by Barbara Ebel
Next, she took Julia to a park beside her apartment complex where she made sure her daughter played and used the children’s equipment for over an hour until her energy level ran out of steam.
Back at the apartment, Rachel made them both a late lunch and then nestled the sleepy little girl in her lap in front of several lit candles on the coffee table. The flames flickered and even warmed the small area around them.
“Didn’t you have a swell time with your mother at the park today?” Rachel whispered in Julia’s ear.
“Mmm hmm.”
“You and I must stay together always,” Rachel said, stroking her daughter’s hair. “It’s the best way because Mommy loves you the most. I miss you way too much because you don’t live with me. And I cry, too, when you’re not here.”
Julia tilted her head up. “Don’t cry, Mommy.”
Rachel let out a sigh and held her daughter even closer. “I can’t help it when you are with Danny and those people.”
“It’s okay, Mommy.”
“It would only be okay if you only lived with me. You could still visit that other house once in a while.”
A long silence ensued. Rachel continued stroking her.
“But Mommy, Da-Ka is my favorite.”
“I know, sweetheart, and I’m sorry Danny took Dakota away from me. I know what!” Rachel exclaimed. “I’ll give you the biggest present ever. I will buy you a puppy that will be your very own dog!”
A smile erupted on Julia’s face and she clapped her hands. “Mommy, can I name her?”
Chapter 4
Since Mary stayed with Casey while waiting for him to go to surgery, she insisted that Danny go home.
“Otherwise,” she said, “you’ll be here until late at night and Julia will be back at the house at five.”
Casey nodded from the bed; a morphine shot had eased the throbbing, intense pain from his hand and had also made him groggy.
“You stayed with me when I was hospitalized last fall,” Danny said. “You didn’t move from my bedside. What makes you think I wouldn’t do the same?”
“Because, you dumbass,” Casey said softly, “the ‘one and only’ is bringing Julia back to the house.”
“I’m sorry,” Mary said to her brother. “It’s the medication that’s talking.”
“No, it’s not,” Casey said while staring at Danny. “And if you don't know what a dumbass is you're really a stupid dumbass.”
“Casey!” Mary exclaimed.
“It’s alright. He’s angry at Rachel and he’s too much of a gentleman to say so, so he’s taking it out on me. At least I’m good for something.”
Danny leaned over and kissed his sister on the cheek. “Keep me posted. I will go home for Julia. That will also assure me that Sara won’t have to deal with Rachel either.” He looked up at the ceiling as if praying. “God forbid if Sara is the next one in line to render Rachel some kind of assistance.”
“Good plan,” Mary said.
“And one more thing.” He took a step closer to Casey. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am. If I could give you one of my whole fingers, I would.” He turned and left with a heavy heart.
“You told him what happened?” Casey asked his wife.
“Think of it this way. You wouldn’t like it if I kept quiet about something happening to Danny. Would you?”
Casey crossed his arms. As usual, Mary was correct. He finally let his lids close and rested … almost comfortably.
-----
The garage door was open as Danny sprayed cleaner on a back window of his car and wiped off Dakota’s nose smudges. The dog was behind him following his steps as he thought about Casey. He said a small prayer for him; he’d be going to surgery soon and, whatever the outcome, he hoped his friend would not have future limited abilities at his job.
The sporty car pulled into the driveway and came to a stop. Dakota trotted over with his tail wagging and Rachel said, “Hi, my boy,” while getting out.
“Julia ate a late lunch and had a little nap afterwards,” she added as Danny approached; she opened Julia’s door as Dakota nudged in to greet the youngster.
“Hi, pumpkin,” Danny said, helping his daughter to the ground.
After Julia gave Danny and Dakota a slight acknowledgement, she skipped through the garage, tippy-toed to the door handle and went inside. Danny picked up her bag as Rachel went back to the driver’s seat.
He stood next to the open window but before he could say anything, Rachel spoke first. “By the way, I had my car fixed immediately and hurried to get Julia back to you on time.”
As she didn’t even ask about Casey, Danny’s anger boiled up. “Well, aren’t you the saint?”
“Thank you.” She lowered her sunglasses. “Now if you don’t mind, please step back. Casey already got himself hurt in this driveway today. I know you two are close but you don’t have to follow his stupidity.”
With disbelief, Danny moved backwards. His mouth agape as she pulled away, he realized she was right. He had been ready to ask her why she had earlier turned on the car engine. Had it been a total accident because she didn’t hear Casey’s wish to not turn on the ignition?
He had been ready to tell her the status of his brother-in-law at the hospital but it would have been on deaf ears.
-----
Danny finished his first surgery on Monday morning and bounded up the staircase two steps at a time hoping to see Casey before his discharge.
“Good morning, you two,” he said on entering the room.
Mary sat on the end of Casey’s bed with an open newspaper. She’d been reading to him from the Sunday’s sport’s section, a short article about Friday night’s basketball game.
Danny sat down and leaned forward. “How did it go? And what did they do?” He eyed the bulky bandage wrapped around Casey’s left middle finger.
“They cleaned it up and made a perfect closure. The hand surgeon thought the reattachment wouldn’t work and the severed piece was worse than she thought. Otherwise, it went smoothly. The anesthesiologist that you know gave me an axillary block with sedation and the finger was still numb for most of the night.”
“But now he’s hurting,” Mary said, “even though they gave him a pain med this morning.”
Danny rubbed his hands together, looked up and frowned.
“What,” Casey said.
“I hope you don’t get phantom limb pain.”
“What’s that?” Mary asked.
“That’s where an amputated limb or appendage is left with unusual feelings. It happens to patients over half the time. It feels as if the missing part is still attached to the body and the nerves that would have innervated the missing part cause pain.”
Mary grimaced and glanced at her husband.
“It can be agonizing,” Danny said. “Some patient’s report it as a burning or shooting pain and others experience tingling, itching or other sensations. It can’t be pleasant.”
Mary buried her face in her hands, her red hair fell free alongside her face, and Casey reached out with his right hand to comfort her.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” she said. “We’re not going to let this go.”
“Mary wants me to sue Rachel,” Casey said, “but I’m not exactly the litigating type.”
Danny raised his eyebrows. “You can make an exception, you know. It’s not uncommon for greedy litigators and lawyers to sue for pain and suffering.”
“I can’t do that.” He looked at his hand, now resting on the white sheet. “Although I wonder what my medical bills are going to be after all this is said and done. Why don’t I sue her for all my out-of-pocket bills?”
“You’re a gentleman, Casey Hamilton,” Mary said, “if you don’t sue her for more.”
“That’s one reason you married him,” Danny said. “But possibly recouping your medical bills is better than nothing. Plus, it will be a thorn in her side although a cactus couldn’t penetrate her. Why don’t you use my attorney, Mark Cu
nningham?”
“Sure thing,” Casey nodded. “I suppose he knows how to deal with Rachel, too.”
“I’ll give him a call to start the ball rolling,” Danny said.
Danny patted Mary’s shoulder. “I must get back downstairs for my next surgery. But do you know that today’s the big day? We’ll all be smiling later when Sara gets home.” He shook his head with amusement. “After work, she’s going for her obstetrician’s appointment and we get our first baby pictures. I can’t believe I’m going to be a father again.”
After Danny left, Casey and Mary grinned at each other.
“I haven’t seen him this happy about anything since our wedding day,” she said.
-----
Annabel strolled back to her dorm after her last morning class; during the lecture, she’d received a text message from David. He had been off campus for the weekend, his parents insisting he’d get more rest and fewer distractions at home. The previous night, his father had driven him back to his dorm where he was to skip classes until his doctor’s appointment with Danny on Thursday.
Annabel piled the load of books she’d been carrying on her desk and looked again at David’s message: Grab a bite later? Meet you in the cafeteria?
She couldn’t wait to see him. This had been the first weekend since they had met that they hadn’t spent time together. It had been a miserable two days, she missed him so much. He dominated her thoughts and it was difficult to get any studying done. Her two thumbs wiggled across the keypad and she typed back to him: For sure.
In the small mirror Annabel had hung near the door, she ran her fingers through her hair to enhance its natural curl and looked at her teeth. After having braces for years, she was proud of her straight, white smile and still flossed her teeth regularly like before.
She went back out and resumed thinking about David. At least they were sharing another biology lab class together this semester but, unless she saw him between classes this week, she wondered if she would see him at all.
Annabel realized since they had been going together and having sex, her hormones seemed to ramp up as time went on instead of feeling like she was being fulfilled. Just looking at his dimpled chin and perfect shoulders made her yearn to be in his arms. And above all that, he had a fun personality, treated her terrific, and they hadn’t had a disagreement or misunderstanding yet. He was a source of strength and companionship for her and she began to realize that he may be in her life for a long, long time.
Dressed in faded blue jeans and a long college sweatshirt, she walked over to the cafeteria and bounded up the steps to the balcony lounge where they occasionally met between classes or before lunch. Convinced that she didn’t see him on either of the two couches or chairs in front of the coffee shop, she stepped over to two of their classmates.
“Hi, guys,” she said. “Have either of you seen David?”
A short teen with a Caribbean accent answered, “He was with us for a while. Left a few minutes ago with some basketball buddies.”
“Do you know where they went?”
“The guys were going to the gym,” the other one said, “to play ball for a few minutes. They were laughing that they rarely play outside of team practice anymore when Coach Newman can’t be so hard on them.”
The corners of Annabel’s mouth turned down.
“Don’t worry, Annabel,” the first teen said. “David said he was going to watch.”
The second teen tapped his friend’s forearm. “But they were giving him grief to shoot balls with them.” He looked at Annabel. “They said David was grounded from playing and from team practice, but what was the harm if he was their fifth player just fooling around on the court.”
“Okay, thanks.” She turned and ran down the stairs, biting the inside of her lip. Maybe it would be best if she convinced him to come back to the cafeteria with her and not watch them. Since he loved basketball, watching his teammates may be like purgatory since he wasn’t allowed to join in.
She crossed the street south from the cafeteria and went into the large athletic center. After passing the Olympic-sized pool on the right, she went into the basketball court. A group of students were playing on her side and a shot to the backboard startled her as she passed by, not seeing David.
As she continued to the other side of the gym behind the first row of benches, she finally made out the next group of students playing ball. Five of the school’s male basketball players were there, David included.
Knowing she couldn’t get their attention until they took a break, Annabel sat on the bench. She thought about her father’s instructions; as far as she knew, there weren’t any exceptions he had listed to allow David to play sports. She had to admit he looked handsome in dark sweatpants and a logo tee-shirt but, damn it, he shouldn’t be out there. Grimacing, her heart rate sped up with anticipation. He better just be watching them and not get sucked up into playing.
Always impressed with David’s style – which the coach said he was still perfecting – she sadly saw him line up for a free throw. To his advantage, he’d learned to use flexibility to create greater energy. With ball in hands, he took a wide stance. Annabel wanted to shout at him to stop. But with his shoulder forward and relaxed, he made his release point high and made the shot.
All five players then grabbed for the ball and in the scramble, David lost his balance. As he began falling to the floor, he was struck in the head by a knee.
Chapter 5
Having moved to Nashville, the only downside Rachel could think of was that she was a two-hour drive from Phil Beckett, her continuously-retained lawyer who she had used for many services. Although she sometimes gave him grief, she trusted him because of their shared history and because he usually procured the outcomes she desired.
Pretty much anyway. Perhaps he’d met his match with a grand jury that had convened due to charges the prosecuting attorney had brought against her. Kirk Thompson had successfully brought a manslaughter rap against a former boyfriend but, in the interim, she had gotten tangled up in the mess.
Rachel had not been proactive against stopping that boyfriend – Leo - from abusing Julia, who was an infant during the time they had lived with him; in addition, she had blackmailed him in exchange for keeping quiet about it. So Kirk Thompson made an example of her. Besides the blackmail charges, he wanted to come down against people who don’t ensure the safety of minors.
She had received her own attorney’s phone call last week. With an exterior as thick as a T. Rex, Rachel had experienced or provoked more calamities than most people had in their lifetime but Phil had told her the scariest news she had ever received.
“The grand jury made their decision,” he’d said. “They believe the charges and evidence against you warrant a trial.”
After she had hung up the phone, she gasped for air and the only physical sense she felt was a tight squeezing in her chest. Even the remaining numbness around her upper lip from a previous facial trauma was exaggerated as she couldn’t feel parts of her face.
She had finally restored her breathing and normal heart rhythm. Hell, she’d thought, what could be the sentence if I was found guilty? Surely, I can’t go to jail if I didn’t even hurt someone. Not like the dirt bags who shoot, torture or harm other people. It’s ludicrous that the legal system is making a big deal about this. In essence, she continued thinking, she’d been a more lucrative weasel in matters other than this.
Phil Beckett had gone to work immediately by calling Kirk Thompson and trying to hand over some reconciliation on Rachel’s behalf instead of preparing to go to trial. After a tense few days of back and forth bartering, both attorneys and Rachel agreed to appear before a judge at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning.
The pressing court appearance in Knoxville had been the reason Rachel was in a hurry on Sunday afternoon. She’d finally put Julia down for her nap and scrambled to pack a small suitcase After dropping off Julia back at Danny’s, she had to drive to Knoxville. It would be much better
to stay overnight in a hotel there than take a chance of being late Monday morning coming all the way from Nashville.
Of course, what she hadn’t banked on was Casey’s dim-wittedness in getting his finger lopped off in her engine. That man had been a pain in her side ever since she’d first met him a few years ago. That was when she’d taken a precious historical book owned by Danny and placed it in the resale market.
She had to admit, however, that Danny had one special friend in Casey. She should be so lucky to have a friend like that. Maybe the next man she meets will be as dog-trained as him and won’t go off to some sick-person hospital like a previous boyfriend, Varg … or go to jail like Leo … or leave her flat like her policeman, Evan, had.
-----
At 7:00 a.m. on Monday morning, Rachel and Phil Beckett met one street over from the Knoxville courthouse in a busy coffee shop. It was a routine stop for lawyers throughout the day. Rachel heard them tactfully talk to each other about cases; she even heard one making disparaging remarks about his own client as she stood in line waiting for a cappuccino.
She took the hot mocha over to Phil who she had spotted when she first walked in; the almost middle-aged man hunched over his iPhone so that his thinning, combed-over hair practically glistened with a thickening product.
“Good morning,” she said, placing the paper cup on the table. She took off a jacket that matched her skirt and pulled out a chair.
Phil nodded. “Excellent attire and I didn’t even tell you how to dress.”
“I’m not stupid,” she mumbled. She’d worn a light rose blouse with a soft white scarf tied in front as well as short heels with the skirt. Her skin glowed like she’d healed after a chemical peel. As she sat down, the man at the adjoining table did a double-take.
