Reinventing Leona (14 page)

But what if true unconditional love was a myth? Or merely something mothers claimed until their children defied them? Maddie searched her mother’s red-rimmed eyes for reassurance, for proof her hypothesis was invalid.

Momma let go of the ice pack and clasped Maddie’s hand. “If you want a country-western singer, then
Justin
is what I want for you. Is he what you need, sweetheart?”

Need?
What she needed was for this surreal conversation to end and this rough ride to be over. It would only be a matter of time before the woman’s uncanny way of seeing straight into the heart of the real question would expose the awful truth. If she wasn’t sure what she needed, how could she ever know what she wanted? Maddie pulled free of her mother’s grasp, unwilling to be jerked around by strings the woman refused to cut or condemned by a standard she could never live up to.

“Take deep breaths, Momma.”

When would Momma admit her daughter was no longer a child in need of extra eyes to bring the future into focus? Maddie squeezed her eyes tight, wishing she could erase the sight of what was in store for her. Right before Charlie closed the ambulance door, she’d seen Justin toss his guitar case in his car.

What kind of man leaves town while his girlfriend’s world jostles apart in the back of a high-mileage rescue vehicle?
Maddie adjusted the blanket covering her grandmother.
What kind of fool pretends it doesn’t hurt?

* * * * *

Leona craved fluids. She popped the plastic lid from the Styrofoam cup and gulped the lukewarm coffee Roxie brought up from the hospital cafeteria, but that did not quench her thirst.

“Go easy on that caffeine. You’re just now getting some color back in your face.” Roxie pried the cup from Leona’s trembling hands.

The last swallow slid down Leona’s parched throat, her mind muddier than the liquid she had just consumed. Her brain felt too big for her skull. Pressing her fingers to her temples, Leona attempted to thwart the escape of any gray matter. “Roxie, tell me again what the doctor said.”

“Bertie has a slight concussion and a broken hip. She’ll be out of recovery and in her own room in about an hour.”

“Maddie nailed the diagnosis.” Leona lowered her hands and smiled. “She’s going to be a great doctor, isn’t she?”

“The best.” Roxie pursed her lips on the tip of her straw and slurped up the last of her Diet Dr Pepper.

Surveying the cramped room, Leona wondered how long this crowd of good people had been waiting. Over in the corner, Cotton and Melvin had David occupied. Against the wall, Parker was treed by the Storys. Out in the hall, Howard and Maxine were in deep conversation with two other board members, Hank and Harold. Leona leaned forward in her chair, but a sudden wave of dizziness made it impossible for her to decipher what the intense little group was discussing. From Maxine’s animated gestures, it couldn’t be good. She fell back into her chair and closed her eyes. Her desire to win the war against the underhanded had tumbled down the stairs with her mother.

Bette Bob McDonald bustled onto the antsy scene, toting proof of her firm belief in the combined powers of chocolate and prayer. “I’ve got homemade fudge, chocolate chip cookies, and warm brownies. Prayer warriors need their strength.”

“Let me help you with that.” David flew across the waiting room like he was saving a baby from a burning building.

Curiosity niggled Leona from her stupor.

“Why, thank you, David.” The corners of Bette Bob’s lips lifted in a pleased grin. “If you’ll hold Amy’s lunch, I think I can just slide these trays onto this end table.”

“No problem.” David held out his hands and Mt. Hope’s dessert diva dropped a brown paper bag into his grasp.

“I just hate it that Amy had to work on Thanksgiving so I made her a turkey sandwich, too.” Bette Bob wiped her freed hand across the front of her pink wind suit, leaving a brown swath of chocolate. “But if someone didn’t work the holiday shift, who would have been here to take care of your grandmother, right?”

David nodded agreement.

“Mrs. Harper?”

A vision in pale blue scrubs appeared in the doorway. Leona had been so busy watching David, she hadn’t even seen Amy come in. But when she glanced at her son, his spellbound stare proved he had not missed the young nurse’s entrance. Well, this was a complication she had not considered. If David was interested in Amy, how could she have Parker married to her by Easter? Besides, how could a man choose a wife when he couldn’t even pick a vocation? How had the Lord allowed her simple matchmaking request to become so misconstrued?

“Mrs. Harper?” Amy’s gentle touch startled Leona.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“You can come on back if you’d like to see Mrs. Worthington for a few minutes before we move her out of recovery.”

“I’ll go with you, Momma.” David was at Leona’s side before she could organize her thoughts enough to give a coherent answer.

“Amy, I brought you a lunch.” Bette Bob removed the foil from one of the trays. “If you get a break, come get some of these brownies you love.” Folding the wrapping, she added, “Leona, do you remember my youngest sister’s girl?”

Noticing the attentive look on her son’s face, Leona was certain she was not the only one who remembered Bette Bob’s niece. “I do. Good to see you again, Amy.” Chocolate and prayer must be a powerful combination, but then the Lord always had moved in mysterious ways.

David held out the sack. “Here’s your lunch.”

“Thanks.” Poker-faced, Amy took the crumpled bag. “Both of you, follow me.”

With military precision, the pretty nurse executed a pivot turn, then marched down the tiled floors of the silent hall. Trailing behind, Leona felt her chest tighten with each squeak of Amy’s rubber-soled shoes. They rounded a corner, and Amy palmed a large silver button on the wall. Slowly the automated double doors swung open.

“Bed two.” Amy pointed. “Behind that curtain.”

David touched the nurse’s arm. “We appreciate all you’ve done.”

“It’s my job.” Clutching her sack lunch, the tight-lipped young woman spun on her cushioned heel, then disappeared faster than her aunt’s fudge at a church potluck.

Well, she had spunk. Leona had to give her that. And she’d need every ounce of it if God had paired her with the conflicted pastor’s son.

Leona put her hand on the curtain, but hesitated before entering. She couldn’t remember everything said in the ambulance, but she had the distinct feeling her attempt to patch things up with Maddie had been botched. If she could not restore her relationship with her daughter, burying the hatchet with her mother was an impossible long shot.
Lord, help me.

Cautiously, Leona peered around the nylon curtain. Maddie, wearing a white paper smock, stood beside her grandmother’s wired body. The matching shower cap reconfigured her mass of golden curls into a look reminiscent of a lunchroom lady. She studied a chart just like the real doctors on TV medical shows. Pride surged through Leona, then crashed head-on into her guilt.
I do not deserve such an incredible daughter.

“I’ll get that.” David reached above her and gave the lightweight curtain a tug, sending it whizzing around the metal track attached to the ceiling.

“Hey, Momma.” Maddie closed the chart she held and slipped it into the holder at the foot of the bed. She came over and kissed Leona’s cheek. “You’re looking better.”

“I did feel a bit green.”

“Definitely not your color,” Maddie teased. She turned and gave David the once-over. “See you’ve got your legs again, Brother.”

“You keep Grandmother alive. I’ll keep Momma out of jail.”

“Fair enough.” Maddie’s chuckle reminded Leona of the soothing trickle of water washing over the smooth stones of the feng shui fountain Roxie had in her entryway.

The IV pump beeped beside her mother’s bed, jarring Leona’s fleeting sense of well-being. She glanced at the machine. Under the fluorescent light, the suspended bag of fluid glistened. Her eyes traversed the miles of clear tubing to the excessive tape on top of her mother’s hand. Feeling woozy, she could have sworn the constant drip was forcing liquid blame directly into her own veins. A guilty scum formed in the back of her throat and choked her breath.

“How is she?” she sputtered.

Maddie brightened. “I think the old girl’s got a few good miles left on her.”

Leona stepped forward and stood at the foot of the bed. Steadying both hands, she clasped the strap of the purse slung over her shoulder. “What can you tell us?”

“Small hospitals are great. You’re never going to believe all they let me do today. Katie Beth is going to be pea green with envy.” Maddie chattered a mile a minute. “At first some charge nurse tried to run me out of the emergency room, but Amy told them I was almost a doctor so they let me stay.” She stopped abruptly and cocked her head. “David, do you know Amy? She says she’s met you. Asked me if you were always so rude.”

David’s eyes narrowed. “What did
you
say?”

“Only since puberty.” Maddie flashed a sly grin. “Then Amy said, ‘If he hasn’t outgrown it by now, it’s doubtful he ever will.’ I like her.”

“Me too.” Leona said.

“Good for you.” David scooted a chair toward his mother. “Want to sit, Momma?”

“No, I’m fine.” Leona hated to admit these clinical surroundings weakened her knees. “So what did they operate on exactly?”

“Grandmother has an intertrochanteric hip fracture, which is better than a femoral neck fracture. These fractures do not have the issues with damage to blood flow to the bone.”

“Neck? You thought Grandmother had a broken neck?”

“
Femoral
neck, Momma.”

Leona felt lost in the medical mumbo jumbo swirling in the soup that had once been her brain. “Maddie, how about you run that by me again . . . slowly . . . in layman’s terms.”

“Basically, we were able to repair the break in Grandmother’s femur with a metal plate and screws instead of doing a more extensive hip replacement procedure.”

“We?” Leona said.

“We!” Light radiated from Maddie’s eyes. “When they wheeled Grandmother into surgery, Dr. Patel remembered me from that time I jumped off the sanctuary stage and broke my leg. He said he’d heard J.D. Harper’s daredevil daughter was studying medicine so why didn’t I scrub in and get a firsthand look at an orthopedic surgery?” She stopped to take a quick breath. “Momma, I got to watch the surgeon set the pins and everything. Absolutely incredible. Much better than working with cadavers or shadowing doctors on rounds.”

Medicine was a queasy world, in Leona’s opinion. Her sensitive stomach was prone to protestation when she nicked her legs shaving. Past picking up a prescription, she didn’t care to know a thing about doctoring. But from the glow on her daughter’s face, it was obvious broken bodies didn’t faze Maddie. Healing was what her girl had been called to do, no question about it.

Maddie’s concentration strayed to the flashing red numbers on the monitor. She retrieved the chart. Leona watched her daughter carefully record important information, speaking as she wrote. “According to the MRI she didn’t have any cerebral contusions or lacerations, only a mild concussion.”

The foreign words scrambled Leona’s brain. No wonder they had so much trouble communicating. When had the simple child she raised beamed up to a different planet? Acquired that alien glow? Leona refused to allow the regret stinging her eyes a chance to make a tearful entrance. If the complex workings of the human anatomy mattered to her daughter, she’d just have to find some way to share in those pursuits. Discover the key to unlocking her daughter’s heart, then wriggle past the chest of drawers stuffed with resentment Maddie had blocking the door of their relationship.

She touched her daughter’s arm. “Explain
concussion
to me.”

Maddie ceased her scribbles and closed the chart. “She’ll have a monster headache when she wakes up.”

“Will she remember . . . ?”

“That she was a horse’s rear end?” Her probing eyes appeared as if she too searched for common ground. “I doubt it.”

Leona smiled. “Then, if your grandmother’s misfortune furthers your education, I guess it’s the least she can do for you.”

The sound of Maddie’s unrestrained laughter soothed the raw places the day had scraped across Leona’s heart.

“So what happens next?” David drummed his fingers on the footboard of his grandmother’s hospital bed.

Chart tucked under her arm, Maddie checked the IV monitor. “I’m sure she’ll be here a few days; then we’ll move her to that new rehab facility next door. Sooner we get her up and walking, the better. Grandmother is in excellent health. She should be up and around in no time.”

A sudden urge to touch her mother’s leg came over Leona, but she couldn’t pry her hands from her purse strap. “Do I need to stay with her?”

“I’ll stay tonight. You can come in the morning.” Maddie guided Leona away from the bed. “Momma, you did great on the ride over here. I couldn’t have done it without you. David, would you take my assistant home?”

David scanned the room. “Is there a back door?”

Maddie raised a quizzical brow. “Back door?”

“So I can avoid the nurse who thinks I have mad cow disease.”

Maddie laughed. “Maybe she has some sort of miracle cure.”

“I doubt it.” He kissed his sister’s cheek. “Taking Momma home is the least I can do, especially since I wasn’t much help to Parker.”

“Parker?”

“The guy has nerves of steel. He had his cell phone out and Charlie tracked down before I could even get up off the floor.” Admiration twinkled in David’s eyes.

“Parker?” Skepticism sounded in Maddie’s voice.

“The guy was cool as a Story cucumber. He kept Etta May and Nola Gay out of your way. Even offered Justin a ride before we left for the hospital.”

“I knew Parker had emergency training in stem rot, but never guessed he knew broken hips as well.” Maddie’s green eyes sparkled. “I’ll be sure and commend our local extension agent on his blue-ribbon emergency showing.”

“You do that.” David took Leona’s elbow. “Come on, Momma.”