Page 76 of Till The Cows Come Home
“Hi, I’m here to take Mr. Baker for his imaging.”
We all nodded, holding our breath as she gathered all his connections and wheeled him towards the door, but before they crossed the threshold my mom stopped them. And when she spoke she didn’t attempt to hide an ounce of the love she expressed.
“Stu Baker, I love you, but don’t you dare leave me this way. Show them the improvements, show them your strength, and then come back to me.”
She kissed his cheek, and as she made her way back to her chair I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room. Even the tech turned away, shielding her face as she pushed his bed down the hall.
It didn’t take too long, maybe an hour, but the wait for results took what felt like a lifetime. Dad was returned to the room with us, and not a single word was muttered as we sat around him. It stayed that way until the doctor knocked on the door, and even then we just turned to her, hearts stuck in our throats.
“Take a breath my friends, I come bearing good news. Stu’s scans showed the swelling has reduced enough for us to feel comfortable to wake him. That being said, we aren’t out of the woods, yet. He wasn’t conscious when he arrived so we don’t know what we’ll face when he wakes.”
My mother broke the silence, asking the one question we all wanted to know the answer to.
“When will he wake up?”
“It could be a couple hours, it could be a couple days, only his body can decide. Staff will be in to extubate him and administer the meds, we just ask that you notify one of us if we’re not around when he wakes, but they’ll be doing hourly rounds to keep an eye on progress.”
And with that the wait continued.
“Sage!”
Miles and I jolted upright at my mother’s voice. She was hovering about an inch from my father’s face, but he stayed perfectly still, just as he had the past eight hours.
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
“He squeezed my hand about an hour ago, and I thought it was nothing, so I ignored it, but I swear to you, he just cracked his eyes open.”
I slid my hand into my father’s limp grasp, but after a few squeezes and nothing in return, I wrapped my arms around my mother’s shoulders, guiding her back to her seat.
“It’s gonna happen. Try and get some more rest.”
But as we all settled back in, a hoarse voice crackled through the room.
“I hope all this sitting around means you finished that barn.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Sage
Two Weeks Later
It had been a few days since Dad had been released from the hospital, and while a bit weak, he was lucky. Aside from a few extra meds added to his regimen and physical therapy for a couple of months, he got away relatively unscathed. And with him back, my focus could shift ever so slightly to my girls that were finally scheduled to come home tomorrow.
I’d set up a lot of my new classroom, and with Miles’ constant reassurance I’d planned out the curriculum. Ruby surprised me with custom informational pamphlets, outlining the offerings of each program along with tentative dates, which we planned to drop off at every public space that’d let us.
The end of the day was nearing, though, which meant it was time to knead my worries into food. I always welcomed the solace that came along with preparing the evening meal. Throughout the weeks, I’d cooked along what seemed like most of the community, whether it be the crew's wives, Jane,Beth, or kids that had stopped to watch as the structure came to life.
With today being the last full day of labor, I’d invited them all, urging anyone in the community to attend. I’d brined an insane amount of chicken and expected my favorite group of women to arrive any moment with sides to share. Some of the crew’s wives insisted on contributing, and although I never asked them to, they always showed up with something unique and delicious that paired perfectly with whatever we were having. As I peeked out of the newly resurrected classroom door, Ruby and my mother waved to me from the porch.
“I was just about to come crash your party,” Ruby called.
“I’ll preheat the grills,” Miles interjected from behind me, eliciting some choice words as I jumped from my boots at his surprise presence. “Sorry.” He chuckled. “Why don’t you show Ruby your space? Mom and I will hold down the fort, won’t we, Gale?”
I rolled my eyes at my mother, but his words weren’t lost on me. Not your mom, not Gale, justmom. I’d never fallen for something so hard in my life. Even my love for farming was gradual, but the way I was falling for this man was reckless.
Ruby bounded off the steps, skipping a few until she reached Miles, pausing to slap him on the back.
“Thanks, big guy. I promise we won't leave you with old Galer for too long.”
