Edison headed the Subaru—now carrying only three—back to Pennsylvania. It was a peaceful trip in the aftermath of the father-son conflict. The episode had exhausted Nancy, and she dozed most of the way home. She was sure the skipping in her chest signified only a letdown from all the excitement. No need to bother Bob or Galen with it.
Edison’s eyes focused on the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel. He wondered at how close Isaac had come to sacrificing his own son on the altar of pride.
Galen played and replayed Jacob’s situation and compared it with his own past.
Why couldn’t someone have interceded for me?
The trio went to bed as soon as they arrived home and slept the deep, comforting sleep of the righteous.
All three had ravenous appetites the next day. They slept in late, only to be awakened by the phone ringing. Nancy answered it.
“Missus Edison, it’s me, Lem. You wanted me to let you know. Well, they’re back. Your birds are back.”
“Who called earlier, Nancy?”
“Lem Caddler. He wanted to let me know the birds are back.”
“The sparrows, the Henslow sparrows?”
“Yes, Galen. Bob, do you remember when we first came here, the State Wildlife Commission wanted to make this place a preserve, because we had the only known flock of Henslows in Pennsylvania on our property?”
Edison nodded, mouth full of pancakes.
“I’m going to take a walk later and check them out.”
He gulped down the last piece as he gurgled, “Be careful, honey.”
It had warmed up by late afternoon. A simple sweater was all Nancy needed, as she walked down the path, a broad straw hat protecting her skin from the increasingly direct rays of the sun, climbing higher in the sky as it approached the summer solstice. But that wouldn’t happen for another month and a half. Spring was still her favorite time of year. It carried the promise of resurrection and rebirth to fruition. The dead earth appears to return to life, as solar radiation triggers the photosynthetic reflex in plants. For Nancy’s aging joints, the warmth triggered new energy and optimism.
Pleased with the apparent outcome of Jacob’s dilemma, she hoped the truce would remain in effect between him and his parents, and they would allow him to pursue his career freely. She made a mental note to call Diana and Faisal when she got back to the house.
She thought of her birds. Agape Mountain held the ideal, meadow nesting sites for the rare sparrows. Each year the little birds would take their thousand-mile migratory trek north and return to the untouched, tall grassy meadow. They nested low to the ground, fed on berries, small insects, and the tall grass seeds abundant in that one particular field.
Nancy loved her “little friends,” as she had come to call them, with their distinctive olive, double-whiskered face with conical bill and rust-colored wings, which caused them to stand out from the more common sparrow varieties.
This time she brought a surprise: a bag of wild bird seed she would spread near their nesting sites.
She approached the edge of the meadow from under the coniferous tree border and took out her birding glasses. The powerful binoculars quickly picked up the nesting sites, and a few of the birds were airborne. Most likely male, she thought. The females would be in brood pattern now, warming the clutches of three-to-five eggs for their eleven-day incubation period.
Suddenly the little birds began to scatter. She scanned the sky and saw the reason: hawks, the marauders of the bird kingdom!
She watched in horror as three Accipiters suddenly dove toward her precious sparrows. She dropped her binoculars and ran toward the birds, waving her hands and shouting. She hardly stopped to think about what she would do if the hawks came after her.
The Fates, hearing her question, decided to find out for themselves.
She didn’t see the small stone jutting out of the ground and felt herself falling forward, sprawling face down in the early grass. Her hands went out reflexively, and she felt the impact pain radiating from her wrists to her elbows.
She was stunned. She lay there, not moving, afraid of what she would feel when she did. She tried to roll over and felt knifelike pain in her right ankle. Then she looked up. The sun was in its presetting stage, and the temperature was dropping. She saw the hawks, initially scared by her scarecrow noise. Now they had soared and were beginning their downward dive—heading straight for her!
She rolled over onto her stomach again, gritting her teeth against the pain. She tried to pull the large straw hat farther down onto her head.
She waited and prayed.
Then she heard three shrieks. What was it, their attack cry? She felt no raking of talons, no sharp beak pecking. She rolled over to see what was happening.
What am I doing? Isn’t this what got Lot’s wife into trouble?
Her eyes took in a scene from Armageddon. Three Great Horned Owls had taloned the three hawks in midair and shredded them. She saw their blood-soaked body parts fall from the sky and land scant yards away. One of the owls, the smallest of the three, landed nearby. It cocked its head then looked straight at her.
“Chk?”
“Baby! You did remember!”
“Chk.”
“Are these your mama and papa?”
“Chk.”
She felt a sudden flutter in her chest. Her head buzzed and her vision spiraled inward to black.
She didn’t hear sounds of multiple paws and flapping wings surrounding her unconscious body.
“Careful with her. Looks like she’s got a pretty bad ankle sprain.”
She had regained consciousness and heard Galen muttering, as he knelt down beside her and manipulated her right foot. She also heard the unraveling of elastic wrapping and the increasing support and snugness, as he figure-eighted the dressing in a herring-bone pattern around her leg and ankle. Then he took out his stethoscope and listened. He heard the skipping beats and shook his head. She heard him mutter again.
“How long have you known about this, old girl? Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Doc, I don’t think the Subaru can get in here. I think we’ll need to make a stretcher or a litter, or something.”
“Yes, Lem. Please call Edison on the cell. He can figure it out and get it down here, and we’ll all three get her back to the house. She’s going to need hospitalization. I’d call in the Medevac unit, but knowing how she feels about her birds, and how that chopper would disturb their habitat, I’d rather avoid World War III by carrying her up to the house the old-fashioned way.”
He paused and looked at the other man.
"How did you find her, Lem?”
“Just walkin’, Doc, just walkin’.”
Galen noticed a sheet of drawing paper sticking out of Lem’s back pocket, and he recognized it as one of Miriam’s. The old farmer shrugged and handed it to Galen, who examined it. The drawing showed a woman lying unconscious in a field and surrounded by three Great Horned Owls and a phalanx of wolves.
“We’re losing her!”
She was free-floating in that twilight zone between existence and non-being.
She felt … happy … free?
No, this was different.
She could see the scene below.
Below?
Yes, she was definitely looking downward at men and women crowded over a stretcher. They were pounding on something … no … someone, lying there.
“It’s set as high as it’ll go. Shock her again. Clear!”
Looks like ye’re in a bit a’ a pickle, Lassie
.
Angus … Angus Urquhart of the Clan Urquhart? Is that me, Angus?
Aye, Lassie. Ye shoulda told ‘em aboot yer heartbeats
.
Am I dying, Angus?
Na yet, Lassie. Tha’ big man there won’ let ya go
.
She watched the bear-sized old man moving faster and faster … faster than she had ever seen him move before. Suddenly he took a large syringe with a long needle on it. He raised his right hand.
What was he doing?
She felt the sudden hot stabbing pain, as he plunged the needle into the chest of the person below.
Now she felt herself being pulled toward that figure on the stretcher. As the vortex coned downward she heard the Scotsman’s parting words:
I’ll be there when yer time comes, Lassie
.
Goodbye, Angus!
“Okay, she’s out of V tach. It’s coarse but she’s in sinus rhythm. Let’s get her prepped. She’s gonna need a twofer.”
Galen turned to Edison, who had been peering through the small window of the emergency-room cubicle. The carnage of the successful resuscitation lay scattered on the floor around the stretcher where Nancy still lay. The sounds of the heart monitor echoed the now-efficient rhythm that sustained her.
Galen nodded, and Edison burst through the door toward his wife.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked through tear-clouded eyes. His body shook as he held her hands in his. The IV tubing in her forearms moved like marionette strings, as he laid his head on her chest and sobbed.
Nancy, still groggy, smiled, as she rubbed the back of his neck.
“Did you see what that brute did to me?”
She turned to the old doctor now slumped exhausted in one of the metal side chairs.
“I didn’t know you could move so quickly, Galen.”
He looked up.
“How much did you see?”
“Everything.”
He nodded weakly and closed his eyes.
Another doctor entered the room, a tall man of athletic build and infectious smile.
“Mrs. Edison, I’m Dr. Crescenzi. We’re taking you to the special-procedures OR. You won’t be there very long.”
Galen rose from his chair.
“Sal, make sure she gets the latest unit put in. This cardiac-resuscitation stuff is tiring for an old fart like me.”
“For an old fart you did just fine.”
Both doctors laughed, the older to relieve his tension, the younger to reassure his colleague.
Salvatore Crescenzi was head of cardiology now, but he remembered Galen’s lectures as a student, and he still felt great respect.
“Mr. Edison, we’re going to put in a gadget to keep your wife’s heart in regular rhythm. Are you familiar with pacemakers and defibrillators?”
Galen and Edison both burst out laughing.
Galen winked at his friend.
“Sal, some day Edison and I will tell you about an incident that happened before your father was born.”
Edison chimed in.
“Let’s just hope you guys never need to use a car battery in your work.”
The young doctor just stared in puzzlement at the men. Then he followed the orderly, who pushed Nancy’s stretcher down the hallway.
Galen sat down again, his face drawn with fatigue.
“Edison, I’ll never forgive myself for not calling in the Medevac copter. It was just sheer luck that nothing happened before we got here.”
“Look at it this way—nothing did happen until we got here. Besides, can you imagine the battle royal that would have ensued if a copter had disturbed her birds?”
Edison paused, reluctant to say what he was thinking. He swallowed then looked into his old friend’s eyes.
“Didn’t you see anything, any signs or symptoms that might have warned you about Nancy?”
Galen looked up at his friend. He was too tired to reply.
They sat and waited.
“Mrs. Edison, we’ll use mild sedation and local anesthesia to hook you up. You’ll be aware of what’s going on. Let us know if you feel any discomfort.”
Crescenzi and his resident assistant began their prep, as the nurse-anesthetist administered the combination of conscious-sedation medications to Nancy. She felt relaxed but remained alert enough to watch the monitor screen above her, as the doctors threaded the electrodes and placed the small, under-the-skin pouch just below her left collar bone.
“There. Now let’s see how she paces.”
They activated the unit, and Nancy felt a sudden, slight jolt, as the defibrillator/pacemaker started to time her heart. Soon it became unnoticeable.
“Okay, Mary. Let’s lighten up on the meds.”
The anesthetist slowly titrated back on the midazolam drip, and the light fog lifted in Nancy’s mind.
“Let’s watch her in recovery for awhile. Then we’ll get her up to a monitor bed in intermediate CCU.
“You did just fine, Mrs. Edison.”
She nodded at the young woman peering down at her and smiled.
“Thanks … uh…”
The nurse noticed that she was squinting at her name badge.
“It’s Mary, Mrs. Edison. Now just rest in the unit for awhile, and then we’ll see if Dr. Crescenzi wants you moved to a regular bed.”
She smiled and resumed pushing Nancy’s gurney. They reached the observation unit, and Mary efficiently positioned Nancy’s stretcher and monitor units for easy visibility. Then she turned to the nurse on duty and gave her the OR records and post-op order sheet.
“I’ll check on you later, Mrs. Edison.”
“Thanks, Mary.”
Nancy lay there, hearing the muted sounds of the heart monitor. The steady-paced beats did not relieve her uneasy feeling. Something was definitely not right between Bob and Galen. His words echoed in her head: “Didn’t you see anything…?”
“Mr. Edison, we’re going to keep Mrs. Edison at least overnight to make sure everything remains stable. So far her pacemaker is doing a fine job.”
“That’s routine, Edison,” Galen added, as his friend’s eyes started to widen in fear.
“Can I see her, Doctor?”
“Certainly. Come on, I’ll take you in.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
Galen hesitated to follow. He knew how traumatic and personal this whole situation was to his friend.
“Yes.”
The three men walked down the hall to the intermediate-care unit, but Edison didn’t wait for the other two. As soon as he saw Nancy he ran to her gurney.
“Nancy … I … uh … I…”
He couldn’t speak. He just laid his head against her cheek and kissed her repeatedly. She wrapped her arm around him.
“Honey, I think we’re going to have guests,” Nancy said gently, as she spotted Galen and Crescenzi standing in the hallway.
Her husband of almost fifty-five years lifted his head and wiped his eyes then nodded. He stood by her bedside, as the old and young doctor approached.
“Everything is going well … so far, Mrs. Edison. I told Mr. Edison that I’d like to keep you here at least overnight to monitor for any irregularities in your heartbeat. The pacer is doing its job well, but I always like to be sure. Is that all right with you?”
“Can’t I go home today? I feel fine. Besides, I don’t want Norton and Kramden here messing up the house while I’m not there.”
Crescenzi raised an eyebrow.
“You’re too young to remember, Sal. Maybe ‘The Odd Couple’ is a better reference.”
Crescenzi seemed startled.
“You don’t mean…?”
“No, no, Sal, not that way. Let’s just say that neither Edison nor I should be trusted alone in a well-kept kitchen or house.”
The young doctor blushed and smiled, as a knowing look passed between him and Galen.
“Mrs. Edison, let’s just see how things go. We’ll take it day by day.”
“Can’t I stay with her?”
“Go home, Bob. One of us in the hospital is enough.” Nancy clasped his hand, and he bent over and kissed hers.
A few minutes later, after more hand-kissing from Edison and reassurances from Crescenzi, the two men walked slowly down the hall. One kept turning around to look back at the room they had just left. The other kept steering him gently toward the hospital exit. It was one of the few times Edison allowed Galen to drive him home.
“Stop pacing, Edison. That won’t help.”
His friend of over sixty years was wearing a hole in the living room carpet. Edison sat down, fidgeted a few minutes, and stood up again.
“She’s not here. She’s not here!”
“But she will be, and soon. What you’re doing won’t help, little brother.”
“Stop calling me that!”
He moved closer to the bear-sized man, shook his fist in Galen’s face and snarled, “I’m not your little brother, and, for that matter, what gives you the right to tell me what to do in my own home?”
Galen stood stunned for a moment.
“What are you talking about?”
“Yeah, right, go ahead—play the innocent bystander. If you’re so smart, you quack, how come you didn’t pick up on her heart thing, huh? You’re supposed to know everything—right? This might not have happened if …”
“Edison, that’s unfair. I know you’re distraught over Nancy, but…”
“You big jerk, you don’t understand. I almost lost her once. If I lost her again … how could you possibly unders…?”
The sudden look on Galen’s face sent a chill through him.
“Uh ... I … uh…”
Galen turned without a word and went to his room, slamming the door behind him.
Leni, Cathy, he doesn’t know how lucky he is
.
Each man spent an anguished, sleepless night—Edison frightened at the prospect of losing his beloved wife, and Galen feeling alone and lonelier than he had in years. He sat on the edge of his bed, clutching Leni’s stuffed toy dog to his chest.
Neither man spoke, as each fixed a quick breakfast of toast and marmalade then headed to the car. They exchanged no words, as Edison took the driver’s seat, and they headed down the mountain road leading to the hospital. They walked separately to the intermediate ICU, and they waited separately, while the unit nurse called Crescenzi.
“Mr. Edison, your timing is perfect. Your wife had a good night, so I’m sending her home this morning.”
They followed the cardiologist into the small, glass-enclosed room, Edison moving quickly to his wife’s side and planted a kiss on her forehead. He smiled for the first time in two days, but his voice trembled, as he said, “Nancy, we’re taking you home today!”
Crescenzi turned to Galen then back to Nancy.
“Now, young lady, you’re not to do anything around the house, until your resident quack says you can. Understand?”
She looked at her husband, her face glowing. Then she noted the silence. She looked at Galen.
Neither man was looking at the other.
“What’s going on, you two?”
Silence.
Crescenzi wisely stepped outside.
“What’s going on?”
She knew, as women always do, and she shot an exasperated frown at the pouting, geriatric little boys.
A few more moments of silence then Edison and Galen turned to each other. The old engineer started to speak then stopped. He looked at his friend and nodded. Almost in unison both mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
Then Edison leered at Galen.
“Heeey, Ralphie boy, you are so fat!”
A rare smile crossed Galen’s face. He cleared his throat, made a fist with his right hand, and struck his left palm as he roared out, “So help me, Norton, one of these days, POW! Right in the kisser!”
The three old friends, two walking and one in a wheelchair, headed for the hospital exit.