The PIECES of SUMMER (6 page)

Wanting to get more comfortable in the warm air, Jonah untucked his shirt to let it
hang loosely and rolled up his sleeves. He then took a small box of raisins from his
pocket. They tasted good and eased his hunger pangs just a bit.

He threw a few raisins into the water and watched as several minnows came from nowhere
to nibble on the morsels as they slowly sank to the bottom of the stream. Jonah tossed
in a few more raisins, drawing a huge cluster of the small silvery fish swimming around
like they were waiting for another handout.

Leaning against the tree again, Jonah spotted a water snake slithering along and then
going under the water’s surface where all the fish were gathered.

The tree’s roots suddenly gave way, and the tree fell toward the water. Jonah wasn’t
quick enough to catch himself, and as the tree crashed, his foot became wedged between
two of the big roots. He struggled to free it, as the snake swam toward him.

Dear Lord
, Jonah prayed,
help me to get out of here fast!

W
hen Anne entered the rehab floor and headed for Eddie’s room, she whispered a prayer.
“Dear Lord, I pray that things will go well with Eddie’s therapy today, and help me
to be an encouragement to him.”

As soon as Anne stepped in her patient’s room, she spotted him lying on the floor
beside his bed. Relieved to see that he was conscious, although struggling to get
up, she quickly squatted down beside him. “Eddie, what happened? Did you try to get
out of bed by yourself?”

He nodded, offering her a guilty-looking grin. “I was hungry and thought I could walk
down to the nurses’ station and ask for something to eat. But the room started spinning,
and the next thing I knew, I was flat on the floor.”

Anne slipped her arms around his waist and helped him to stand. “You should have punched
the call button for help,” she said, assisting him back into the bed.

He frowned. “I tried that, but no one came.”

“Well, you should have kept trying.” She pulled the sheet up and tucked it under his
chin. “I’ll go see if I can get you something to snack on, and then we need to begin
your therapy session.”

Eddie’s nose wrinkled as he raked his fingers through the ends of his white-blond
hair. “What’s the point in me learning how to walk on my own when I don’t even know
who I am? I’m pretty much worthless, and if I ever do get to leave this hospital,
I’ll probably have to go beg on the streets ’cause I don’t even know what I can do
to earn a living.” He groaned. “Since I have no identification, who’d hire me anyways?”

“Let’s take these issues one at a time,” Anne said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes
with some food.” She tapped him gently on the arm. “So please stay put.”

Anne wasn’t sure what else to say. If they knew who Eddie was, and he had a family
to take care of him, he could begin life anew. But with no evidence of his identity
and not even a glimpse of his lost memory, the poor man was like a ship without any
water to stay afloat.

I wonder when Eddie’s well enough to leave the hospital, if Grandma and Grandpa might
consider taking him in
, Anne thought.
They have a big house, with five bedrooms, two of which are vacant, so maybe they’d
be charitable enough to let Eddie live there in exchange for him doing some chores
around the place. Guess I’ll wait to mention that until he’s stronger and getting
closer to being released
.

As Anne continued down the hall toward the nurses’ station, she spotted Susan heading
her way.

“I came to visit Eddie,” Susan said eagerly. “I wanted to see how he’s doing today.”

“Well, he was determined enough to get some food that he tried to get out of bed by
himself.” Anne smiled, despite the seriousness of the situation. “That determination
is what’s going to help him get well—at least physically. I don’t know what it’s going
to take to bring his memory back.”

“Perhaps someone will say or do something that will jog his memory,” Susan said with
a hopeful expression. “And of course, I’ll continue to pray for his full recovery.”

Anne nodded. “Same here.”

Luann King had been out shopping all morning and decided to stop at a sandwich shop
for a bite of lunch before going home. Her mother was watching the little ones today,
and sixteen-year-old Kendra was there to help out. Laurie and Philip were working
at the Bird-in-Hand farmers’ market in Bird-in-Hand today, so everyone in the family
had something to do.

Luann smiled as she entered the restaurant. It was kind of nice to be out on her own
for a while. She didn’t get the opportunity to shop by herself that often, much less
go out to lunch.

As Luann looked for a place to sit, she spotted a young couple seated at a table with
their backs to her. They sat close to each other, with their heads almost touching,
as though they were courting. The woman was dressed in Amish clothes, but the young
man wore blue jeans and a white T-shirt. Luann figured he could be Amish and going
through his time of
rumschpringe
. Or maybe he was English. If that was the case, it would no doubt sadden the young
woman’s family. Most Amish parents wanted their daughters to be courted by men who
wouldn’t sway them to leave their Amish way of life.

Luann slipped into a booth across the room, and as she turned to look for a waitress,
her mouth dropped open. The young woman at the table across from her was Laurie!

Laurie looked at Luann at about the same time, and her jaw dropped slightly as her
eyes widened. “Mom, wh–what are you doing here?” she asked, her face turning red with
obvious embarrassment.

Luann rose to her feet and moved over to stand beside Laurie’s table. “More to the
point, what are
you
doing here? I thought you were supposed to be selling dolls at the farmers’ market
today.”

“Well, I—” Laurie moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “I’m on my lunch
break right now.” She turned to the young man sitting beside her. “Uh, Mom, this is
Kevin Byler.”

Luann studied Kevin a few seconds then slowly nodded. She hadn’t recognized him at
first, but now she realized his folks lived just a mile or so down the road from them.

“It’s nice to see you, Mrs. King.” Kevin smiled and extended his hand.

Luann shook it briefly; then she turned to Laurie and said, “I’m going to the ladies’
room. I’d like you to come with me.”

Laurie hesitated but finally nodded. She smiled at Kevin and said, “I’ll be back soon.”

When they entered the restroom, Luann didn’t mince any words. “Are you and Kevin seeing
each other socially, Laurie?”

“Jah.” Laurie dropped her gaze to the floor. “We’ve been going out for a few months.”

“Why didn’t you tell your daed and me about this?”

“I—I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Luann’s lips tightened. “Oh, and you don’t think I’m hurt right now, finding this
out after the fact?”

Laurie placed her hand on Luann’s arm. “I’m sorry, Mom. I know I should have said
something sooner, but—”

“But you thought it’d be better to sneak around behind our backs?”

Laurie shook her head. “I knew you wouldn’t approve, and I was going to tell you,
but I just couldn’t seem to find the right time, or the right way to say it. I wasn’t
sure how to explain things to you because I knew you’d be upset.”

Luann narrowed her eyes. “Just how serious are you about Kevin?”

Laurie leaned on the counter by the sinks and drew in a quick breath. “I—I love him,
Mom. He asked me to marry him, and I said I would.”

Luann held her hands stiffly at her sides, fingers clenched until they dug into her
palms. “We’ll talk more about this at home, after your sisters and brothers have gone
to bed.”

Sweat beaded on Jonah’s forehead as he struggled to get his foot free from the roots
of the tree. Keeping his eye on the water snake, he felt relief when it swam off in
the opposite direction, in pursuit of an unsuspecting minnow. The last thing he needed
was to be eye-to-eye with a snake!

Jonah’s ankle throbbed something awful, and he wondered if it might be broken. One
thing he knew for sure: he needed to get his foot unstuck so he could take a look
at it and find out how badly he’d been hurt.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. If he untied his boot he might be able to
slip his foot out, and then he’d be free. It was shocking to Jonah to discover just
how deep this particular spot was in the stream, because the water was now well over
his chest. Standing on the bank earlier, he’d never imagined the water being more
than a few feet deep.

“Talk about bad luck,” Jonah mumbled, wondering how he had managed to get into this
predicament. He leaned over and reached down until his fingers touched the laces on
his boot. The water was very cold, not yet warmed since the return of summer. He could
feel, but not see, his boot.

Jonah had never learned to swim that well, and he didn’t like to put his face under
water, but it would be much easier to see what he was doing if he got closer to the
boot. He dreaded it, but realizing he had no other choice, Jonah knew he’d need to
go into a sitting position. Taking in a deep breath, he let his body sink to the water’s
depth of five or so feet. Being under water brought back memories of the day he’d
nearly drowned when he was a boy, and he almost panicked. Pinching his nose shut would
have helped, but Jonah needed both hands to untie the wet laces. Feeling the cold
water seep into his ears, he just wanted to get this over with.

The water had been clear before the tree fell, but now it was murky with sediment
that had been kicked up from the stream’s bottom. Under water, peering through the
murkiness, Jonah could see parts of the tree root that held his foot securely, but
he could barely make out his bootlaces.

Too bad that brave kid’s not here to rescue me now
, Jonah thought as he fumbled with his laces. He came up once for a breath of air
then ducked his head under the muddy-colored water again. This time he was successful
in getting his laces untied, and after wiggling his foot around a bit, he was finally
able to pull it free from the boot.

Jonah hobbled onto the bank and winced when he tried to put weight on his bootless
left foot. It was either broken or he’d sprained it pretty bad. He stood on his uninjured
foot for a moment, shaking his head to one side, trying to get the water out that
had clogged his right ear. Finally, after several attempts, he felt the now-warm liquid
trickle down over his earlobe.

Using a broken tree limb as a sort of crutch, Jonah hobbled over to the tree where
he’d secured his horse. After untying Socks, he climbed into the buggy and took up
the reins. Once he got out to the highway, Socks took off like a shot. It was almost
as if he knew Jonah needed to get help, and this was one time Jonah didn’t care if
the spirited horse wanted to run, because he had to get home as soon as he could!