Page 4 of Through the Snow Globe
Diana shivered beneath her lightweight coat. The temperatures had dropped sharply in the night, leaving a dusting of frost on the lawn. She rang the doorbell one more time and waited. Then, sighing, she turned to leave, stopping cold when she heard Maria’s voice calling out from inside the house. Diana turned back and bent her ear toward the door. “Maria?”
“Help!”
All the air in Diana’s lungs whooshed out in a puff of white frosty air. She attempted to turn the doorknob, but it was locked. “Maria, I’m here!” she called again, hoping her patient could hear her. “Hold on!”
Diana scanned the porch for some sort of obvious place to hide a key. She checked beneath a flowerpot and then a garden gnome. She checked the wind chimes and behind the loose shutter near the front window. There was nothing. Diana briefly considered kicking the door down, but decided the professional thing to do was to call 911.
Diana hurried back to her car where she’d left her phone and tapped her screen to make the call.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” the dispatcher answered.
Diana’s hands shook as she clutched the device to her ear. “Yes, um, well, I’m sitting outside my patient’s house right now. Her name is Maria Harris. I’m her home health physical therapist. Maria isn’t answering the door, and I can hear her calling for help inside. I’m not sure what to do.”
The operator asked several more probing questions and then assured Diana that help was on the way. The fact that Maria could call out was a good sign. Obviously, she couldn’t get up to reach the phone for herself. Was she on the floor? Had she suffered a second stroke? The possibilities whirled through Diana’s mind until the first police cruiser slid up to the curb, sirens wailing. An ambulance pulled into the driveway moments after the police. The lights of the emergency vehicles competed with the early Christmas decorations the neighboring house had already put up.
Diana helplessly watched, wondering how her morning had already become so eventful. Most of her days were just the opposite. She lived a routine life, seeing her patients one by one and coming home to Linus during the evenings. She liked her life as it was, even if lately she wanted something more. The promotion at work might help with that. And marrying Linus. Her life would change for sure once she joined the Grant family. That excited as much as it terrified her.
Diana leaned against her car and watched as a man worked to open Maria’s front door. Finally, it swung inward and a team of police and paramedics disappeared inside. When two paramedics finally rolled Maria out on a stretcher, Diana rushed over.
“Maria! Maria, are you okay?”
Maria turned her head, searching the small crowd of uniformed men and women who had gathered on her lawn. She smiled warmly when her eyes connected with Diana’s. “Oh, Diana. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine, dear. I just took a little fall. I think my ankle might be broken.” She flinched softly as she tried to move it.
“Broken?” Maria’s right leg was already weak after last month’s stroke. “What happened?”
“I’m embarrassed to say.” Maria glanced sheepishly at the two male paramedics who’d stopped long enough to let her talk to Diana. “I was trying to climb into my attic to retrieve my Christmas decorations.”
Diana’s mouth fell open. “Maria, I told you to wait on that.”
“Wait for what? For who? It had to get done, and I was feeling well enough this morning, so I decided to go for it.”
Diana shook her head. “That wasn’t safe. You injured yourself for a little holiday decorating?”
Maria looked offended for a moment. “Christmas cheer is important.”
The paramedic standing on the right of the stretcher cleared his throat. “We’re taking her to East Medical,” he told Diana.
East Medical was the local hospital. Diana knew the place well. She had visited often when Grandma Denny had gotten sick. Diana had stood by her grandmother’s side, hoping to return the favor of when Denny had taken Diana in. Denny hadn’t provided the best emotional support when Diana was growing up, but Diana had never wanted for food or shelter. She’d had her own room, three warm meals a day, and when she was sixteen, Denny had provided her with a dented clunker for transportation to and from an after-school job. That same clunker had gotten Diana through physical therapy school.
The paramedic signaled to the other that it was time to continue toward the ambulance.
Diana took a step backward. “Take care of yourself, Maria. I’ll be here when you’re ready to begin PT again.” She watched as Maria was carted into the back of the vehicle. Then, with her heart still racing from the chaos of the morning, Diana headed back to her car. Why had Maria attempted to climb into her attic? She could barely walk, which was one of the reasons Diana was treating her.
Diana plopped into the driver’s seat and shut the door behind her, barring the frigid air. She took a moment to check her phone, hoping there’d be a text from Linus. He usually messaged her throughout the day, sending funny GIFs and random musings that she liked to refer to as Linus-isms. There was nothing waiting for her on her phone though. He must still be in a meeting with the toy distributor.
She tapped out a message to him.
Diana:I hope your morning is going smoother than mine.
When he didn’t immediately reply, she shifted her car into gear and drove to her next patient’s home.
Addy was a sixteen-year-old in remission from acute myelogenous leukemia. Addy had been an active basketball player on her high school team before that, and she was already looking at colleges. Cancer didn’t care about the future, though. Or how old a person was.
Diana fiddled with the radio as she drove. All the stations were playing holiday songs, which she didn’t mind. She sang along to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” as she headed to her next stop, entertaining Linus’s idea of a Christmas wedding. This might be a good song selection for the ceremony. Knowing Linus, he’d probably want to serenade her with it at the reception. He thought he could sing and Diana would never tell him otherwise, even though the man couldn’t hold a tune to save his life.
Perhaps she should suggest eloping. Linus probably wouldn’t go for that idea. Knowing him, he would want to share their special moment with his loved ones. He was a family man, and well, Diana wasn’t a family woman, even though she’d always fantasized about being part of a huge family.
When she arrived at the Pierces’ home, she slowed her car and parked along the curb. She walked up the driveway and porch steps and pushed the doorbell. Shuffled steps could be heard inside. They grew closer until Mrs. Pierce opened the door and smiled brightly.
