A Love for all Ages (Crockett County Trilogy Book 1) (2 page)

“How are you feeling? It’s nice to see you awake and sitting
up”.
Seeing them both awake she smiles at Chase, “Well hello
there”.
Marty walks to the side of the bed, picking up Stephanie’s
right wrist; she begins doing a vital check.
“My name is Marty; I
am the nurse on duty for today.”

Stephanie opens her mouth to respond just as the nurse
sticks a thermometer inside.
Sighing, Stephanie closes her lips
around it.
Deciding to just allow the nurse to do her job Stephanie
sits patiently.
While waiting Stephanie sneaks a peek at the
Sheriff, he is just sitting on the ugly orange chair as if he has all the
time in the world, his calm attitude helps smooth her nerves.
When his eyes move to lock with hers, she has a feeling of being
pulled towards a giant green field, smiling as she remembers she
had figured his eyes would be green.
As they continue to gaze into
each other’s eyes, Stephanie wonders what he is thinking about; she
continues to hold his stare until he breaks eye contact.

Rising from the chair, Chase walks to the window pretending
to look out at the parking lot.
He tries to get her mouth out of his
mind. He is the Sheriff; he is here to protect and serve.
He is
here to get facts.
He is not here to think about Ms. Tuney’s mouth.
He is not here to fantasize about kissing her.
He is not here to be
distracted by her.
Breathing deeply, he tries to calm his nerves as
well as other parts of his anatomy. Squaring his shoulders he turns
to face the room; his eyes are drawn straight to Stephanie, seeing
her face has gone pale he starts to move.
Glancing down he sees
Nurse Marty is tightening the bandage surrounding her torso.

Marty talks quietly to Stephanie as she finishes the task of
fastening the bandage.
Once completed, she turns gathering
together the instruments.
Stephanie looks around the nurse to
see Chase, “Sheriff, Marty says the doctor will be in soon”.
Frowning, why did she tell him that, it really wasn’t any of his
business?

“Good”, moving to stand by the bed, Chase lays his hand on
Stephanie’s shoulder, massaging with small circle movements.
Her
bones feel fragile under his hand, she seems delicate and petite.

The warmth of his touch feels good; Stephanie closes her
eyes enjoying the sensation as his hand continues to slowly rub her
shoulder.
It has been a long time since she wanted a man’s touch.
Just the heat from his hand soothes her; she comes to the
conclusion that the medicine is making her feel these things.
Since
she doesn’t know him, there is no other reason to explain her
reaction to his touch.

Clearing her throat Nurse Marty picks up the tray with the
instruments then walks towards the door, “The doctor will be here
soon.
If you need anything just push the call button.”
A few
seconds later the door closes.

Hearing the click of the door, Stephanie opens her eyes to
look at Chase.
“Before the Doctor comes in I need you to tell me
why someone would run me off the road”, actually holding her
breath she waits for his reply.

Giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, he moves to lean
against the window sill, Chase crosses his arms over his chest as he
begins to tell her everything, “Let me start at the beginning; the part
I know. I know your Stephanie Tuney, your Great Aunt Della left you
her farm and it took three years for the estate attorney to find you.
Everyone in Dusten has heard you are coming to claim your
inheritance. The house hasn’t been lived in since Della lived there so
several ladies from town went out there and cleaned it.
Just
dusting and light stuff, kind of aired the place out for you. To my
knowledge no one in Dusten is angry towards you or even knows
what you look like.
I don’t believe anyone local is responsible for
your accident”.
Chase watches as she absorbed what he has told
her so far. Stephanie is silent waiting for him to continue.
“As for
who would want to run you off the road…..I have no clue. Don’t
know who or why. I was hoping once you regain consciousness,
you would be able to shed some light on this.”
Finished speaking
Chase stands quietly giving Stephanie time to think about his words.

Eyes wide, her brain struggles to make sense, “I don’t know
why either.
I thought it was an honest to goodness accident.”
Taking a deep breath she tries to remain calm; Stephanie again
waits for the Sheriff to continue.

Straightening to his full six feet height he begins to explain,
“The stretch of road you were on is well traveled.
The SUV was
dark gray 2006 or 2007.
The license plate was covered and the
witness said the vehicle passed him moving fast.
It came up
behind you, you slowed down.
I am guessing you were allowing it
to pass however it didn’t.
The SUV first rammed your bumper
hard then hit your bumper on the right side; your car started to spin,
it went off the shoulder of road and flipped several times.
The SUV
left the scene.
The witness stopped, called 911 and worked to get
you out of your car.
It was the medics using a crowbar to open
your door before you were able to be move from the vehicle.”
Chase relates just the facts; keeping his voice neutral.
However
inside he is still furious knowing someone did this to her then had
left the scene not caring if she lived or died; with careless disregard
for human life.
As Sheriff he hated not having the rest of the facts
and not being any closer to solving the crime; he hated these
feelings of uselessness.

“Oh my, I can’t believe this.
I don’t know anyone from
here.
I don’t have any enemies.” Raising her right hand she
touches the bump on her forehead again.
Stephanie is
flabbergasted someone would want to hurt her or even kill her.
Shuddering she adds, “I try to stay to myself.
I don’t make people
mad and definitely not mad enough to harm me.”

Watching Stephanie sitting on the bed Chase feels his
stomach tighten with dread.
He has been waiting for her to regain
consciousness; he’s been here on and off for the last three days.
Trying to piece together the information; the little he had gathered.
Waiting while she lay in this hospital bed day after day; praying she
would wake up, she would be able to help with the investigation.
Chase had needed Stephanie to recover; for her to not allow the
person responsible to win.

He had sat by her bed telling her to get better; to be strong
and encouraged her to fight.
He believes a person could still hear
even when in an unconscious state.
He had spoken with the
doctor about her condition; needing to know the extent of her
injuries.
The doctor had explained the swelling to her brain had
caused her to be unconscious; in a coma for lack of a better word.
The swelling had started decreasing yesterday afternoon; the good
doctor had estimated it would be eighteen to twenty-four hours
before all the swelling would be gone.
At that time it would be a
waiting game for her to wake up.

With them both lost in thought, Chase allows himself to
finally admit he is attached to her.
Stephanie’s hair is longer than
he first thought, it rests down past her hips and with the blonde
highlights he thinks of summer nights.
He clinches his hands into
fists to calm the itch of wanting to feel it slid through his fingers.
He can almost feel the silken strands.
Knowing his behavior is
unprofessional he closes his mind off to these kinds of thoughts.
“You need to rest.
You have had a lot of information today.
You
will need to adjust to this and you need to rest to heal.
I am sure
the Doctor will not be pleased with me; I should have waited for him
to clear you before we spoke”.
Chase walks over to Stephanie; he
raises his hand laying it on her cheek, just for a second.
Removing
his hand Chase turns walking out of her room.
The only sound is
the click of the door closing behind him.

Letting out the breath she is holding Stephanie places her
own hand on the same spot his had been. Laying down she closes
her eyes as she tries to make sense of all the things Sheriff Chase
Peterson had told her.
Who would want to hurt her?
Who knew
she would be on that road?
And who knew what vehicle she had
been driving?
Realizing she has more questions and no answers,
makes her head hurt.

Moving her hand from her cheek to her forehead she
touches the bump.
Deciding she needs to see the damage,
Stephanie raises from the bed, dragging the IV stand while holding
the urine bag she walks to the rest room.
Leaning close to the
mirror she examines her face, the lump is huge, bluish green and
takes up most of her forehead.
Looking at her image she checks
her eyes, they are clear and alert.
Good, she needs a clear mind.
Continuing with the survey of her face she sees no other cuts,
bumps or bruises.
Stephanie knows her features, full lips round
like a button, nose small and eyes almonds shaped.
Signing she
also knows she is considered pretty, having been told on several
occasions.
Mostly by men who wanted to have sex with her.
Why men always feel woman need to be told they are pretty is
something she will never understand.
She had learned early in life
it was better to be known for your mind and ability.
Looks fade.
Her mind and strengths will be with her longer then her pretty face.

She had learned this from her brother Mitch.
He wanted
her to be independent, not be a woman that had to depend on a
man all the time.
It was lessons she took to heart.
Growing up,
she had after school and summer jobs, didn’t matter what town
they were in at the time, she would find some kind of work, she had
did waitressing, plumbing, construction.
She had worked in retail,
advertising, and the auto industry. The experiences of her youth
and young adulthood made her independent and self-reliant.
Smiling to herself, she has to admit she had enjoyed her childhood,
mostly due to Mitch.
However, she did love her Mother and knew
her Mother loved her; it had always been Mitch that was there for
her.
Mitch just two years older had made sure appointments were
kept and things got done.

Turning from the mirror, Stephanie walks back to the bed
siting down.
Today has been a full day and it wasn’t over yet.
The Doctor was due to come anytime.
Hoping he would give her
answers to the extent of her injuries.
Needing to keep busy while
she waits for the Doctor Stephanie looks through the night stand
finding paper and pen she decides to make a ‘to do’ list.
Lists are
good; she makes a list of things she needs when she gets released.
Car is at the top, with stars around it.
She needs to call her
insurance company later.
She also needs to find out about her
belongings that were in her car.
The big stuff is going to be
delivered in a couple of weeks.
But her clothes, her makeup, her
personal items were all in the car, the wrecked car, the car she has
no idea where it is.
Putting a big star beside her belongings, she
realizes she has to ask the good Sheriff about her car.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the door,
laying the paper and pen aside, Stephanie looks up as the Doctor
walks in.
Not sure what she had expected but this was not it.
The man standing at the foot of her bed is a younger version of a
Doctor from a television series.
He is scruffy looking, as if he has
slept in his clothes and he needs a shave.
He is tall and slim, and
looks a little pasty.
She knows she is staring but figures it didn’t
matter; he is busy looking at her chart.
Stephanie sits waiting for
him to speak.
After several minutes, he raises his eyes from the
chart and observes her.

“Good morning, my name is Dr. Walter Coup.
How are you
feeling?” his voice is gruff, as if he doesn’t use it much or he smokes
too many cigarettes a day.
Walking to the side of the bed, he
takes his stethoscope from his coat pocked; he places it on her chest
telling her to breathe deeply.
When she winces from the pain of
her ribs, he removed the instrument and directs her to lie down.

Laying back, Stephanie feels him push on her ribs and winces
again. “You are still very tender in that area.
I will order some
more x-rays to check how the fracture is healing. I assume you
have a few questions about your injuries.
Let’s see if I can clear
things up, after if you have any further questions I will address them
then.
You were admitted three days ago, you have a cracked rib, a
non-displaced fracture in your wrist, and swelling to your brain. You
were not conscious when you arrived.
In fact, from what the nurse
wrote on your chart, this morning you finally decided to waken.
I
personally figured it would be later today or even tonight, as the
swelling had just started decreasing yesterday.
The fact you have
recovered so quickly is due in part to you’re a normal young healthy
woman”.

Since the good Doctor seemed to be finished, as he had
stopped talking, Stephanie wants a few things address, as he put it.
“Since I was unconscious for three days do I have brain damage?”
Not really wanting to hear the answer but knew she needed to
know she nervously waits for his responds.
Not having anyone she
can count on for assistance, she is unsure what she will do if she is
unable to care of herself.

Standing beside the bed, he notes her eyes are clear; she is
able to talk and comprehend regular conversations.
Still he figures
she needs reassured, “I have done a couple of scans on your brain
while you were unconscious, they all showed normal activity waves.
Now that you are alert, I will order another one, just to make sure.
But the fact you are so alert, leads me to believe your brain is
healing.
There may be times over the next several days or weeks,
you will get headaches, I can give you something for the pain.
Don’t not take them and try to suffer through the pain, you will
need to allow your brain to continue to heal,” Looking at his watch,
he asks “Any other concerns?”