Jones, Beverly R Read online

  “Come in.”

  “Hi.” Jackson stuck his head in the door as he opened it. He walked in and tentatively stood beside the plastic chair next to her bed, unsure if he should take a seat. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Sorry,” she offered apologetically, looking at him sheepishly. “I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

  Jackson grinned at her. “I found your ferocity charming.”

  “Seriously. I apologize.”

  “Seriously, you have nothing to apologize for. You were frightened and didn’t know what was going on. It’s understandable, considering you just woke up and found yourself entombed in twenty pounds of plaster.” Jackson smiled at her.

  “Well, it was rude of me,” she insisted, then tried to gesture toward the plastic chair with fingers that barely protruded from her cast. “Please. Sit down.” She paused. “What’s your name again?”

  “Jackson. Jackson Coley. And I owe you a great deal of gratitude. It was my sister you stopped to help.”

  Jackson sat in the chair and leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs. He looked at her hesitantly, then asked, “And what should I call you?”

  She seemed to hesitate for a moment before she replied, “Kendall. My name’s Kendall.”

  “So, Kendall. Do you have a last name?”

  “It’s not important right now,” she stammered, picking at the bed sheet with her good right hand.

  “I just thought I’d contact family members for you. Let them know you’re okay. They must be very worried by now,” Jackson said calmly, sensing a bit of agitation from her.

  “No. That won’t be necessary. Thanks for offering, though.”

  “No one at all I can call for you? I’d be happy to, you know.”

  “No. No, thanks.”

  Jackson wanted to ask where she was from, find out more about her, but sensing that she was getting edgy, he changed his mind. He didn’t want to risk upsetting her again.

  “What did you mean by family members being very worried by now?” Kendall asked. “Have I been here that long? How long has it been?”

  “Five days,” Jackson responded. “The accident happened five days ago, June 7th. You were in surgery for quite a few hours, spent three days in intensive care, and then they transferred you here to this room.” Looking at the expression on her face, Jackson sensed Kendall’s uneasiness at his response and added, “Doctor Morrison says you’re going to be just fine, though.”

  “Yes, so he says.” She managed a simple smile that quickly changed to a look of confusion. “But why are you here today if the accident was five days ago? Do you know me somehow?”

  “No. Like I said, we’ve all been very concerned about you, since there was nothing to identify you and we didn’t know whom to call. It would have been unconscionable for us to have just left you here. We didn’t think you should be alone.”

  “We?”

  “My sister and her husband. And me. You have no idea how grateful we are for what you did.”

  “You mean you’ve been here since the accident?” Kendall looked at him incredulously.

  “Off and on.”

  Kendall looked up at the round clock ringed in sliver chrome that hung from the wall behind Jackson’s head. “It’s eleven o’clock according to that clock on the wall, and it’s dark except for that small light over there, so I assume it’s eleven p.m.”

  “Yes.”

  “So how long have you been here tonight?”

  “Since six o’clock,” Jackson responded, then laughed a little sheepishly. “I fell asleep, though. Guess I haven’t been guarding my post very well, huh?”

  “Guarding your post?” she asked suspiciously. The blood seemed to drain completely from Kendall’s already ashen face. Jackson could see that she was beginning to tremble.

  “It’s just an expression,” Jackson quickly explained as he smiled at her. He leaned forward and reached out his hand to touch her arm in an attempt to ease her obvious distress, though he wasn’t sure of the cause of it.

  A small gasp escaped from Kendall’s lips. Pulling the bed sheet up to her neck with her right hand as if it would protect her, she raised her left arm as far as the weight of the cast would allow, fending off his touch. “Who are you?” she asked with an intensity of fear she had not possessed a minute ago. “Who are you, really? What do you want from me? You know me, don’t you?”

  Stunned by her questions, Jackson sat back in his chair and tried to maintain a relaxed nature. He spoke to her as softly as he could. “Kendall, it’s okay. I’m not here to cause you any further harm. And, no, I don’t know who you are. But you’re safe here. I promise you.”

  “Then why are you here? Why would a complete stranger stay here for hours at a time?”

  “I’m here because I owe you a great deal more than you can imagine. My sister is alive and well only because you came along when you did. And she happens to be the only family I have left. So I understand what it must feel like to be alone without family. We just didn’t want you to wake up and feel as though no one were here for you. And my sister and I intend to do everything we can to help you, whatever that may be. Whatever you need. Are you sure you don’t want me to contact your family for you?”

  Kendall ignored his question and began twisting the sheet in her right hand. She eyed him for a moment before speaking. “Your sister, was she hurt, too? Is she here in the hospital?” Her voice had lost that frightened edge, but retained a trace of cautious doubt.

  “No. She’s fine.” Jackson smiled at her, a warm, compassionate smile that shone in his eyes.

  “She’s on her honeymoon, actually. Although we had to practically drag her kicking and screaming to the

  airport. She didn’t want to leave until she knew you were going to be okay.”

  “Her honeymoon?”

  “Yeah. The day of the…um…accident was her wedding day. She went into town that afternoon to run one last errand and was on her way home when it happened.”

  “So she was able to get married as planned?”

  “Oh, yes.” Jackson laughed. “Black eye and all. After the doctors here were satisfied that she had no serious injuries, she was pretty determined to go ahead with the plans. She’d planned this wedding for nearly a year, God bless her, and there was no stopping her. Of course, she had instructions for all of us. I was to stay here at the hospital until you were out of surgery. Tom, that’s her new husband, Tom Sandford, was to bring my tux here so I could change and go to the church from the hospital. Then after the wedding we all came back here. They weren’t scheduled to leave on their honeymoon until the next morning, so Casey Anne stayed in intensive care with you until the nurses kicked her out. Tom and I were in the waiting room and she came out fuming.” Jackson laughed again as he recalled the sight of his sister in a snit at being turned away.

  Kendall lay completely still, no longer twisting the sheet in her hand

  “She and Tom went to his place for the night and we all came back to the hospital the next morning to check on you,” Jackson continued. “It took some convincing from both Tom and me, but she finally agreed to leave for their honeymoon. And she’s called every night since then.” There was a glimmer in Jackson’s eyes as he looked at Kendall. He winked and added, “As a matter of fact, I’m probably missing her call right now, and she’ll be furious.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I appreciate the concern all of you have shown, but I have to ask, why? What in the world happened that day? I can’t imagine what I could have done that would cause all this kindness from strangers.”

  Remembering the doctor’s warning, Jackson was careful in answering. “Casey Anne had stopped on the side of the road to help a man she thought was injured. He wasn’t, well, that didn’t turn out to be the case, exactly. He pulled a gun on her and was trying to force her into her car. She put up a fight, but he had the better of her. That’s when you came along. Do you remember any of this at all?”

&nbs
p; “No, I’m afraid I don’t.”

  “Dr. Morrison explained you might not,” Jackson replied, but was quick to add, “But that’s only temporary. From the trauma.”

  “Then what happened? How did I get hurt?”

  “Well, I must say, from everything Casey told me, you went in there like a storm trooper from hell. You drove your car right onto the shoulder and slammed on the brakes right in front of them, got out of your car, told the man to leave Casey alone, and when he didn’t, you jumped on his back.” His voice took on a more serious tone as he added, “And the rest is history. That’s about all the details I have.”

  “But that doesn’t explain anything,” Kendall said, squinting her eyes at him suspiciously. “I’ve got a cast on my left arm, a cast on my left leg, three cracked ribs, I’ve lost a kidney according to Dr. Morrison, and a bullet wound to my head. And according to what you’ve just described, I’m obviously not the fragile type, so do you mind telling me what really happened?”

  “I believe during your struggle with this man, the gun went off and you were shot. But the bullet just grazed your head. It’s just a bad scratch, really.” Jackson didn’t want to tell this woman that the maniac had pointed the gun directly at her and fired.

  “And the rest of me?”

  “I think you got hit by the car as he was driving away,” Jackson lied.

  “Oh.” Kendall was quiet for a moment, then smiled and said, “You said your sister’s name was Casey Anne?”

  “Yes.”

  “What a sweet name.”

  Jackson laughed. “Try telling my sister that. My father named her after Casey Stengel. She swears he only added Anne to make absolutely sure that no one would ever mistake her for a city girl.”

  “Casey Stengel, huh? I take it your father was a great baseball fan.”

  “Yeah, he was. Did you know that he was born Charles Dillon, but adopted the name Casey from his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri? K.C?”

  “Your father?”

  Jackson laughed. “No. Casey Stengel. Charles Dillon Stengel.”

  “Oh. Your father really was a big baseball fan, wasn’t he? So, I take it you were named after Shoeless Joe Jackson, then?” she asked.

  He smiled. “No. I was named after the city of Jackson, Wyoming. My mother was born there. My father fought her on that one. He didn’t like the name ‘Jackson’ at all, but as usual, my mother won out. So when my sister came along, my father figured turnabout was fair play, and threatened to name her after his birthplace, if my mother didn’t let him name her Casey. My mother nearly had a fit. She knew he had her,” Jackson laughed.

  “Why? Where was your father born?”

  “On our farm, outside of Logan City.”

  “What’s wrong with that? I think Logan would have been a nice name.”

  “No, he was going to name her Elsie.”

  “Elsie?”

  “After Logan City – L.C.” Jackson laughed. “So that’s how my sister came to be named Casey.”

  She laughed, her eyes twinkling in a way that seemed to make all of her features sparkle. “Your parents sound like they’re a lot of fun.”

  “Yes – they were. They both passed away twelve years ago.” Jackson looked away for a moment, unable to mask the obvious pain of that memory. He looked back at her and managed a smile. “They were both great people.”

  “I’m sorry you lost them.”

  They both sat quietly, Jackson looking as though he were reliving something he’d rather forget. He cleared his throat, then asked, “Is there anything I can get you right now? Something to drink?”

  “No, I’m fine. But I was wondering. You said I drove my car off the shoulder to help your sister. Do you know where my car is now?”

  “No. The man who attacked you drove off in it, along with anything that might help identify you. I’m sorry about that. I wanted to have your family here by the time you woke up.” Jackson paused, then asked, “What kind of car do you have, by the way? Do you know your license plate number? The police have been asking. They’re pretty anxious to try and find this guy.”

  “I don’t know,” Kendall replied.

  “Well, don’t worry. Most people don’t exactly have their license plate number memorized, either. Casey gave them as much of a description of your car as she could remember. Dark blue. A Pontiac, she thought. Not much, but now that you’re awake, the police can find out all that stuff easily enough, and get started on finding your car, and hopefully, the man who took it.”

  “Actually, I don’t think they’ll be able to find anything. Not if they’re depending on me for any help,” Kendall murmured in a near whisper, tears welling up in her eyes. She looked at Jackson helplessly then and began to cry.

  “What is it? Is there some reason you don’t want to talk to the police right now?” Jackson reached out his hand and touched her arm. This time, she didn’t flinch. “Don’t cry, Kendall. It’s understandable, I guess, after what you’ve been through. You don’t even need to be worrying about that right now.”

  “No, it’s not that I don’t want to talk to the police. I mean, it’s just that I can’t describe my car,” Kendall cried. She turned her head on the pillow and began to cry with an intensity that was painful to watch.

  Jackson studied her, wondering if the doctor’s warning might be true, that there would be certain details she might not remember. But her own car? How could she not remember her own car? He rubbed her shoulder gently, trying to ease her suffering, but as he looked at her, the expression in his eyes exhibited worry. Either there were details she truly couldn’t remember, or she was lying to him, not sure she could trust him. He was a stranger to her, after all.

  “That’s all right, Kendall,” Jackson said, as soothingly as he could. “It’s not important. We don’t even need to talk about it. It’s really none of my business, anyway.”

  For a minute she cried even harder, the tears dripping off her chin onto the pillow. Then she turned her head to face him, hiccupping in between sobs, and said, “No, I mean I can’t give a description of my car because I don’t remember it. I didn’t even know I had a car until you told me.” She paused and looked at him with earnest despair. “And my name’s not Kendall. I just got it off that package of bandages over there.”

  “What? Why did you do that?”

  “Because I didn’t want to admit I don’t even know my own name. I kept thinking, maybe I’m just groggy, but the entire time I’ve been talking to you, nothing has come to me. I can’t remember anything, except waking up in this hospital bed. I don’t understand what’s happening to me. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s like I must be a crazy person or something. And I was afraid they’d lock me up in the loony bin,” she replied as she shuddered from the wracking sobs. “I don’t even have any…any idea where in this world I am or how I got here.”

  “You’re in South Carolina,” Jackson answered her soothingly, though feeling a bit suspicious. “Athens General Hospital. The accident happened just outside of Logan City. But you’re safe now, and you’re going to be just fine. That’s the main thing. We’ll help you figure out the rest. I’m sure it will all come back to you soon, anyway.”

  He gave her a wide smile, hoping to encourage her, though he remained doubtful as to her sincerity. Perhaps she was lying, making up the name ‘Kendall’ because she didn’t want him to know anything about her. “Casey’s due back from her honeymoon day after tomorrow,” he continued, “so I doubt anyone will be taking you to any loony bin or anywhere else you don’t want to go. Believe me, I’m sure she’ll hog tie anyone who tries.”

  Jackson smiled again, but his thoughts remained sober. Just be careful, Kendall. Casey’s heart may go out to all wounded animals, no matter the consequences. But mine doesn’t.

  Chapter 4

  >In the days that followed his encounter with Kendall at the hospital, Jackson remained on the farm, working from daybreak till nightfall. He had returned to the hospital only once, on
the day following his talk with Kendall, to check on her, reassure her and talk with her doctor. He had also double-checked with hospital administration to be sure her medical bills were sent to him. No mention of the debt was to be discussed with Kendall.

  Since Casey Anne and Tom had returned from their honeymoon, however, Jackson had left the hovering to Casey. And hover she did. Tom looked slightly disappointed, but he hid it very well as his new wife spent hours each day at the hospital and then returned to Kendall’s bedside every evening after supper. She was like a lioness and a mother hen all rolled into one, making sure Kendall’s fears were minimized, seeing to Kendall’s every need and getting to know her as best she could. Casey had no idea who the real Kendall was, but the woman she came to know in the hospital was one who exhibited a lot of courage and disguised her fears with an incredible sense of humor for someone in such a predicament.

  Since she still had no memory of the attack or anything prior to it, Kendall had decided to retain the name she had borrowed from the package of gauze. She hadn’t fancied using the name ‘Jane Doe’ until recollection of her own name returned. And though she couldn’t explain why, the name Kendall seemed comforting to her.

  Casey had assured her repeatedly that they would do everything they could to help her find her family. The police had posted a photo of Kendall on the Internet in hopes of getting a lead, but so far to no avail. Her fingerprints had turned up nothing. A newspaper reporter from the Athens Daily News had even come to the hospital to interview her and had written an article explaining her predicament and asking anyone who might have information as to her identity to call the Athens County Sheriff’s office or the Logan City police chief. No one had called.

  Kendall prayed that her mind would furnish her with more information in the near future, because she knew she would be released from the hospital soon and had no idea where to go. Or to whom to go, for that matter, if there was anyone awaiting her return. She had stopped fretting over family members who might be looking for her. It seemed pointless to worry about someone she wasn’t even sure existed. Kendall’s uneasiness began to build, however, as her body healed and the date of her hospital discharge neared.