Leo (Romancing the Ponderosa Book 3)

Chapter 6

"There's nothing else I can do for her." Doc Martin says, snappin' his bag shut. "She seems to be in a coma from how hard she hit her head. Now it's all up to her whether or not she pulls through. Her heartbeat is strong as is her breathing."

"And if she does pull through?" Leo nearly whispers from where she stands by Pa's red chair, grippin' the back so tight her knuckles are white.

"There's a very large chance of memory loss. Whether it would be temporary or permanent I don't know. Plus there's also a possibility that she might be different after this."

"What do you mean by different?" Adam asks from where he's sittin' on the fireplace.

"Sometimes after a person hits their head really hard it causes damage to the brain which in turn can cause a person to act differently." He turns back to Leo. "How did she act before this? What type of personality does she have?"

"She's extremely full of energy and is constantly running off to see something that's caught her eye. She's always happy and cheerful, in fact she's almost never grouchy or tempered." A small smile plays on her lips. "Evangelina is like a little angel, that is a feisty little angel."

"Well, after this, that is if she pulls out of this, she might be quiet, slower, and not as even tempered." His sigh sounds like the whole world is sittin' on his shoulders. "I don't want to worry or scare you Mrs. Tirk, but also want you to know the truth. Do you think you can handle it? Perhaps you should sit in that chair instead of standing behind it."

Walkin' around the chair, Leo sits down. She slowly nods at Doc Martin, "I want to know, please don't mince your words because you fear I can't handle it. I can handle it and I have to know."

"Alright, I won't mince my words, I'll get straight to the point. If she does make it, it would really surprise me. The impact her head received is likely to have caused her brain to bleed, which can be fatal if it doesn't stop or is more than a small amount. Truly the only thing that can save her now is prayer and a miracle."

"But if she does make it?" Leo sounds like she's tryin' her best not to start cryin'.

"If she does, then we can only hope she doesn't have too much head pain and that she doesn't experience severe memory loss. Her arm should heal nicely since it was a clean break but right now, that's the least of our worries." He lets out another sigh as he picks up his bag. "I don't like to leave, but there's nothing else I can do, plus I have other patients that I need to tend to. I'll come back tomorrow morning."

Pa walks him to the door, thanking him for all his help. As soon as the door clicks shut, Misty begins to sob. Hannah wraps her arm around her shoulders since she sittin' next to her on the sofa as Adam jumps up from his seat. He quickly pullin' her to her feet, he wraps her in his arms.

"It's all my fault!" Her voice is muffled by sobs an' Adam's shirt.

Jumpin' up, Leo walks over to Adam an' Misty. Reachin' out she squeezes Misty's shoulder which makes her lift her head up an' look at her. When she sees who it is she starts to sob even harder. "Misty, please it's not your fault!"

"Yes, it is, Leo! If I hadn't turned my back to pour that milk then she would've never ran out of the house."

"No, it's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault! I feel like deep down I've always known something like this would happen."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, as soon as she could walk, she's been running off and getting into dangerous situations. Something like this could've happened yesterday but Hoss stopped it. It wasn't the first time she ran into the street and I knew it wasn't the last." She wipes the tears off her cheeks. "I just never expected it to happen this soon or this way."

"Even if it wasn't my fault, I still feel horrible about it." Movin' away from Adam, Misty wraps Leo in a tight hug.

"I need to get back to Cherry." Leo leans back, wipin' the tears off of Misty's face an' kissin' her cheek before lettin' go. She turns to go back to Cherry but I guess she remembers somethin' else cuz she turns back around an' looks at Hannah. "Hannah, I'm sorry I can't help you finish putting up the peach preserves. I feel bad, you're already wore out."

"Don't worry about it! I'll finish them myself somehow or have Little Joe help me." Hannah moves to get off the couch but doesn't quite make it. Adam, who's the closest to her, offers her his hand. She takes it with a smile as he helps her to her feet. "I'll go ahead and pay you for the jars you did make. If I don't right now I know I'll somehow forget. How many jars did you make again?"

"Twenty-five."

"Well, at twenty-five cents a jar, that evens out to be six dollars and twenty-five cents." She looks over at Joe. "Little Joe, do you have your wallet? I left my purse at the house."

Pullin' it outta his jacket pocket, he tosses it to her. She pulls out some bills an' puts them in Leo's hand. "But, Hannah, you said six dollars and twenty-five cents, this is seven dollars."

"I know. That extra seventy-five cents is for your excellent company today." She grins with a wink. "Now you get back in there to your baby girl."

"Thank you, Hannah. Thank you everyone for everything!" She hurries back into Cherry's room.