Dancing in the Oaks

Hospitals n Desperados

My eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the bright light that shone over me. The light seemed as bright as the sun. It was so uncomfortable having it shine into my pupils. I could breathe again.That was a relief. Taking note of the things I saw right before, I fully recovered vision wise. The door cracked open and Nick walked in. He sat down on the side of my hospital bed. "Hey, Norah you alright?" His voice was quiet and kind.

Since I was still waking up it took a while to compose words to finally talk. "N-no, what happened?" I noticed that he wore a different color of plaid shirt. This time it was brown and tan. It was obvious that he had washed the dirt off of his face. The sun that shone through the window caught my eyes, thus making it harder for me to see than it already was.

"It's gonna be alright. I know it's gonna be fine. You have thirty five stitches In your foot. The crowbar had fallen from the shelf above. They diagnosed you with a sprain. Your foot is not broken, just bruised." He leaned over closer and put his leg up on the hospital bed as he partially sat next to me.

"Ooh.. yeah when can I go home?" I felt bad, bad that he had to deal with me. I could not feel anything at the moment. My body was numb. I had never felt this before. The last time I had felt a little numb was when I had my wisdom teeth out when I lived in Bakersfield. This time my whole body was numb. I could not feel anything at all below my hips. 

He used his shirt sleeve to wipe the tears from my face. "Today. The doctor told me today. I'm gonna drive you back to your house. My dad told me that I can come over everyday during the day for a few hours. I will check on you. I've cleaned up everything. The police did their forensics analysis. They still haven't caught who did all this to you and your family. There's 8 other victims that took the fall too." He stared at me for a second before I could respond. Again with the mystery. Now I am a victim that survived. What? I am a victim that survived! That is very... intriguing to think about.

My mind focused on the questions that I still had. It is never ending ain't it. "Who else died?" I pulled the blanket up to cover my arms, as I was cold.

"Your family: Jake, Harlem, Logaan, and Patty Jean. Mariah Dunbrock, Farmer Joe, Jarred Murdoch, Chuck and Merry Rollins, both of Huckleberry's parents, and Dan Springer." I could tell he was hiding the sorrow and the confusion. He knew all of these people and his family had established a very good relationship with them. In this small town it is not just one person they are doing damage to, it is everyone. The bond is tight between each of these folks.

"Farmer Joe too? I thought it was him doing all of this." I mumbled under my breath.

He just looked at the clock on the wall. "Yeah. So are the Rollins. Have you by chance met the Schmidt's?"

"N-no I have not. That name doesn't even sound familiar. You know them? Wait... " I began to speak as the doctor walked in to deliver some news.

"She's doing very well for literally dying. She is free to go home, just keep an eye on her. No extensive activities like horse riding, driving, or transferring animals. You can complete daily farm activities with caution. Someone needs to always be with her if she does any of those things. She has crutches for about 6 weeks for that foot to heal. There's gonna be some swelling for a while. Her stitches will be taken out in about two weeks. Never in my life have I seen someone recover so greatly in so little time after dying and coming back. We are truly sorry about everything that happened. Who's going to take care of her?" The doctor wrote some paperwork.

Without hesitation Nicholas responded. "I'll take care of her. I've already made arrangements and everything."

My eyes welled with tears. "N-no Nicholas you don't have to. I'm just a burden." I didn't understand why he was so kind to me.

"It's fine, in fact head that's what I'm gonna do. I will take care of her. I cleaned up the house and put everything back. No, you are not a burden. Uhm so pain pills once a day." I noticed a rogue hair dangling from his plaid shirt. I lifted my arm up and took it off. Since Nicholas' hair is longer it gets on his plaid shirts. The static electricity doesn't work in his favor. "Oh rogue hair? Yeah. After tonight I will be returning to work in 24 hours. I work two jobs. Can I take her over to my farm when I work there?"

The doctor finished writing before speaking. "Yeah that's fine, actually she needs to be outside. Once a day as required. If she doesn't want 'em then don't give her 'em. Norah, you have been here for three days and it is time for you to be free."

"How? I died." The doctor just told me that they gave me a lot of medication. I would not remember a lot from the hospital stay. I feel so confused about each of the details, but whatever. They wheeled me out in a wheelchair. It felt quite weird, as my head was almost dizzy. My head still felt as if it had been hit by a cast iron skillet. Nick lifted me into the passenger seat. After the doctor left Nick put my seatbelt on. "You know, I don't know what to say. You are so kind." I've never cried so much in my life before. "You're a very considerate young man. I've never seen a cowboy cry. Now I've only been here two years." I let out a small laugh. I could barely move my leg with my hurt foot.

"Yeah, we cry. Sometimes it's silent. I have to explain somethin' to ya." He turned onto the main road. Nick's truck is very nice. It is a 2010 Chevy Silverado. It's black. The only reason why I know this is because he was talking about it with some friends at the hoedown. Country guys for some reason like to compare trucks.

"What do ya gotta tell me? I'm will-in to listen." I rested my head against the window that provided a cool breeze of air on my head.

I noticed that his right hand was just laying on the center bar so I held his hand. Shocking, I know. I just need some comfort. He is the only one that would understand. "I have a lot of things I gotta tell ya. The guys at the forensic office asked if you and I wanted to visit your family one more time. I declined them because I didn't wanna go to the morgue only to make you feel even worse. I ain't sure if they would allow us to see the bodies, but I am sure that is what the intention was. I didn't wanna see that anyways. I made a very personal decision on your behalf. Apparently the other victims were in pretty bad shape." He gave me an emotional look. This just seemingly keeps getting worse and worse. 

"I get it, and I'm glad that you did that. I wouldn't even want that. You sure do know how to do the right thing, especially when no one is watching." I smiled at him to try to let him know it's alright. "Remember how my parents were in a devastating car accident? Actually it was right after my brother, Harlem, was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors misdiagnosed him, he did not have cancer! There is something so weird about this town. It is almost as if someone is targeting. It seems like no one cares but you. My parents were the best people ever, but I guess someone didn't want them to be. They were only the best people on some days though. So controlling and inhibiting I guess I can say. Whoever Mr. 12 is needs to be caught immediately. No, but, the whole point of me saying that was to deeply thank you. Every time I see your face it just brightens my day. Your brown eyes saved my soul. I don't know how you got the courage to get me out of the barn. I don't know how anyone can get that kind of courage." I couldn't help but stare at him while he drove. "This is crazy, and I'm devastated. Thank you for being here for me. I've never met anyone that cares as much as you." My eyes traced the top of the windshield and down to the floor where my braced foot layed.

He took his hat off the back of the bench. His fingers brushed his hair back as he put the hat back on. "I genuinely care for you, Norah. We are working on catching Mr. 12. I'm leaning more towards the Schmidt's. That's so sad. Norah, you need to know that you cannot hide or hold in emotions. Release them."