She wondered what he meant by “and all,” and decided that maybe it was Cameron’s spirit that needed mending. She stood. “Okay, I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon.” She jotted a phone number on a pad by his bed. “Just call the store when you’re ready.”
JULIA COULDN’T STOP thinking about Cameron. Restless and impatient, she strode to the automatic doors of the waiting room, stepped into the cool night air, came back, then sat in three different chairs while staring at CNN on the television. Mostly she wondered what could have gone wrong in Cameron’s life that made him admit to needing this time on the mountain.
She thought about her own life, as well, and the months before she’d finally seen a doctor. She’d never been able to identify one isolated problem that had eventually sent her to him for help. She’d only known that something hadn’t been right in her life, and she wasn’t successfully dealing with it. A major part of her downward slide had been the breakup of a five-year relationship. She’d believed that Kevin had been the one. She’d pinned her hopes on him. Her future, her friendships and her weekends. They’d been inseparable for at least three years, one rarely seen without the other, two like-minded souls content to imagine a lifetime together.
Until suddenly she was the only one imagining.
When she’d lightheartedly brought up the subject of making their relationship permanent and legal, he’d found nothing funny about it. Nor anything remotely serious.
Julia looked up at the clock in the waiting room. 10:15 p.m. Had her mother forgotten about her? It was too late now to bring Katie out. Julia walked to the wall of windows and stared at the near empty parking lot. And her thoughts returned once more to Cameron.
Had he been the one to initiate divorce proceedings with his wife? Had she disappointed him, or had it been the other way around? Had the breakup been amiable? Julia supposed some could be, between two rational people who decided that ending a relationship would result in improved lives for both.
She recalled the day she’d gotten the prescription for antidepressants. Kevin wasn’t the only reason she’d seen a doctor. There had been problems at work, frantic calls from her mother, no calls from her sister. And nearly everyone Julia knew in Manhattan was on some kind of antistress medication. Pills were the big city quick fix that many people relied on.
Headlights veered from the main road and traveled up the drive to the hospital entrance, saving Julia from a potential bout with her conscience. She watched the approaching car closely, hoping to identify it as her mother’s dependable old Ford. “Thank goodness,” she said, when Cora pulled up to the drop-off area, and she went outside to meet her.
Cora got out, handed over a bundle of clothes, stared at Julia’s hands and gasped. “Oh, my heavens, Julia.”
“It’s nothing, Mama. The hospital staff overreacted. I can remove these bandages in the morning.” Too tired to control her impatience, she asked, “Where have you been?” She looked down at her soiled garments. “I feel like I’ve been wearing this stuff for weeks.”
Cora frowned and Julia felt bad. She didn’t mean to take her foul mood out on her mother. She considered going inside to a restroom to change clothes but decided she wouldn’t bother now. “Did you lose power at the cabin?”
“No, but I had to make arrangements for Katie,” Cora explained. “The time just got away from me, and I didn’t want to make her come along this late.”
Julia put the clothes in the backseat and did the best she could to dust dried particles of mud from her jeans. “I’ll just wear these home now.” Once in the car, Julia asked her mother “So what did you do with Katie?”
“I put her to bed and called Rosalie. She was happy to watch her while I came for you.”
Julia made a mental note to thank the neighbor who also helped out at the store during the busy season.
“Unfortunately, Rosie had to pick up her supper dishes first,” Cora said. “She was running late because the TV kept showing bits about the accident.”
Julia settled into the seat and closed her eyes. All at once her bones felt as if they were melting into little puddles around her. She rested her head back and said, “Oh.”
“You were on television. That lady reporter talked about what happened and they showed you.” Cora pulled out of the hospital parking lot. “I wish they’d let you go in and comb your hair first.”
“Yeah, that would have been nice,” Julia said absently, knowing a comb wouldn’t have helped much.
“So how is Cameron?” Cora asked.
Julia looked over at her mother. “Pretty banged up. He’s having surgery on his wrist tomorrow morning. Tonight, he mostly had tests.”
Cora nodded with understanding. “They do that these days. Make sure the ticker’s working right, your blood pressure’s normal, all that stuff, before you go under the knife. I suppose it’s good they take such care.”
Through Julia’s haze of exhaustion, Cora’s voice seemed to drone on in another dimension. “I suppose,” she said.
“I guess he’s going back to Raleigh now that he’s had the accident.”
“Actually, no. He’s asked me to pick him up tomorrow and take him to his grandfather’s place.”
Cora looked at Julia and quickly returned her attention to the road. “He’s staying up there?”
“That’s what he said.”
“Pure foolishness.”
“I kind of thought so.”
“What time will you get him?”
“In the afternoon. He’s going to call the store when they release him.”
“I’m glad it’s not the morning,” Cora said. “I told Katie you were taking her to the elementary school to see about getting her enrolled.”
Suddenly alert, Julia sat up straight. “You did?”
“Yes. She needs normalcy in her life, a schedule.”
Julia couldn’t argue. “How did she react?”
“She said she didn’t need to go to school. I hope you can find a way to change her mind, Julia. Your idea with the bubble bath seemed to work well the other day.”
Julia sighed. “I’ll think of something, Mama.”
AT NINE O ’CLOCK Thursday morning, while she waited for Katie to get dressed, Julia called the Vickers County Medical Center to get an update on Cameron’s condition. The operator switched her to the second floor station where a nurse reported that Cameron was currently in surgery. She suggested that Julia call back in an hour or so.
Julia tried to put her concern for Cameron out of her mind as she and Katie drove down Whisper Mountain and headed for Glen Springs Elementary. Katie hadn’t spoken a word, so Julia attempted to break the ice. “I’m excited to see the school,” she said. “I was very happy there as a student.”
Katie stared out the window.
“Did you enjoy school in Tennessee?” she asked.
“It was okay.”
“Were your teachers nice?”
“I guess.”
Julia drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “You know, one thing about living behind the store is that you don’t get the opportunity to meet other kids. We’re kind of isolated on the mountain. I suppose that’s why I always looked forward to school.”
Katie knotted her hands together.
“I’ll bet you miss your friends in Tennessee.”
Katie