The Search The Secrets of Crittenden Cou

Chapter 3




“When Perry was twelve, he broke his collarbone jumping out of a hay loft. Until they found his body, I do believe that was the last time he’d been seen by a doctor.”

ABRAHAM BORNTRAGER




They called it a corneal obstruction. Through her haze and pain, Frannie was coming to understand that the glass had scratched the surface of her cornea, which was the covering of her eyeball.

It was a painful thing, and an injury that would need to be looked after with care for a bit. But she wouldn’t go blind.

The cuts around her eye, however, were another matter. A special eye surgeon was on his way to mend the torn skin at the corner of her right eye and to examine the abrasion on her lid.

Someone had already stitched up the other cuts on her face. Though no one would let her see a mirror, Frannie could feel that her whole face was covered in stitches and bandages. Her face had become a pincushion for those shards of glass.

All she wished for was a cooling ointment or cloth to cover her face with. The sensations were as if a hundred bees had launched themselves at her face and angrily stung her.

As she held up her two hands, one with just two bandages and one completely covered in gauze, she sighed. Could she look any more terrible? How could one little bowl raise so much havoc?

“Hey, look at you!”

It was as if he had read her mind. Feeling like a puppet on too-stiff strings, she slowly turned her head so that her unbandaged eye could see who was speaking. “Detective Reynolds? Luke?”

“That’s me.”

“Did you come to make fun of my bandages?”

“Maybe.”

“Honestly, Detective—”

“Nope. You are not allowed to start calling me detective again . . . just now you called me Luke. Now we’re on a first name basis.”

Only this man seemed to be able to push away her anxiety and turn all the tumbling feelings into spunk. “Ha, ha. If you aren’t here to tease me . . . why did you come?” Truly he hadn’t thought her cuts were a crime?

“I came because I had some time. And because I heard through the grapevine that you got yourself into a mess.”

“I didn’t get myself into anything. A glass bowl fell and broke.” Even though vanity was a sin, Frannie felt herself frown. “Now I’m a scratched-up mess.”

“You sure are. You are scratched up something awful.” Lowering his voice, he said, “Are you in a lot of pain? Do you want me to get you anything?”

“I’m all right.”

“Okay, then.” For some reason he took what she’d just said as an invitation to stay a while. As he walked closer, she could feel his gaze settle on her. “You look like a prizefighter.” And with that, he took a seat right next to her.

Even though he hadn’t been invited.

The immediate flood of happiness that she’d felt by his sudden appearance slowly gave way to dismay. “What are you doing?”

“This is called sitting in a chair, Frannie.”

Oh! “I mean, why are you here? Why, really?” Embarrassed about her warming feelings for him, she lashed out. “Detective, I am sorry. I cannot answer any questions from you right now.”

He stilled. “Did you really think I’d come here right now to question you about the case? Do you really think I’m that cold?”

She didn’t think he was cold at all.

But she also didn’t know why else he would have come all the way to the hospital to see her. Though she might have had secret wishes where he was concerned, he certainly didn’t need to know that. “I can’t think of why else you would be here.”

“You can’t, huh?” The tender look that she’d thought she’d spied in his eyes vanished. “Well, I only came because I was worried that you’d be alone here. And it looks like you are. Or, are you waiting on someone else to visit?”

She’d been tempted to tell him that there was no one else. But then she remembered her conversation with Beth.

Which made her think of Micah. Would he come? Did she even want him to? “I’m not sure if anyone else is coming or not. It ain’t easy to get here by buggy you know.”

“It’s easy enough to hire a driver, Frannie. Even I know that.”

While she lay there, slightly embarrassed for being so snippy, Luke’s voice turned gentle. “Where is your father?”

As usual, their topsy-turvy interactions made her mind spin. To buy herself some time, she said, “You’re only asking about my daed?”

“I, uh, discovered your mother passed away a few years ago.”

“Cancer,” she murmured, remembering those awful months all over again. It had been so difficult to keep her mother’s spirits up when the chemotherapy had made her so weak. “My daed, he is at home on the farm, I suppose.”

“He didn’t think he should come to the hospital and sit with you?”

“I don’t know if anyone has told him about my accident yet.” Or, for that matter, if the news would spur him to come.

Little by little, she felt the tension leave him. “I’m sorry. I remember now that Mose was going to pay a visit to your father and tell him the news and see if he wanted to come up here.”

Imagining her father leaving the safety of their farm was like imagining the detective suddenly feeling at home in Crittenden County. “It would be best if he stayed home.”

“Why? You don’t think he’d accept a ride from Mose?”

Frannie struggled to describe her father’s personality. “He’s a cautious man. Shy, too. He wouldn’t venture far unless he was truly needed.”

“And he isn’t needed right now?” His voice rose as he made no effort to conceal his confusion. “You’re badly injured, Frannie. ”

“I know.”

“Who knows how many cuts and stitches you received.”

The reminder made her face throb even worse. “I know,” she said again.

“He should be here for you. You shouldn’t be here alone.”

But, yet . . . she wasn’t. “Next time I see my father, I’ll pass on your thoughts on the matter.”

“I’m not trying to be critical.”

“But you are.” Her good eye saw him flinch. And immediately she felt bad. She didn’t know the detective all that well, but she was certainly coming to understand that he was a man used to being in charge, and used to saying what he thought.

Maybe a little bit like herself?

“Luke, I’m sorry if I don’t sound grateful for your concern. I thank you for that. And I thank you for coming here to check on me. It was kind of you.”

“What are the doctors saying?”

“I don’t know. Everything’s been pretty fuzzy.” She thought for a moment. “I think I remember them saying that they’d come back soon.”

“When they do, would you like me to talk with them, too?”

Just the idea of someone taking over her worries and questions sounded wonderful. With the way her head was pounding and her cheeks and face stinging, she was having trouble even keeping her good eye open. “Thank you for that,” she said quietly. “If you could get some information and hold on tight to it, I would be most grateful.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

“You don’t need to thank me. I’ll be glad to help.” He paused. “I don’t usually argue with people all that much, you know.”

“I don’t argue that much, either,” she admitted. “I guess we bring out the worst in each other.”

“I hope not. I don’t want to always argue with you, Frannie.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that. Changing topics, she opened her good eye again. “One doctor stitched up my face, and another doctor examined my cornea. But neither of them wanted to tackle the cuts on the side of my eye. I’m waiting for that eye doctor. When he gets here, he’s going to fix the cuts on the side and lid of my eye. I might have to get operated on.”

“And that worries you.”

Her lip trembled. “I’m tryin’ to be brave, but in truth I’m scared.”

“You know what? You have every right to be, too.” As tears leaked from her good eye, Luke grabbed a tissue, hovered it over her, then set it down. “Fran, I don’t have a clue about how to wipe your tears away. Want some water? There’s a straw.”

“Okay.”

When she attempted to sit up, he placed a hand behind her shoulders and clicked his tongue. “Easy now. Don’t want you to hurt yourself. Just open your mouth like a baby robin and I’ll give you the straw.”

The image of the fierce-looking detective playing mama bird to her baby bird was so ludicrous that she opened her mouth without a complaint. And sure enough, a cool straw came filled with cooler water that tasted wonderful in her mouth.

Greedily, she swallowed, then swallowed again.

“Easy now. You’ll choke if you’re not careful.”

Following his words, she swallowed more slowly, then released the straw and leaned back again.

“Danke.”

“You’re welcome.”

“If you’d like to leave, that’s okay with me.”

“I don’t want to. I want to stay here and keep you company.”

“You must know that I’m not the best of company right now.”

He chuckled. “You must know that you’re not the best of company a lot of the time.”

By now she knew his words were only teasing.

“And?”

“And I don’t feel like doing much at the moment. As a matter of fact, I think I’m going to sit here with you, and wait for the doctors with you.”

“Don’t expect me to be grateful.” Because, of course, she was grateful. She hadn’t liked sitting alone.

To her surprise, he chuckled again. “Don’t worry, Frannie. I’ve come to discover that I shouldn’t expect much from you. You have a tendency to surprise me.”

Against her will . . . or maybe because of his frankness, she smiled.

Luke turned out to be an easy companion. He didn’t say much. Instead, he encouraged her to close both eyes and relax. A nurse came in to take her blood pressure and to tell her that the plastic surgeon for eyes was on his way.

When they were alone again, he leaned closer. “You okay?”

“Truth?”

“Always.”

“No. I’m frightened. I don’t want to be blind, and I’m not too excited about getting stitches around my eye neither. And my face hurts.”

“That’s to be expected. Do you want me to see if they’ll give you more medicine for the pain?”

“Nee. I need to be strong. I don’t want to be in a greater daze than I am right now.”

“That makes sense. I’ve always greeted doctors with a mix of anticipation and fear.”

Just then two doctors and a nurse came into their little cubicle.

“Frannie? I’m Dr. Carlson and this is Dr. Arthur. We’re going to look at your eye, okay?”

She nodded.

As they crowded around her, she did her best to lie still.

But she felt the shakes start, so much so that she knew everyone in the room was aware of it.

“Are you in pain?” Dr. Carlson asked.

“Some,” she murmured. In truth, she was so stunned by the unexpected events, she wasn’t completely sure how she felt.

“Do you want some more pain medicine?’

She didn’t know. Weren’t all medicines bad? But if the doctors asked her to take them, then she must need them, right? “I’m just afraid of what you’re going to do,” she said, hating that her voice was trembling.

Then, to her surprise, Luke took her hand. “It’s okay, Frannie. You don’t need to make any decisions right now at all. I’ll stay right here with you.”

And though it wasn’t in her nature to accept help, Frannie found herself linking his fingers between hers and exhaling.

She needed someone to clutch and lean on. To calm her nerves. And Luke did seem more than willing to accept her burdens.

“I’ve got you, Frannie,” he whispered.

And truly . . . right then and there, she felt like he did.

“Stay as still as you possibly can,” Dr. Carlson ordered as he and the other physician bent close and peered into her eye.

The light felt blinding. Her vision blurred.

And she was so very glad that she couldn’t see what was happening.