathing, Tammy was in there. Somewhere.

  Tammy had been opening and closing her eyes, randomly, ever since she had been brought in. Her doctor, Doctor Meyers, said that she wasn’t really aware that she was doing it, that they were more like ‘flutterings’. Julie had looked in to Tammy’s eyes during one of these ‘flutterings’, and as much as she hated to admit it, she thought the doctor was right. Tammy’s eyes may have been open, but she wasn’t there. Her stunning violet eyes were blank and empty. It killed Julie to see those eyes without Tammy’s spark and sass.

  Time passed. Julie shifted in her chair, feeling the ache in her upper shoulders from being hunched over. She let go of Tammy’s hand and stood up, stretching her arms high above her head. She looked in to the hallway and saw a nurse walking past. What was her name? Was it Caroline?

  “Umm, excuse me? Caroline?”

  The woman turned around. “Yes? Is anything wrong?”

  “No, not really. I mean, beyond the obvious.”

  Caroline’s face was sympathetic. “I know.”

  “I was just wondering – I need to run to the bathroom. Can you sit with her? Just for a minute?”

  Caroline walked back to Tammy’s room. “Sure. No problem. I can stay a few minutes longer, if you want to go down and get something to eat. The cafeteria’s closed, but we have a machine with sandwiches and dried fruit, if you feel hungry.”

  “No, thanks. I had a big dinner before Tammy’s parents left.” That was a total lie, of course; Julie had nibbled on the corner of a sandwich on the plane and had forced down an apple that Hilda had insisted that she eat. That was it for that day, but she wasn’t hungry.

  “OK. Take your time. Get some fresh air, go for a walk. It’ll be fine.”

  But Julie didn’t want to leave Tammy for too long. What if she opened her eyes and Julie wasn’t there? She’d never be able to live with herself. She hurried to the bathroom – Tammy’s room was a private single, which Julie had insisted on and was paying for – and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked wrecked, she knew. Strained and grey and old.

  She used the toilet and washed her hands, and came back out. “Thanks.”

  Caroline smiled. “That was light-speed.”

  “Yeah.” Julie sat down again.

  “OK, well. If you need anything, just ask. I’m on tonight, I’ll be here until seven in the morning.”

  “Thanks.”

  Caroline left, and Julie settled in to her chair again. And she waited.

  Chapter Eight

  Three days after Julie arrived, Tammy opened her eyes and looked at her.

  Julie was alone in the room with her when it happened. Hilda and Ray had gone down to the cafeteria to get some coffee, and she was sitting in the chair by Tammy’s bed. She’d been there all night and she was just thinking that she’d better go home soon and get some rest, come back later, when Tammy’s breathing changed.

  Julie looked up sharply. Tammy was moving her head from side to side, her eyelids fluttering. She made a small sound in her throat.

  Julie froze. Part of her wanted to run to the door and scream for help; part of her wanted to stay where she was and hold Tammy’s hand. She stayed.

  “Tammy?” she said in a soft voice, holding Tammy’s hand in both of hers. “Tammy?”

  Tammy opened her eyes.

  “Oh, my God.” Julie reached over and touched Tammy’s cheek. “Tammy, can you hear me?”

  Tammy blinked.

  “Tammy?”

  Tammy turned her head slowly to face Julie. A wave of emotions passed over her face – confusion, pain, happiness – and she opened her mouth.

  “Wait, wait a sec.” Julie poured a glass of water, her hands trembling so much that it splashed all over her boots. She put a straw in to the glass and held it in front of Tammy’s face, supporting Tammy’s shoulders a bit. “Slowly.”

  She drank, swallowed, drank a bit more. Julie eased her back on to the pillows and sat down again.

  “What….”

  “Tammy, you’re in the hospital. You – you were hurt. Do you remember what happened?”

  Tammy stared at her. “No.”

  Julie sighed. “Well, it’s not totally clear who did this to you. But you were attacked… beaten. We don’t know who, but the cops think it was a man who followed you out of the bar you were in.”

  “How bad?”

  “I don’t know. Now that you’re awake, maybe they’ll know more. What hurts?”

  Tammy closed her eyes. “Head. Back.”

  “Yeah, that was where you got it the worst. Nothing broken, thank God.”

  Eyes still closed, Tammy asked, “Was I – did he –”

  “No. No, he didn’t – didn’t do that to you.”

  “OK.” She swallowed. “Where’s Marco?”

  Julie had been dreading this question. The truth was that Marco had shown up exactly once since Tammy had been brought in, and he had stayed for a grand total of three minutes. He had taken one look at his girlfriend and hustled his ass out of there at warp-speed.

  Julie jumped in front of him as he headed for the exit. “Whoa. Where do you think you’re going, Marco?”

  He glowered at her. “I’m not in to this kind of shit, Julie.”

  “What ‘shit’ is that? Being there for someone you care about? Sticking around when they need you? Oh, I know what ‘shit’ you mean: you mean the whole ‘thinking about somebody other than yourself’ thing. Is that what you mean?”

  “Back off, bitch,” he warned. “Me and her were never that serious, and I’m not about to play nurse to some chick who looks like she went five rounds with Tyson.”

  Julie stood aside then. “Perfect, so we totally understand one another. I never wanted you here, anyway. Go and don’t come back. Never call
her again. Just drop out of her life…you can do that, right?”

  And he had. No call to check up on Tammy; no change of heart when he showed up and asked to be there for her after all. Julie was happy that he was gone, but wasn’t sure how to tell Tammy that she’d spent time and energy on yet another guy who didn’t care about her the way she deserved.

  Julie stroked Tammy’s hair. “He’s not here.”

  Tammy looked at her, reading her face. “He took off? Just – ran?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, he did. I’m so sorry.”

  Tammy closed her eyes. “No major surprise, I guess.”

  Julie waited until Tammy looked at her again. “Listen, I’m going to get the doctor, OK? I’ll be two seconds.”

  Julie jumped to her feet and ran to the doorway. She saw Doctor Meyers at the nurse’s desk and she shouted, “She’s awake!”

  He spun, saw her face and hurried toward her. He came in to the room and looked at Tammy. “Well, Ms. Jenkins. It’s nice to see those lovely violet eyes.”

  Tammy tried to smile.

  He came over to her and said to Julie, “I need to examine her. Can you go get her parents?”

  “Is that OK?” Julie asked Tammy. “You’ll be OK on your own?”

  She nodded.

  Julie ran down the stairs to the cafeteria, too impatient to wait for the elevator. She saw Ray and Hilda sitting at a table, holding hands and not talking. When they saw her, they looked alarmed – until they saw her smile. Then their faces opened up as they realized that Tammy had come back to them after all.

  **

  Julie sat in the waiting room, down the hall from Tammy’s room. She thought that she’d leave Tammy and her parents alone for a few minutes.

  Doctor Meyers had been surprised at Tammy’s state: she was battered and bruised and had a lot of pain in the back of her head and across her back, but she was lucid and alert. She had no trouble talking, and she could move her feet and hands, her arms and legs. It seemed, he had confided in Julie, that Tammy would suffer no lasting damage. Physical damage, that was.

  She took her phone out of her purse and turned it on for the first time since she had got on the plane in Denver. She saw that she had thirty-nine missed calls and twenty-six messages. She sighed. None of these better be from Jake.

  She read the sms messages first: most were from Rob and Mattie and some of the other staff, asking her how Tammy was, and how she was, and asking if she needed them to do anything. But there were some from Jake, saying how sorry he was about Tammy and asking her if she wanted him to come and be with her. Her heart gave a small leap at the thought of Jake sitting here with her, his strong arms around her, but she pushed it down.

  Julie then scrolled through the missed calls. Some from suppliers, but she knew that Mattie and Rob would be on top of that. Three from Lyle Hawkins here in New York; she’d have to return those. She knew she had to sign those papers, and she might as well do it in person. Three calls from Mattie, two from Rob. Twenty-one from Jake.

  She turned the phone off again, tossed it in to her purse. She sat and stared at the TV without seeing it, thinking about Jake. He’d be getting ready to leave Open Skies now, packing up everything and sending it on to his new job, wherever it was. She tried to wish him well, and failed.

  She looked up as Ray came in to the waiting room. He smiled at her.

  “Hey, Jules. You ready to go home and get some rest?”

  “Actually, I think I’ll deal with some paperwork this morning. Get it out of the way.”

  “You mean the stuff with the lawyer?”

  “Yeah.” She stood up. “I’ll go see Tammy for a minute, then go.”

  “Sounds good, kiddo.” Ray came over to her and hugged her. “Take care of yourself, right? No sense making yourself sick.”

  “I know.”

  They walked together back to Tammy’s room. Hilda was sitting next to her daughter’s bed, looking radiantly happy.

  “Hey, girl,” Julie said to Tammy. “How are you feeling?”

  Tammy looked up, and Julie saw something in her eyes – no, that wasn’t right. She didn’t see something in her eyes. She stared at Tammy, horrified. Tammy was trying to smile, trying to look happy, but she wasn’t there. What had happened to her had taken something away from her… some part of Tammy. Julie’s stomach clenched. This woman in front of her was missing her usual fearlessness and fire – this woman was cowed and frightened.

  Oh, God, Tammy. Come back to us, OK? Maybe you can’t right now, not right away… but come back.

  Julie tried to smile brightly. “So, I’m off to the lawyer. I have a few things to sign, and then I’ll go back to my place for some rest. I’ll come back here later, maybe around four?”

  “Perfect,” Hilda said.

  “Yeah, sounds good.” Tammy made a huge effort to look happy, but she was speaking mechanically.

  Julie left the hospital, feeling like she was going to cry. That bastard, that fucking asshole who hurt Tammy – he’d done more than hit her and scare her. He stole something. He stole Tammy.

  Julie had to find a way to help her come back from this.

  **

  Lyle Hawkins looked at Julie with surprise and approval. She was wearing jeans and cowboy boots, and a white t-shirt under a dark green pullover. Her hair was loose and she was wearing almost no makeup and no jewelry.

  Despite her obvious exhaustion, she looked stunning. He’d always thought her a beautiful young woman, but she was even more so when she wasn’t polished and perfectly packaged. Her deep joy and confidence made her look younger, more approachable.

  He stood up as she walked in to his office. “Ms. Everett. I am so sorry to hear about your friend. How is she?”

  “Call me Julie, please.” She sat. “Tammy’s actually doing OK. The doctor says she’ll be able to go home in four days, maybe.”

  “That’s wonderful.” He smiled. “And how long will you be staying in New York?”

  “Oh, a few weeks more, I guess. I’ll be here as long as I think Tammy needs me. Mattie is more than capable of running things at the stables, and Rob is well-qualified to handle the hotel.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got a good team in place.”

  “I do. I really do.” She smiled, but she looked strained.

  Well, no surprise there, Hawkins thought. Aloud, he said, “OK, well. I have all your papers here, ready to sign. They just say that you have decided to retain ownership of Open Skies Ranch beyond the tenth of February. You can, of course, rescind your ownership at any time, in any manner you choose, at any time in the future.”

  Julie picked up the pen he offered her, and signed the documents. As she did so, a feeling of pure happiness moved across her body. Yes, this was definitely the right thing to do. Even with Jake gone, she wanted to be at the ranch. She belonged there, under the endless blue skies and at the foot of the Rockies. It was her home. Even with all the damn horses.

  “Thank you, Mr. Hawkins.”

  “If you’re Julie, then I’m Lyle.”

  “Lyle.”

  They shook hands.

  “So, congratulations. And the very best of luck to you.”

  “You too.”

  “Oh, by the way,” Lyle had an impish look on his face. “I was wondering if you’d maybe be able to recommend a cabin for me and my wife – we’ve decided to come over to your place for two weeks in the summer. Which one do you think we should rent?”

  Julie grinned, startled. “Really?”

  “Oh, yes. I love horses.”

  “You do?”

  “Indeed. My wife had never ridden, but she’s eager to try. She does love hiking, though, so if the horses don’t work out, she’ll still have plenty to do.”

  “Does she play tennis?”

  “We both do.”

  “Well, then… it’ll all be fine.”

  “I’m already looking forward to enjoying my morning coffee while gazing up at the mountains. It will be so relaxing, I think.
Calm and quiet and soothing.”

  “Soothing…” Julie said slowly.

  “Sorry?”

  “Soothing. Healing…”

  “Yes. A few days away from it all, in such a beautiful place, would certainly calm the nerves and recharge our batteries.”

  “You’re absolutely right,” Julie said. “It would. Tell you what: you call Rob Cathay this morning and tell him you want cabin two for your stay. It has the best patio area for sitting and drinking coffee, OK? And you tell him that Julie says to give you the special offer.”

  “What special offer?”

  “You don’t worry about that. It’s my pleasure.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Ever – Julie.”

  “No, Lyle. Thank you.”

  **

  Two days later, Tammy lay in the hospital bed, listless. Julie had just stepped outside to ask Doctor Meyers about taking Tammy on the plane. She told Tammy that if she wasn’t allowed to fly, she’d rent a car and they’d drive.

  Tammy found that she didn’t care either way. She didn’t care about staying in New York; she didn’t care about not staying here. She just wanted to lie down and look at the ceiling and not care and definitely not think.

  Julie’s phone rang on the table next to her bed. She glanced at it, saw that the call was coming from Rob. Tammy closed her eyes and ignored it.

  Actually, though…. hadn’t Julie said something about Rob calling and she’d need to talk to him right away? Groaning, Tammy reached over and answered the phone.

  “Hello?”

  A pause. “Hi. Is that Julie?”

  “No. It’s Tammy.”

  “Oh! Oh, Tammy. This is Rob.”

  “Hi.”

  “Hello.” Another pause. “How – how are you doing?”

  “I’m doing fine. Thank you.”

  “We’re all very much looking forward to meeting you. I’m happy that you’ve decided to come and stay for a while.”

  Yeah? Are you? I have no idea what I think and feel right now.

  Rob was discomfited by her silence. “So, anyway. I just want you to know that everything’s arranged, just as Julie specified.”