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Authors: David Thurlo
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“Hey, short stuff. Want to go with me to lookfor some ice cream?”
“Yes!” Dawn looked up at Ella with a pathetic, pleading expression, a tactic she’d only recently perfected.
“Shimá,
please?”
“All right. You can go if you promise to be good.” Ella gave Carolyn a grateful smile.
“In case you’re wondering why I didn’t offer to help the gentleman,” she said, deliberately avoiding mentioning Kevin so that Dawn wouldn’t catch on, “it was becauseI figured he needed to play single parent at a time of confusion. It was good for his education.”
“Tell me the truth. Was she awful to him?” Ella asked, bracing herself.
“Awful? Nah. Active, yes. But she was just trying to get him off the cell phone so he’d pay more attention to her.”
“I get the picture. Thanks.” She looked at Dawn and in a stern voice added, “You do whatever Aunt Carolyn tellsyou to do. Is that clear?” Carolyn was no relation to Ella or Dawn, but her friend had insisted upon the honorary title.
Dawn nodded somberly.
Holding Dawn’s hand, Carolyn gave Ella a smile and the two walked off. “Take your time. We’ll be in the cafeteria when you’re ready.”
Ella went through the ER doors and, after asking the nurse at the desk, proceeded to one of the small curtained partitionsthat doubled as a room. From what she could tell, most of the other partitions were also currently occupied with patients.
Ella found her mother a moment later. Rose looked as pale as the white muslin sheets on the hospital bed. Ella swallowed before speaking, determined not to letRose know how much seeing her like this had affected her. The last time her mother had been in the hospital, shewas barely alive after the accident with a drunk driver. Though her mother looked a thousand times better than that now, it still wasn’t any easier seeing the woman who’d raised her looking so vulnerable.
“Mom, what happened?” Ella asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.
“Oh, daughter, I’m sorry about this. It was just a stupid, careless accident.”
“Why didn’t you call me when it happened,or call the paramedics?”
“I figured it would be faster for me to drive myself to the hospital than wait for help. My hand was really bleeding.”
“What happened?”
“I was boning a chicken and listening to the news on the radio when I bumped into the counter and knocked off the butcher knife. I automatically grabbed for it without thinking and I got the blade instead of the handle. I put some herbson the cut immediately to stop the flow of blood and wrapped my hand in a towel, but it wasn’t enough. I knew I had to come to the hospital, so I got into the pickup with my granddaughter. Long before I reached the highway, I realized I’d made a mistake. I was just too dizzy. About then your child’s father came by and gave me a ride.”
“Good thing he was there.”
Rose nodded, but her lips werepursed tightly.
Ella suppressed a sigh. It was no secret that her mother didn’t like Kevin, but that situation had grown steadily worse in the last few months. Rose simply didn’t approve of the way Kevin’s priorities seldom included spending time with his daughter though that neglect was, traditionally, the custom of Navajo fathers. The fact that Dawn wanted to see him and Kevin seldom visitedwas enough to irritate Rose.
“Is he still out there taking care of my granddaughter?”
“No, he’s gone to a meeting,” she said before thinking, then wished she’d dodged the question.
’Then who has my granddaughter?” Rose asked quickly, trying to sit up and look past the curtains surrounding the bed.
“She’s with my friend,” Ella said, guiding Rose back down onto her pillow.
Rose nodded slowly.“Bijishii.”
Ella recognized the name her mother had given Carolyn. It meant the one with a medicine bag. As Carolyn herself had said, it could have been a lot worse, considering her medical specialty.
“She’s a good woman,
“Yes!” Dawn looked up at Ella with a pathetic, pleading expression, a tactic she’d only recently perfected.
“Shimá,
please?”
“All right. You can go if you promise to be good.” Ella gave Carolyn a grateful smile.
“In case you’re wondering why I didn’t offer to help the gentleman,” she said, deliberately avoiding mentioning Kevin so that Dawn wouldn’t catch on, “it was becauseI figured he needed to play single parent at a time of confusion. It was good for his education.”
“Tell me the truth. Was she awful to him?” Ella asked, bracing herself.
“Awful? Nah. Active, yes. But she was just trying to get him off the cell phone so he’d pay more attention to her.”
“I get the picture. Thanks.” She looked at Dawn and in a stern voice added, “You do whatever Aunt Carolyn tellsyou to do. Is that clear?” Carolyn was no relation to Ella or Dawn, but her friend had insisted upon the honorary title.
Dawn nodded somberly.
Holding Dawn’s hand, Carolyn gave Ella a smile and the two walked off. “Take your time. We’ll be in the cafeteria when you’re ready.”
Ella went through the ER doors and, after asking the nurse at the desk, proceeded to one of the small curtained partitionsthat doubled as a room. From what she could tell, most of the other partitions were also currently occupied with patients.
Ella found her mother a moment later. Rose looked as pale as the white muslin sheets on the hospital bed. Ella swallowed before speaking, determined not to letRose know how much seeing her like this had affected her. The last time her mother had been in the hospital, shewas barely alive after the accident with a drunk driver. Though her mother looked a thousand times better than that now, it still wasn’t any easier seeing the woman who’d raised her looking so vulnerable.
“Mom, what happened?” Ella asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.
“Oh, daughter, I’m sorry about this. It was just a stupid, careless accident.”
“Why didn’t you call me when it happened,or call the paramedics?”
“I figured it would be faster for me to drive myself to the hospital than wait for help. My hand was really bleeding.”
“What happened?”
“I was boning a chicken and listening to the news on the radio when I bumped into the counter and knocked off the butcher knife. I automatically grabbed for it without thinking and I got the blade instead of the handle. I put some herbson the cut immediately to stop the flow of blood and wrapped my hand in a towel, but it wasn’t enough. I knew I had to come to the hospital, so I got into the pickup with my granddaughter. Long before I reached the highway, I realized I’d made a mistake. I was just too dizzy. About then your child’s father came by and gave me a ride.”
“Good thing he was there.”
Rose nodded, but her lips werepursed tightly.
Ella suppressed a sigh. It was no secret that her mother didn’t like Kevin, but that situation had grown steadily worse in the last few months. Rose simply didn’t approve of the way Kevin’s priorities seldom included spending time with his daughter though that neglect was, traditionally, the custom of Navajo fathers. The fact that Dawn wanted to see him and Kevin seldom visitedwas enough to irritate Rose.
“Is he still out there taking care of my granddaughter?”
“No, he’s gone to a meeting,” she said before thinking, then wished she’d dodged the question.
’Then who has my granddaughter?” Rose asked quickly, trying to sit up and look past the curtains surrounding the bed.
“She’s with my friend,” Ella said, guiding Rose back down onto her pillow.
Rose nodded slowly.“Bijishii.”
Ella recognized the name her mother had given Carolyn. It meant the one with a medicine bag. As Carolyn herself had said, it could have been a lot worse, considering her medical specialty.
“She’s a good woman,
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