Solemn Oath (30 page)

“Fine, we'll do three chapters a night. Surely that won't be too difficult.” Mercy leaned over and kissed Tedi good-night.

Tedi's nose wrinkled. “Grandma's right. You smell like smoke.”

“Good night,” Mercy said firmly.

As she made her way to bed, without washing her hair, she replayed the angry words she'd hurled at Lukas tonight.
Where's all that compassion…where's that intelligence?
And she knew the descriptions were appropriate. Lukas
was
compassionate and intelligent. He wasn't some Bible thumper who got carried away with religious emotionalism. He didn't hear voices in his head. He made good decisions about patient care, and he had always treated her with respect.

She had known him for nearly six months, and she'd never known him to be impulsive. And he was obviously sincere about why he was ending their relationship.

Should she pay more attention to his words?

“C
larence, I don't know what to do with you.” It was eight o'clock Saturday morning, and Mercy had been awake for over an hour. She leaned on the end rail of her favorite patient's extra-sturdy hospital bed and pushed the empty breakfast tray toward the door so an aide could collect it without disturbing them.

“I know one thing you could do,” he growled. “Go away and let me finish my dream.”

“You'll get your chance. Was it a good dream?”

“Real good. I could see my toes. And I could walk without having to use a cane to help carry the load, and my back didn't hurt.”

Mercy stifled another yawn. She must have been crazy last night when she thought she could just burrow under the covers and forget everything. She'd fallen asleep sometime after two and had awakened long before Tedi's alarm clock went off at seven. So here she was on hospital rounds for the day, being glared at by Clarence's sleep-swollen eyes.

“It'll happen, Clarence. Give it time. You have to take care of yourself and lose more weight.”

The big man grunted and shook his head. “Do you know how hard it's been to lose thirty-eight pounds?”

“Sixty-three pounds,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, but you told me twenty-five of that was water, so all I really lost was thirty-eight pounds of fat and probably a bunch of muscle. I thought I was dying. I've got two hundred and fifty pounds to go, and I'm so hungry I can't see straight, even with the drugs I'm taking to keep me from being hungry. And you've been telling me that I've got to eat even less because my metabolism is slowing down because I'm not getting enough food. It's crazy! What if my metabolism stops altogether?”

“That will mean you're dead, and we're not going to let that happen.”

“I can't even get out of bed.”

“That will change.” Mercy reached across the rail and picked up the chart that hung on a hook there. Except for complaints from one nurse who couldn't get a good blood pressure reading because of his size, his numbers looked good. “We don't want to exercise those parts of your body that are still injured,” she said, “but you can go back to your arm exercises.” She patted the biceps of his right arm. “Lots of weight to lift there. We just want to be careful not to pull any more muscles, or to reinjure the ones that are healing.”

“I just hope I can still walk when I get out of here. And that reminds me, when
am
I getting out?”

She raised a warning hand. “One thing at a time, Clarence. I'm scared to even let you out of the bed to go to the bathroom yet, and I don't trust you to go home. My mother wants to help you, but I've got to be sure you're emotionally stable enough to work with her. She can be a tyrant.”

“Oh, yeah? I met her yesterday. She's not as bossy as you.”

“You just saw her good side. Wait until she gets you alone.”

“I've put up with you all summer. I can put up with her.”

“How do you feel about surgery?” Mercy shot back.
“We could have your stomach stapled. If you think your pathway to the bathroom is well worn now—”

“Okay, okay, I'll be good and eat my lettuce leaf and drink my water every day.” His eyes betrayed a spark of humor, then grew serious again. “When's sis coming home?”

“Soon, we hope.” And that was one reason Mercy hesitated to release Clarence too soon. “Dr. Weathers said he might be able to send her back here Monday or Tuesday, although he doesn't want her to be alone.”

“Then let me out of—”

“Not so fast, pal. Just let me finish. My mother has promised to clear her schedule to help you and Darlene while you're both convalescing. Mom's rounded up some friends at church to help out, but…” Mercy hesitated.

Clarence narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “But what?”

“You're not going to like this part.”

“What part?”

“I know how independent you are, and this would be hard on you, but I think it would be best for both you and Darlene while you recuperate.”

“What're you talking about?”

“I don't want you to refuse immediately. Take some time to—”

“Mercy!” His voice echoed through the room in a low roar.

She grimaced. “Mom wants you and Darlene to stay with her.”

He stared at her for a moment. “You mean, like spend a couple of days there?”

“More than a couple, Clarence. There's a little apartment at the far end of her house. My grandmother lived in it for a while.” She paused, trying to read Clarence's expression.

His continued stare veiled his thoughts.

“Mom also has a lot of exercise equipment,” Mercy said. “You can use it as you lose weight.”

“What do you mean? It's gonna take me a long time to…Oh no, you don't! I'm not anybody's permanent houseguest. We can't just pick everything up and leave our home.”

“Aren't you forgetting something, Clarence?” Mercy asked quietly. She waited a moment, and she felt his pain when realization dawned in his face. Because of his situation, he had been a permanent houseguest for two years.

“She wants to coach you back into a trim, healthy body. She wants Darlene to join you. With the apartment you would have privacy, but my mother—who prides herself on her healthy cooking and lifestyle—wants to take you on as a challenge. My grandmother lived with her until last spring, and Mom has been taking care of my daughter this summer, but she's lonely.” Mercy knew she was chattering to ease the awkwardness. It was unusual to have this much contact with a patient, but her heart went out to both Clarence and Darlene. “Would you at least think about it?”

He closed his eyes for a long time, then took a deep breath. “I'm not stupid, Mercy. The setup Darlene and I had wasn't working. I've gotta try something else for her sake.” He opened his eyes and fixed Mercy with a glare. “But we'll pay our way.”

Battling the shock she felt at this unexpected capitulation, Mercy smiled her first smile of the day. “I wouldn't expect anything else from you.”

He took another deep breath and changed the subject. “So how's your love life?”

 

Tedi drank another cup of Gatorade that some people passed out to walkers from the pickup truck that drove along the country road and kept track of everyone. She had a blister on her right big toe and another one on her left heel, and she was tired. They'd walked four miles, and Grandma
just kept walking faster, passing at least half of her fifty million friends, catching up on gossip—although Grandma didn't call it gossip. She called it concern for your neighbors. After a while, Tedi stopped listening. Grown-up stuff got boring after a couple of hours. And Tedi had other things to think about besides county taxes and hospital finances and suspected arsonists.

Last night, after Mom went to bed, Tedi had called Abby to invite her to the walk this morning. Abby said no. She didn't even bother to ask her parents. She just refused, which was not like Abby.

She'd been acting so weird lately, getting mad and shouting one minute, then laughing too loudly the next. She'd slapped three other kids in the past two weeks during recess, and Mr. Walters had seen it. He'd called Abby in and talked to her after class one day, but Abby never said anything about it, and Tedi was afraid she'd get slugged, too, if she asked.

Tedi was worried about her, but what was she supposed to do? She couldn't tell anybody that Abby might hurt herself to keep her parents from fighting. Nobody would believe her. And Mom had said it wasn't ethical to break a promise.

She should never have promised.

“…saw Dr. Mercy peeling out from his house last night like she was a race-car driver. First time I ever saw somebody lay rubber with a front-wheel drive. Dr. Bower ran after her down the driveway, but she didn't even look back. She didn't see me across the street, either….”

The words of Grandma's chatterbox friend suddenly registered. Tedi looked up and saw Grandma's suddenly grim expression.

“So you're saying my daughter seemed upset,” Grandma said quietly.

“That's the understatement of the month!” her friend
replied. “It sounds like Dr. Mercy and Dr. Bower broke up. Hope it doesn't put Dr. Mercy in a bad mood, 'cause I've got an appointment with her Monday.”

Tedi stared up at the woman in shock. Mom and Lukas broke up? That's what Mom was so upset about last night?

How horrible! They couldn't break up! Mom was in love with Lukas.

“You know what this could mean, don't you?” the friend said. “A family reconciliation. It's biblical, and now that the ex has straightened out his life…”

Grandma walked faster, and Tedi had to hustle to keep up. They left the one gossipy friend behind and in a few minutes joined Dr. Hugh Heagerty, the retired doc that Grandma liked.

Tedi sighed. “Here we go again,” she muttered under her breath. This was why she always hated going to town with Mom or Grandma. They knew everyone in Knolls, and every time they stepped out of their house, it seemed, they ran into one of their friends—no, make that fifteen of their friends, one at a time. And, of course, they had to “catch up” on news. Tedi was moving to another state when she grew up.

While Dr. Heagerty and Grandma talked, Tedi thought about last night. Mom had been really upset about something.
And all I could do was tell her about my stupid book and ask stupid questions about breaking promises.

How could this happen? Mom and Lukas never fought. Even when they argued about something, they never got mad. Tedi would know, because she'd listened to Mom and Dad fight plenty of times. Mom was always in a good mood when Lukas was around. So was Tedi. Lukas had helped Tedi put up a rope swing this summer under Grandma's big tree in the backyard, and even though the rope came untied three times while Lukas tested it, he finally got it right.

And Lukas never got mad and shouted or threatened the way Dad used to.

Lukas was also the one who had introduced Dad to Jesus. Dad said so himself.

Grandma and Dr. Heagerty caught up with three more walkers. To Tedi's relief the pace slowed. These were more friends of Grandma's, and the same old routine began that Tedi had witnessed at least a dozen times already this morning, with at least two and sometimes three people talking at once.

“…haven't seen you in weeks. Where are you hiding out?”

“…read that Bailey Little's letter in the paper the other day…”

“…ever catch that guy who shot Cowboy?”

The chattering voices continued to float over Tedi, and after they exclaimed over how pretty Tedi was, and how much she looked like Grandma and Mom, they ignored her. Thank goodness.

“…hear they're narrowing down the suspects for the fires, but I think they're sniffing up the wrong tree…”

“…think they'd have the arsonist already if they had money for a real investigation…”

“…you have to think like an arsonist to catch an arsonist. That's what my cousin told me at the dinner last week…”

“…hospital's taking up all the revenue…”

“…RealCare could buy us out and shut us down or raise the fees so high we couldn't afford medical care…”

“…Dr. Mercy and her fella breakin' up…”

Tedi was not going on any more of these cancer walks.

 

“You win,” Mercy muttered as she turned into her driveway at home. She didn't designate the subject of her address. He knew who He was. “I get the message. I'm not good enough for Lukas. I'll leave him alone. Is that all You want from me?”

She heard the bitter challenge in her own voice, but she couldn't help it.

She got out of the car and went into the house. Tedi
wouldn't be home yet, thank goodness. She was having lunch with Mom. It would be hard to put on a smiling face today.

The answering machine beeped that someone had called. Mercy looked over to find that she had one message. She hit the play button and then caught her breath when she heard Lukas's voice.

“Hello, Mercy. I hope this doesn't wake you. I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. I hope you slept like a log.”

There was a pause, and Mercy realized he was trying to choose his words so that it wouldn't be too traumatizing in case Tedi got the message instead of her. He sounded wonderful to her, and she drank in the flow of his voice like a kid who had been given the last chocolate candy bar she would ever eat.

“You know how I have a bad habit of sticking both feet in my mouth?” he continued. “That's what I did last night. I didn't say anything right, and I'm sorry.” There was another pause. “I just called to tell you the same thing I've been trying to tell you all summer. You count with God. You count…with me. Very much. We just don't know what the future is. I only know what I'm supposed to do right now, and it's one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life.” He stopped and cleared his throat.