Clora's House of Gathered Up Children

[Sully]

Thank you Pac.

Sully

[ted]

Now there is hope for Bruce! Tricia and Julie may have a calmer man walk into the house tonight.

[sssarawolf]

Very nice, hope Bruce can come out of it as he had before he went off to war. To many bad habits came back while he was away.

[Rabbit]

Deliverance at the hands of a prayer warrior.

[PacNorWest]

#5

When Clora got done with Bruce; he was spent with fatigue and something else. Her hand kept going to Bruce's lower right side, and Clora couldn't explain the how or why that she could feel the disturbance, but it was there.

"Bruce," Clora questioned, "internally, what organs are located here?" and she pressed on his back.

Bruce had trouble talking, he was so tired and groggy. "Ahh, lower right side, colon, appendix, bladder further to the center, kidney, stuff like that. Why?"

Clora laid her full hand on the big man's back, and suddenly he felt painfully uncomfortable where she was touching.

"Bruce, you have a tumor either on your appendix or in your colon." Clora spoke again quietly but firmly.

"Nah, your imagining things." he dismissed her concern, "no way can you tell from the outside unless there's an open sore."

Clora felt Mark come into her senses several minutes ago, and she opened her eyes to see him and Milo standing there watching them. Clora waved them to come.

Bruce didn't have enough energy to lift his head and snarl at them, he was so wrung out. Besides he was glued or cemented to the bench and couldn't move.

"Mark, would you please stand next to Bruce. I'm going to pull his shirt tail out and put my hand on his bare back. There will be a stab of pain if I'm correct, enough to make him pass out. He's in a weakened condition."

"Clora, keep your hands off me, I don't need undressed right out here in front of everyone."

"Bruce, shut up." Clora decreed.

She put her hand on the approximate location she could feel the disturbance through his shirt. When the warmth of her hand passed over the spot, Bruce tensed and grunted hard in pain.

"Get your ####### hand off me," he was panting in anger, "Are you sticking a knife in me?"

"No."

Clora slowly drew her hand back over the spot and Bruce shivered in pain and about slammed his arm back to make her stop. Milo's hand prevented the man from carrying through his intent.

Clora looked up at Mark. "Bruce has a tumor there and it's very urgent he have it looked at right away." delivered in the same calm tone she might use to tell Luke to pick up his toys. "Please call Tricia," and Clora gave Mark a number to use.

"How did you get that number?" Bruce seemed more incensed that she had Tricia's private number than he did with having a cancerous growth.

Clora shrugged, she didn't know or care how she got it; it was the number they needed to call.

Tricia was there in a half hour. She had just got the bus back to her own hospital when Mark called. If she hurried she could catch the ride as he came back around the loop, she had explained.

Bruce, if he could have moved, would have blown off the dog and pony show a long time ago, but no; instead he had to wait and be exposed to every Tom, Dick and Harry that came by for a look.

There were no gawkers, no one passing thought any difference, than a group of people standing together.

Silently, Mark opened the door for Trish and when Clora felt Tish watching, she passed her hand across his back once again. This time Bruce shouted out in pain, gripping the curving underside of the metal bench with white knuckles.

"Bruce has a cancerous growth about here," Clora pointed to the place. "I want you to know and he can't move yet as I have not released him. If he were to be examined, which hospital do you want him in?"

"Tish looked at Clora and then Bruce's back covered by his shirt. "The other one," she tried to say and then had to clear her throat to make her decision come out stronger.

"I'm not going to any hospital," he flatly declared, and tried to get up. He couldn't.

Milo brought a wheel chair from inside, and Mark and Milo helped Bruce stand up and then sit down again.

Several hours later, Doctor Bruce was prepped for surgery and the x-rays of the solution dyed tumor showed a fist sized mass growing on the outside of his lower color with strange finger like feelers radiating out to his appendix.

Clora leaned against the interior door post of the Carry all as Mark drove home. Her eyes were closed and she was having a terrible time with all the images trying to crowd in and jumble in her mind. She was tired, so tired. The woman that had prayed the horrible anger out of Bruce, needed a healthy dose of her own prayer medicine.

[Dosadi]

Thank you Mrs. PAC

Dosadi

[stjwelding]

Thank you for the chapters Pac, you never fail to amaze me with your story.

Wayne

[Vtshooter]

Getting tired of Bruce. He either needs to wake up, or go away. Thank you Pac

[kua]

No, no, Vtshooter. Bruce can only go away when/if Dr. PAC will let him go. He has been so important to the story, especially where Tessa is concerned, that if there is hope, he needs to be recovered and a member of the community in good standing.

[PacNorWest]

#5b

It never rained but that it poured sluicing down drafts of water that flooded the clan. The whole retreat was in a terrible uproar when Mark and Clora returned.

Tess had tried to get out of bed, and had fallen on the floor. Tethered to the poles that held her drips in her arm, she had fouled herself in the plastic tubing and all of it was on the floor. Ben with only one arm, couldn't get her up, so Cody had been recruited to help.

Cody when he bent over to help pull Tess upright, blacked out and fell on Tess. Ben was shouting for Robert to come help, and in turn Robert was yelling for Mandy to assist. Mandy left the school room with TJ, Barry, Julie unsupervised as she rushed to Tess's room.

Toby and Rennie had just arrived with the new baby and the little girl was screaming her head off in a hungry wail that upset everyone.

Toby helped Rennie in their house, went to the patio and yelled at Abbi to get her butt to the school room and watch the young kids. Abbi finally choose this time to burst into tears in a soul cleansing, cathartic meltdown, and the three in the school room decorated themselves with permanent markers as a fun way to wait for class to begin again.

Toby got to Tess's room to help the absolute chaos there, yelling at Ben to get a blanket to cover Tess, he and Robert were attempting to move the blacked out Cody when Dawg hit the room door with savage growls, thinking Tess was being hurt in the melee somewhere.

Toby got bit, Cody got bit and that brought him right out of his faint, Robert hit Dawg across the snout to keep from being bit, Dawg was ki-ayying and growling and Gary tried to hold Dawgs collar and keep the frenzied animal from clearing the room as he protected Tess.

Mark and Clora hurried in the house at the sounds, and rushed down the hall to the source. Mark got Dawg called off, Cody crawled to the side of the room and Ben got Tess covered. It took Gary, Milo and Ben to get Robert and Cody to their feet, and then there was a anguished yell from Clora.

Mark was slumping down the door with his hand clutching at his heart.

Toby called 911 as Clora dove forward to keep Mark's head from hitting the door edge and the floor at the same time. Toby thrust the phone at Robert to give the details and moved to Mark to start chest compressions.

They kept Mark alive, the ambulance finally arrived and took Ma and Mark back to the hospital.

Tess was a bloody mess. In her arm where the IV needles were located, she was bleeding profusely as the needles poked out of her veins and through her skin. Toby made an executive decision and pulled them out.

Applying compression to the arm, he got the bleeding covered but the drips were still working and sending their liquid all over the floor. Mandy was trying to keep Tess covered and protect her from the milling people, and Milo finally had to whistle.

Trained as they were, all movement ceased when Milo whistled "freeze." He looked at Toby and between Toby, Milo, Ben, Robert and Gary, they got Tess rolled on a sheet and lifted back on the gurney. Mandy got her covered, but Tess was laying on her back.

Toby as the oldest one there, called the decision to leave Tess as she was, until they could get ahold of Bruce or Tricia. The clan had no idea that both doctors were back at the hospital where Bruce was being operated on.

Rennie got the new baby fed and walked to the big house to see Abbi having a hysterical melt down on the patio and in the house it looked like an explosion had happened. She sent Cody out to comfort Abbi, had them all get to chairs so she could assess what damage had been done and happened to look at Ben who's arm was hanging uselessly by his side.

Ben sat down in his usual chair beside Tess and pitched forward, hitting his head on the gurney rail Toby had pulled up. He had broken the frozen shoulder open with the effort to lift Tess.

Just then, the three well decorated children showed up to have the adults congratulate them for such a good job of coloring on their faces.

There was that absolute deadly silence that happens when adults realized the little darlings had marked them selves red, green and purple.

Rennie took one look at her children and put a protective arm around the baby girl and walked out, leaving the little monsters with their father.

[Dosadi]

Wow, I'm just... WOW

Thank you for MOAR

Dosadi

[jimmycthemd]

PAC,

You really know how to inject total mayhem into the mix!! Love it :-)

[OldArcher]

Whew!!! Things are finally getting back to "NORMAL!!!"

Thank-You, and God Bless You and Yours, Mrs. Pac! Never, ever, think of the Lindermans as "Normal!"

Maranatha

OldARcher

PS Lime Green for Hospital Jello- for the Clan receiving TLC...

oa

[bjoyce09]

Great chapters, Pac.
Love this story.

Take care of Yourself and Yours.

[tired-medic]

Wow ! Had me sweating . I have seen families just about like this. Went to a call for a patient with a gangrenous toe , ended up with three ambulance patients, police took two into custody and Dept. of Human services moved one person into an assisted living center. Yeah that kinda day.
Pac this is great.

[PacNorWest]

#5c

Mark, in the care and control of the ER Doc., had an angioplasty. The stents placed in the narrowed arteries, and when they reached six, they had the man's heart open for business. Mark had violently insisted that he be awake but semi sedated and that Clora be there with him. He got his wishes, and afterward had to lay still the required amount of time to let the incision in his groin clot, and begin to heal.

He had a prescription for a blood thinner that he had no intention of taking, and a diet that precluded most all animal fats. The heart Doc. told them both, that only Mark's good physical condition had prevented a massive heart attack. As it was, a tiny clot had gone through, coming up against a narrowed vein with painful results.

In a week, Mark was to begin walking, but he wasn't cleared to do his more energetic exercises. Mark didn't feel happy, he didn't look happy, he didn't act happy and he didn't sound happy.

As they were being wheeled into the waiting area, Mark was giving his opinion of the situation, when he was finally allowed to sit up and go for home.

They had to sit and wait for Toby to come get them, and Clora put her hand on Mark's good shoulder. "You will follow the protocol, you will stick to the diet and you will sit down and be quiet. Or I will adhere you to that chair as I did Bruce." Clora left no room for doubt.

She sat behind Mark so she didn't have to look at his scowling face. Clora was deep in thought about the cancers and their unusual mass and fingers that were filaments that reached out and attached to other organs.

Bruce, John, Liz and now Luke all had approximately the same appearing type of tumor.

John's had appeared when they were in Henderson. They had not much interaction with Bruce until they got to Greenville, now here in Raleigh they had Liz's fatal tumor, Lukes's reoccurrence and now Bruce. There had to be a common factor and she couldn't find it.

Mark had turned his wheel chair around and was watching Clora. Her head was back leaning against the chair, her eyes were closed and her lips were faintly moving. To him, she appeared to be in some kind of trance. He had seen Clora this way, once or twice before and it scared him. Her breathing was so shallow, she lost a lot of the color from her face and her fingers were contorted in strange positions and seemed locked in place.

That's how Toby found them, and Mark motioned for silence. Frankly, he didn't know if it was safe to wake her or not. Softly he started calling to her, hoping to intrude at the edge of her consciousness and bring her awake.

"Dad, you've got to wake her. All hell is loose at home and we have to go. We can't wait." Toby was impatient.

Both of them picked up Clora's hands and started rubbing them, and slowly she started to stir.

Toby helped Mark in the Carry all and then Clora into the back seat. "Buckle up folks, we've got to get for home.
Me, Rennie and Mandy are the only able bodied people there, and the others are hurt from Tess's crash. Ma Dad, you are going to have to get a nurse for Tess and someone to help our wounded. I missed an important trial that I had to default to the other side, because we were having such a crisis. I'm going to be fired if we can't get a handle on this. Rennie has her hands full with the new baby, and Mandy has the youngsters.
You two are about three hours away from total exhaustion, and the whole place is suffering. Lemmie and Hank are worked to the bone, and something has to change."

Toby had said his piece, and now it was up to Dad and Ma.

When they got home, Mark called for a private duty nurse and a mental health professional to come to work. As they had done with Bruce previously, all special privileges were suspended and the wounded came to the table if they wanted to eat.

The nurse kicked Ben out of the room, picked up the mess, mopped the blood and solutions up and put clothes on Tess. Stopping the pain relief had Tess jittery but certainly more responsive to her surroundings. It took four days for nurse Phoebe to have Tess up and walking around.

Later the night of the fifth day, Phoebe reported to Mark that she believed the bags of painkiller sent for Tess had been tampered with, some solution added to cause the zombie state that had befallen the daughter.

Phoebe had discovered one of the unused bags of morphine with a hole near the stem, where a drop of orange looking liquid had dried. Mark sent it to be analyzed, and he and the nurse discovered all the bags had been compromised.

All but the bag sent for testing, were opened and drained to prevent further use. Mark destroyed every liquid, crème, solution and wound care supplies that had been sent; not trusting that it hadn't been tampered with.

The biggest change at the retreat happened because Chilly and Vic were gone. Whining and griping and blank stares were reduced to almost nothing. The wounded started stirring within themselves to learn ways to over come their problems.

Phoebe took Milo to his eye surgery appointment, and brought him home the next day, feeling better with the assurances by the specialists that the eye would be useable.

Tess was up and walking around, starting to do simple things for herself. Ben was due for a checkup on his arm in a week, when Bruce came home from the hospital.

[Sully]

Thank you Pac.

Sully

[Dosadi]

Thanks

Dosadi

[sssarawolf]

Thank you, you make me always want more lol.

[PacNorWest]

#5d

Bruce was still in a great deal of pain from his surgery, furious that one of the most inept surgeons on Staff had operated on him. He was slumped over, easing the pull on his incisions when he looked up and saw nurse Phoebe smiling a feral, eye glittering smile of welcome to the hapless Doctor.

Bruce commenced a hissy fit, the like that had never been seen before. It was magnificent, he outdid all previous meltdowns put together. Ranting and raving, he demanded to be taken back to the hospital, immediately.

Nurse Phoebe kept advancing toward Bruce, her expression bland and without malice and evil intent, to everyone but the luckless patient. Bruce was put in the main house, as Tricia had to work, and Phoebe would be caring for him.

A very tall, and large woman; Phoebe was Bruce's equal in size and weight. It didn't take long for the clan to discover Bruce and Phoebe had a history. A very brief, but intensely unpleasant history.

As she pushed Bruce into the house, she said down low for his ears alone, "hello Dr. Bruce, may I remind you that paybacks are Hell?"

Bruce commenced squalling like a mashed cat.

[teedee]

Now this is a vivid mental photo! "squalling like a mashed cat."

[sssarawolf]

LOl but I hope she comes to realize that revenge is not the way to go.

[Dosadi]

Thank you Mrs. PAC

Dosadi

[ted]

Sounds like big bad Bruce will need his little wife to rescue him! Poor poor Bruce...LOL!

The pictures you paint! Thank you Mrs Pac.

[stjwelding]

Thank you Pac for more of your great story.

Wayne

[PacNorWest]

#5e

Grown men with nasty, disagreeable dispositions should not aggravate the nurse that pulls the tape.

Nurse Phoebe thought of herself as a very calm and helpful nurse. She allowed that there were two ways of handling patients. Her way, and their way. Her way was the easy way, and their way was the hard way. She always let them choose.

One thing about Bruce, he wasn't afraid to test her and she always played fair. The tape could come off fast, or slow, hair by agonizing hair. It was the same with the drain tube, it could be pulled fast or centimeter by hurtful centimeter, the bath, and any other function that needed to be cared for; there was always the choice.

When Phoebe went for her supper, Bruce cried, begged and pleaded with Tricia to fire the woman and hire someone with compassion and gentle hands.

"She's the only one that would care for you Bruce, the rest of them refused. You have a reputation." Tricia said gently and then went home to laugh. She was married to the man and didn't want to care for him either. Nothing had been settled between them, and Bruce ignored the problem like it never existed. But it did.

So nurse Phoebe stayed and Bruce learned to be a compliant and reasonable patient. Occasionally he had an outburst, but then a cold water bath with ice cold hands normally cured what ailed him.

Julie with her purple face had been a shock to Bruce, but he was getting used to it. Bruce did more fretting and brooding about the cancer than he let Tricia know about. Mark and Clora had visited with him, Clora telling him his cancer was the same as the kids had.

Clora and Mark had examined all the clan, and for the time being, they were free. The three of them were discussing the situation when Phoebe happened to listen in. "It's got to be the water, the air or the ground. Too much diversity to be anything else."

Clora happened to agree, but the other two were holding out for some exotic cause, and they hoo hoo'd the nurse.

Phoebe thought Bruce was getting a little free and frisky with his opinions, and she arched her eyebrow at him, warning him to tone it down. Bruce with Mark as a back up, totally disregarded Phoebe and paid later. Phoebe was very fair, she always evened things up.

The person that suffered the most was Tricia. She worked double and sometimes triple shifts to pay for Bruce's care and operation. Then she had to listen to him whine about her neglecting him. The three years that Bruce had been in the Army, there had never been a paycheck, and Tricia and Julie lived and saved on her salary.

The way Bruce had taken the joy out of Tricia's feeling of being pregnant, slowly faded when she didn't have to deal with her husband 24/7. Sometimes, Phoebe would catch Trish looking at Bruce with such sad eyes that it made the nurse want to smack the arrogant doctor. Trish had raging morning sickness, and usually it lasted all day. She absolutely would not take anything, and she lost weight.

If Bruce started to sharpen his teeth on Trish, she usually would get up and walk away, until the one night she had come off a double that had been extensively exhausting. There had been a fire in a slum apartment and the burned people screamed and died in the ER until Trish was shattered inside.

Something had triggered Bruce into a nasty mood and Trish walked in his room and he let loose. Trish looked at him with dull, hurting eyes, removed her wedding ring put it on the tray and walked out. It took Bruce six seconds to recover with a nasty string of invectives and Trish couldn't hear them. She was gone.

Trish packed her clothes and Julie's and they drove out at dusk. Bruce had been at the table when Tricia's old Yugo sputtered out, so he was aware she had left. He had a cold eye set to his jaw and no one said a word.

Trish rented a room close to the hospital and she and Julie moved in with what few things Trish took. Julie and her purple face went to the hospital daycare when Trish worked, and Trish applied for jobs out of the area. Trish kept close track of the biopsy's done on Bruce's cancer, and there had been no conclusions.

When the job offer from West Virginia came in, Trish took it. She finished on a Friday night, she and Julie loaded up and were in the Bluefield area to start work on Monday morning. During her mid morning break, Trish gathered her courage and called Clora.

Clora took the information, wished her friend well and never told that she had been in contact with Trish. Trish hadn't asked how Bruce was, she knew he would be OK, there with her friends.

Phoebe had come to work the next morning after Trish left, with the tale of the apartment fire and how terrible it had been for the doctors working on the patients. If Bruce had a flicker of remorse, it didn't show.

As soon as possible, he fired Phoebe and went to the cabin to find Tricia had taken her clothes and Julies, and left the rest. Bruce still had her wedding ring and he dropped it in his sock drawer and went to work as soon as he was able.

He intended to get into the hospital records and find out where Tricia had gone. Tricia had told the records department that there was a domestic problem and her forwarding information was not to be released.

It took a couple of months before Trish stopped jumping at every bump in the dark and the quick movement over her shoulder. When she relaxed, the morning sickness went away and Tricia started to glow with impending motherhood.
Trish and Julie took many walks around town, and friendly people got used to the fading purple on the little girl's face.



Toby and Rennie had a beautiful daughter. The child of obvious mixed heritage was strikingly beautiful. There were two little boys with noses out of joint, and they declared they were going to live with Grandma. Rennie had more work to do, so she waved them good bye and told TJ to come home when he finished college.

It wasn't exactly the way TJ intended for his grand exit to happen, and Milo and Ben snickered all day, remembering the time they ran away in the winter. It was a good, satisfying remembrance and Phoebe laughed and told about her boys who had done the same thing.

Robert healed and he spent time working in the garden, hoeing weeds and planting when it was time. Milo had good eyesight back, although it never matched what he had before. Gary healed and got a job with a trailer company moving and setting up mobile homes in the strengthening economy.

Ben was the only vet with a problem that hadn't been solved. Bruce was researching artificial shoulder sockets, and he and Ben chose the one they felt to be the best. The surgery was scheduled for two weeks and Ben had high hopes for the use of his arm.

Tess improved daily, walking, then jogging and then trotting and finally running the pasture track. She and Ben often ran together, encouraging and helping one another. The hole in her back healed slowly and Mark never did find the extra ingredient that had been injected into the pain killer.

Privately, he suspected either Chilly or Vic, in a sick twisted revenge on Teresa's death, but of course there was no proof. That Ben had so quickly taken his affection to Tess, was the motivation.

The day that TJ and Barry announced they had come to live with Grandma and Grandpa, Barry lasted until bedtime and then his quivering lower lip and eyes swimming in tears, had Grandpa walking the little tyke over to his house.

TJ was very comfortable at Clora's. he snuggled in the rocking chair with her and when no one was looking, he patted her front, and Clora would stop his hand. It was one such display that Clora stopped and her hand was close to TJ abdomen. She had a reaction, and went to waylay Bruce when he got home.

Bruce was eating supper and Clora lugged TJ in and put him on the table. "Bruce, what is in the front of a person right about here?" and Clora pointed to a spot on TJ.

"Colon, bladder, kidneys, the excetra," he replied, "why?"

"Where are the adrenal glands located?"

"On top of the kidneys. Oh," Bruce took a hard look at TJ and rubbed his chin. "Humm, very possible. I didn't ask about them, because I assumed he had been tested for Cushings. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll trade working on TJ for information about Trish." Bruce was calm, but he missed his wife and thought it was about time she came home.

Clora looked at him, picked up TJ and walked out of the kitchen.

"Doctor Bruce, you might as well figure out you shit a ring around yourself and stomped in it." Lemmie was standing at the sink. "Trish was a lot nicer than me. I'd a 'gotta a gun and blasted yer worthless hide. Ain't nobody lower than a wife abuser."

"Abuser," Bruce roared, "Never, I never hit Trish or Julie. You've gone crazy."

"You hittem with words Bruce, jest as sharp and cutting as a whip; ya know sumthin? Bruises fade and bones heal, but them words play over and over in your mind and yer never shut of'em. Yer a proud and stubborn man an if it was yer intention to run her off, ya did a good job. She ain't never called in 'n let people know where she is." Lemmie told him.

"Is that true," Bruce looked startled. "I figured she would call and Clora wasn't telling."

"Bruce ya gotta be the stupidest man on earth. Ya got a pregnant wife that worked two and three shifts at a time to pay yer bills, and all she wanted was fer ya to be happy with her. You figured you were miserable, and never paid no attention to her. That ain't a smart man fer sure. Have you ever thought about anyone else but yerself? Meybe ya deserve what ya got after all."

"What do you mean she worked two and three shifts in a row?" Bruce was trying to put two and two together.

"Ya dumb ass, how do you think yer bills got paid? By the fairys?"

"I make a good salary, there should have been plenty of money." Bruce protested.

"All the time you was in the Army she never got no money, no money when you was here working, how do you suppose she paid rent an bought groceries?" Lemmie was steamed.

"Tricia never said anything, how was I supposed to know?" Bruce protested again.

"I tole you, yer a dumb jerk. You talk at her, not to her, and don't listen like a husband should. The night she walked out of here, Tricia had pulled two shifts on account of thet terrible apartment fire. She was shattered and coming apart at the seams. Babies died in that fire, Babies died! 'n the Docs couldn't sav'em. "N what did you do Mr. high and mighty Dr. Bruce, did ya give her any comfort, no ya horses ass, you whined and moaned and complained until she couldn't take any more. Thet's wife abuse, pure 'n simple."

Bruce didn't feel like eating any more. He got up and walked down to his room. He had a lot to think about.

[Mr Bill]

Some times it takes a 2 X 4 across the noggin to get the point home. Thanks Pac

[Dosadi]

Thank you

Dosadi

[sssarawolf]

Yep Mr. Bill youin's is right. Thank you Pac.

[Sully]

Thank you Pac.

Sully

[ted]

In Bruce's case I think a 6x6 might do the trick. LOL

Thank you Pac.

[BigRuss]

wonderful story with all too real characters. Sadly I have discovered that narcissistic people like Bruce are incapable of change or even accepting that they are the problem. Sometimes moving on and cutting them out of your life really is the only solution.

Having said that, I want to thank Mrs. Pac for these stories as I have found them uplifting and inspirational. The last few years have been increasingly difficult for me as I dealt with losing my job and career. I'm now back in school despite being late middle aged and doing well. Thank you for the many reminders of God's love and the rewards of having faith. You do a much better job of preaching the glory of The Lord better than many ordained clergy I have met over the years. Bless you and thanks for sharing so much with us.

Russ

[PacNorWest]

#5f

Bruce sat for a while and then decided he'd show that uppity Lemmie he was right and she was wrong. Bruce put on a coat and went to the cabin. It was cold, but he turned on the heat and lights and went to the desk.

Trish had always kept a bookkeeping ledger with their finances; adding Bruce to the bank account and savings. It was all there in blue ink on white and light green ruled pages. No where was a single check of his deposited to the account. All of the income had been Tricias.

When she got low, her paycheck stubs showed she added hours to gain what she needed, There were modest savings of three thousand, and as of this year, Trish had paid income tax on her portion, filing joint but separate.

Bruce looked through the file cabinet and Trish had all the receipts she needed to prove her income and deductions. There was a envelope marked 'mad money' that had fifty dollars in it that she had left.

No where was there any pay stubs, with his name. He fuzzily remembered when he had been working at the big General hospital, cleaning the kitchen table off one day and sweeping the envelopes off into the trash. He supposed he might have had paychecks in the bunch, but that water had long gone down the drain.

So where was his army pay, and the pay from the smaller hospital? He didn't have a clue. The closed up bedroom smelled like her perfume, and he couldn't stay in there. Trish had a tiny wooden jewelry box that she had since she was a girl, that and her clothes were the only things gone.

He went back to the desk and carefully went through the paperwork again. In the old address book, he found a phone number for Warren and he called.

There was a lot of loud Italian music in the background and Bruce had to shout to make the deaf old man hear him. "No Warren and Luce didn't know where Trish was, hadn't heard from her in a long time."

Bruce ended the call, extremely dissatisfied. If she hadn't called her mother, she must have intended to make a clean break. Bruce slammed into the big, protective wall Trish had put around herself, doing a hundred plus. It was looking more and more like she really meant it this time.

He sat there contemplating, until he realized he was freezing. He had turned on the heat, but there was no natural gas. An envelope marked final notice stamped in red, was on the table where the mail had accumulated.

Tricia's final paycheck from the hospital was there and he opened it and looked at the staggering number of hours she had worked. Bruce hadn't worked anywhere near the hours she had, but there were no paychecks in his name. He'd see to that tomorrow.

Bruce turned off the lights, shut the door and walked back to the house. The last faint rays of the spent day, showed slightly lighter than the dark night, and he didn't care.

Bruce kept track of the months in his head. They ticked off one by one until he figured Trish would be seven months along. He had a powerful need to see and be with her, and it was as Lemmie told him, "want and be dammed."

Bruce thought about a lot of things that he would do differently, if he had the chance. But there was no card, no phone call, no communication. The clan was freezing him out. He could feel their contempt and disgust. Lemmie was the only one that would talk to him, and he didn't want to hear what she had to say.

Breakfast was so strained at the retreat, that Bruce started going to the small coffee shop close to the hospital for his coffee in the morning and his meals. He was sitting drinking coffee and reading the newspaper when a small article about an ER Doc in West Virginia caught his eye. The woman had battled with a crazed man high on drugs and it had put her in the hospital in an attempt to save her unborn baby. Bruce knew in his heart that had to be Trish.

He signed out for the day, and then made it three. Bruce went to Bluefield. The hospital was easy to find, it was the only one. He inquired about Dr, D'Amatto and the woman shook her head no, no Dr. by that name. Then he tried Tish Ammons and the woman said yes, "third floor, room fifteen."

Bruce used the stairs, he couldn't wait for the elevator.

Tricia looked like a technicolor painting with bruises of every color and description. She was laying very still, the sheet movement indicated she was breathing and there were tears at the corner of her eyes. She had one hand protectively over her huge swollen body, and Bruce watched as she stirred and groaned with the effort to move.

He watched as his child moved, ripples across her belly. Trish was so thin and tiny, he wondered if it would be safe for her to have the baby.

A monitor bell rang on the IV pole and a nurse came hustling in. "Who are you?" she demanded, not expecting to find anyone in Tricia's room.

"Bruce Ammons, Trish's husband."

"Well I don't know where you've been, but it's about time you got here. She goes for a C-section in an hour."

When he looked back at Trish, she had the one eye she could partially open, watching him. "Julie, downstairs, very scared," she whispered. "Please get her."

"I will," he promised, "when they take you back."

Tish nodded and he noticed the marks on her neck. The addict had tried to strangle her. "Tricia....."

"No," she whispered, "hold my hand, I'm scared. The baby is in distress."

Bruce took her free hand and held it with his two huge hands dwarfing hers. They sat silently until the nursing crew from the operating room came to get Tish.

He got plenty of looks. Some friendly and most not so friendly. "Who are you?" the older woman with the paper head covering demanded.

"Bruce Ammons, Tricia's husband." Bruce used Mark's manner of answering questions. As few as possible.

"Huh," the word came out as a condemnation, and they wheeled Trish to the door. Bruce stood up and the short lady said, "Good Lord Almighty, no wonder she's so big."

Bruce stopped the bed, bent over and kissed Trish lightly on the forehead. Then he turned loose of it, so they could take her. Trish had her eyes closed and a couple more tears leaked out.

He stopped at the nurses station and asked about finding the daycare downstairs. A nurse getting off shift was headed that way to pick up her daughter, and she volunteered to show him where. She rode the elevator, and so Bruce had to.

He watched Julie playing for a while before she noticed him. She walked over to the half door and told the lady in charge, "Papa." Julie hadn't spoken the time she had been there, and they were surprised she could.

"And you are?" the woman pointedly asked.

"Bruce Ammons, Trish's...I mean Dr. Ammons husband."

"You'll have to sign Julie out and she can't leave the hospital. She has a monitoring bracelet on that will activate the doors to close if she gets near them."

Bruce nodded, signed and told the ladies that Trish was in surgery. They both regarded him coldly, and Bruce held out his hand for Julie. "Shall we go see how Mom is doing?"
Bruce could hear the two ladies whispering together as he left.

Bruce stopped at the desk, so see if the board indicated Trish was in surgery. The green line had moved some, but she wasn't back there yet. He signed in, got a monitor and stuck it in his shirt pocket. The line changed to yellow, indicating Trish was in surgery.

He sat down and all Julie wanted to do was sit in his lap. Soon she went to sleep, all curled in his arms. Bruce was sitting where he could watch the board and the line under Tricia's name. Two hours went by, and then a third. Bruce knew there were problems, it shouldn't take that long.

At four hours, the light turned green, and Bruce wiped the sweat from his forehead.

A nurse came out and announced, "family for Trish Ammons" and Bruce followed her back to the room where Trish was. He was carrying Julie and she had her arms around his neck. They walked in and sat, waiting for Trish to open her eyes.

"Sleeping," Julie whispered, "shhh." She made Bruce smile.

Trish was very still and Bruce wondered where the baby was. When the nurse came in to check on Tish, he asked why the baby wasn't with Tish bonding with her.

The woman looked faintly surprised and pulled the sheet down to see if the baby was down by Trish's side. It wasn't. "Get that baby in here," he ordered briskly, "they shouldn't be apart."

"I'm sorry Sir, I follow Doctors orders, not husbands,"

"I'm Doctor Bruce Ammons, get our child in here," he ordered. the nurse sped off with a worried look over her shoulder. It was ten minutes or less and a layette was pushed into the curtain cubicle with a blue blanketed bundle. By that Bruce assumed it was a boy.

He picked the baby up and placed it in Trish's arms. After a while that didn't satisfy him and he unwrapped the child, pulled down Trish's gown and placed the baby on her chest and covered them tenderly.

Tricia woke completely, feeling the baby warm on her chest and listening to Bruce tell Julie that's what you did for a newborn. They needed to smell their Mama and hear her voice. Julie pointed to herself and Bruce told her carefully they didn't know if Julie's Mama had done that for her, but every time she sat on his lap and went to sleep, it was the same thing. She knew her Papa by the way he breathed and how he smelled and how he sounded when he talked.

Julie nodded, satisfied with the explanation.

"Trish, has the baby had colostrum?" Bruce asked softly.

She whispered no, so with Bruce's hands holding the good sized child, they got the infant started eating.

It was a warm, quiet, magical time for the four of them, family caring for family in the very best way. No one interrupted them, and Julie sat at the foot of the bed and watched her brother sleep.

[sssarawolf]

Good, found her, I hope they make it. Sometimes you just need folks to. Thank you Pac.

[OldArcher]

God Bless You, Mrs. Pac. In these times in which we live, we need Blessings from God, like you...

Maranatha

OldARcher

[Sully]

Thank you Pac.

Sully

[Dosadi]

Thank you Mrs. PAC

I don't like how bruce acts about half the time, but I haven't given up hope that he and family will be ok. Sometimes it is just two steps forward 3 back, 4 forward to get anyplace for some folk.

Dosadi

[ted]

Thank you so much, I think I kinda needed them to try again. Wait, this is a story why do I feel I know them like neighbors? Thanks Pac.

[PacNorWest]

#6

Cody sat with a crying Abbi in his arms. Everyone concerned for Abbi, from Toby and Rennie all the way down through her friends and the Dr. that had come to help the wounded purge them selves of the horror and hate; had been waiting for her emotions to break open.

Dr. Honey Latimer, was young, slightly chunky and very good in her field of expertise. Her name came from the color of her hair, and there was a lot of the thick, honey colored riotous curls she tried to keep professionally contained in a bun.

Sitting on the patio with the vets, the breeze played with the bouncy curls, aiding them as they escaped confinement. One long strand kept breaking away, bouncing across her forehead, and that held Milo's attention with greater interest than what she was saying.

Honey would take her breath and blow up, pushing the curl back to the top of her head, where it waited for the next breeze to float around again. The lady was giving them tools to cope with the problems they were facing and she was earnest and caring. Milo let his imagination run with the visual he was watching, and he didn't find any fault with the feeling or the reason he was more interested in her hair.

Clora was standing inside, watching and she had that secret, soft smile that happened when she felt things were going right for her children. She felt things would definitely be right for Milo.

Milo was close to the time when he needed to report back to the Army to fulfill the remainder of his West Point obligations. He was unaware of how dashing and handsome he looked, and it was the confidence that he projected that was so attractive. Most people didn't have a clue why they like to be in his presence, they could feel the interest and dignity he had in his aura and naturally wanted to be included.

Honey was very much aware of the tall, red headed man that had regained his eyesight. Milo always sat toward the back of the small gathering as she talked to them about the choices they could make to stay positive. He leaned back in his chair, his arms out to the side and one leg crossed over the other at the knee. An open personality with nothing to hide, she had categorized him the first time they had been introduced.

It was apparent to Honey that Milo wasn't hearing what she was saying, his mind was a thousand miles away; and she wondered how to bring him back to the session, without causing him embarrassment.

Milo wasn't a thousand miles away, as a matter of fact he was much closer than Honey ever imagined. Slowly she worked through the group and then finished with a one on one short session individually in the school room.

Abbi would be her most challenging patient, Robert was putting himself together with Mandy's help, Cody was so firmly fixated on Abbi it was difficult to keep his interest, Ben was waiting for shoulder surgery and he might have problems if the repair didn't go as he expected. Tess had a firm mind and was waiting and not pressuring Ben. And then there was Milo.

Honey blew at her annoying curl again, and suddenly she could feel that Milo was way more interested in what she was doing, rather than what she was saying. When it was time for his individual session, Honey asked several leading questions and Milo answered them well.

"I don't think you need counseling," Honey was sure he had a very good mind. He certainly did if his mind was anything like the rest of him that she could see.

There was a long quiet pause and then Honey cleared her throat and went to speak. "Pardon me," she had apologized, "I'm afraid I'm not being professional." and she looked away, to gain perspective and control. Picking up her papers, Honey bunched them together and tapped them on the desk top to hold them in order.

Milo took a deep breath, in for a penny...in for a pound and he stood up and walked to the desk. Bending over, he placed his hand at the base of Honey's throat and kissed her well.

Immediately he could feel her heart rate slam into overdrive and the pulse under his fingers keep time.
Milo walked out of the room whistling, feeling better than he had been. Much better.

Clora listened to the tall, redheaded wonder whistling as he left the school room and she wondered if he realized he was whistling 'danger.' She decided he didn't have a clue, and she smiled again.

Honey was glad Milo was her last patient at the session. She felt flustered and that her crazy, uncooperative eyes were crossed, and her knees were weak. That man packed around a powerful kiss, almost enough to be illegal. Too bad he was a patient, and therefore unavailable.

What had happened was so against the rules, and so unprofessional, she could loose her license for allowing personal contact. It was quite common for patients to form a close bond with their therapist, after all the therapist knew their deepest secrets.

What that man had done was really good for her own mental health, Honey decided. It was too bad she couldn't allow any more of his therapy.

[Dosadi]

Thank you Mrs. PAC

Dosadi