Evergreen by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 12

Katie spent the night at the hospital, tossing and turning on the couch in one of the family rooms. Christine stepped out to make a call to the Deputy, informing him that she would return the next afternoon. If Tom took a turn for the worse, someone should be there to hold Katie’s hand. She had no doubt as to Chuck’s ability to hold the fort down while she was away. After all, it was only for one night and Chuck was both a good person and a good cop. As she spoke to him, she learned that the entire town had discovered Tom’s accident. This was hardly a surprise. News travels fast in Evergreen and it was not unusual for the entire town to rally together behind one of their own.

Katie got up several times. She was exhausted and wandering into Tom’s room, sat next to his bed. Not being much of a religious person she rarely went to church, but desperate times called for desperate measures and leaning down with her head in her hands and silently begged God for intervention, to bring her father back to her. She was too tired to cry. Her tears had been drained by emotional exhaustion and shock. The only things Katie could do that she felt would be of any use were waiting and praying, and she did a great deal of both. But with mental and emotional fatigue, Katie tipped her head back and drifted off to sleep.

Sometime later, Christine woke. She’d drifted off while sitting in a well-cushioned chair in the corner opposite the couch that Katie had been sleeping on. She instinctively kept her hand on her sidearm. It wasn’t that she expected a problem, but having served several years as a Marine, she was very much aware of the responsibilities that came with possession and use of a firearm. She walked down to the cafeteria, returning with two cups of coffee. It was three o’clock in the morning when Christine walked into Tom’s room. She found Katie fast asleep with her head still craned back against the wall. She hated the idea of waking her, but given the odd position of Katie’s neck, Christine knew that she would appreciate it later.

“Hey,” she whispered.

Katie woke with a start and as she brought her head up, felt a sudden twinge of pain spread throughout her neck and shoulders. She sat forward, massaging the back of her neck as Christine handed her a cup of coffee. “How’s he doing?” Christine asked.

Katie rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she took the coffee from Christine.

“They haven’t really told me anything,” she answered. Concerned, Christine looked at Tom, who was still breathing via a respirator.

“Well,” she began. “Maybe it’s time we asked a few questions. Stay here.”

She turned and leaving the room approached the resident in charge of Tom’s care. The doctor listened intently as Christine voiced her concerns.

“I understand,” he began. “We’re actually planning to decrease his sedation and let him wake up a little. We’ll have to see what happens from there.”

Later that morning, the doctor adjusted the medication keeping Tom heavily sedated and within an hour; he was following basic commands and opening his eyes. The doctor was cautious in his response, trying not to give Katie any false hopes. But it was also part of the doctor’s job to provide some measure of hope, even if he was unable to draw any predictable conclusions. Katie, however, was elated beyond words and spent hours talking to her father as he responded by blinking his eyes. By midmorning, the nurse entered the room and informed Christine and Katie that Tom needed to rest. Hearing this, Christine approached Katie and gently put a hand on her arm.

“We should go,” she began. “You can call later to see how he’s doing. We’ll come back in a couple of days, okay?” Katie turned back to her father. She absolutely did not want to leave him, but Tom was now aware enough to nod his head, prompting her to go.

The drive back was painfully long. Neither of them had slept well that night but with enough coffee, even the dead can function relatively well and Christine’s brain was running solely on caffeine. Katie, as before was, was sound asleep. Once they returned to Evergreen, she would stay with Christine for a few days until Tom came home from the hospital. Christine didn’t think it wise to let Katie stay home alone. She could certainly take care of herself, but with her father on a respirator in Eastern Maine Med, Christine thought it best to be there for her. “We’ll get some of your things later today, okay?” she said.

“Why don’t you get some sleep.”

Katie walked over to the couch, ready for a few more hours behind closed eyelids.

“Oh, can I call the hospital?” Katie asked. A lot can change in three hours, but Christine knew that Tom’s condition was stable. She also knew that Katie would not sleep soundly until she spoke to the doctor again and checked on her father. She was relieved to know that his condition had not worsened but disappointed that it was still unchanged and hanging up the phone, laid down on the couch falling off into a deep sleep. Christine retrieved some blankets and covered her with enough to keep her warm. She briefly considered the idea of getting some rest, yet duty called and twenty minutes later, she was behind her desk filling out paperwork and reading Chuck’s report from the previous day. There wasn’t anything about it that stood out, with the exception of Tom’s accident. She called the mill to give the owner an update. But unsurprisingly, he already knew about it and said that Tom’s expenses would be completely covered. In addition, Tom would continue to be paid from the mill’s disability program. So financially, things would go unchanged. All Tom had to do was get better. Evergreen always took care of its own.