Along Came Love (16 page)

Jake grinned. "I'm sorry I caused you worry.
But you can relax now, I have got it all together."

"Sounds like it."

"I bought the old Wells place."

Deke looked incredulous. "No kiddin'. Wow,
that's a fantastic piece of property bro, and local. I love it.
We've finally got you home again. I couldn't be happier…."

"I know, I showed it to Sam yesterday. She
loves it."

"And…."

"Yeah, we're getting married as soon as dad
gets back…" Jake announced.

"All right. Man…I couldn't be happier if you
had given me a jackpot. I can't wait to tell Emma. She'll be like a
bee in a bonnet around here, planning things for you. And to think
you'll finally be home. None of us could be happier…."

Jake nodded…."It's almost too good to be
true…"

"So you're going to run over to Peaceful and
settle things there, today?" Deke asked.

"Yeah, fixing to head out now."

"There's a storm brewin'. Be careful." Deke
warned. "Why don't you take my truck?"

"I'll be fine." Jake insisted.

"I really don't like you traveling on the
road with that thing during bad weather," Deke said his frown
returning.

Jake shook his head, "Will you ever stop
worrying?"

"No…I won't. So get used to it." Deke tried
to laugh.

"Peaceful isn't that far, Deke, I'll be home
by tonight." Jake assured him and put his helmet on.

Deke frowned again, "I'm with dad on that.
That thing isn't safe…Besides, won't you need to bring some stuff
home?"

"Well, yeah, unless I make another trip. But
yeah, you're right. Can you spare the truck today?" Jake asked.

"Sure. The brakes are acting a little crazy,
so watch it, but I feel safer with you in the truck than on that
bike…" Deke declared.

"Okay, you win. I'll borrow the truck, that
way I won't have to go back. Samantha kinda likes me hanging
around. Selma hasn't been up to snuff and I want to be available if
Sam needs me…"

"You call her Sam all the time?" Deke
snickered.

"Yep, and she loves it…" Jake smiled and
winked at his brother as though they shared a secret. "Are the keys
in the truck?"

"They are, and be careful." Deke declared.
"Watch those brakes…"

"Okay, I'll see you tonight, then…" Jake
hollered on his way out the door.

The storm came up suddenly, at first just a
big ominous black cloud that quickly blacked out the sun and sent a
shield of rain that was so thick it was hard to see. Deke's wipers
weren't very good, and the windows started to fog because it was
cooler inside than out and humid. Jake shut the air off and turned
the vent on. The rain came down so hard on the metal top of the
truck it sounded like nails hitting it. He considered pulling over
till some of it passed, but if he was going to get things loaded up
and back by nightfall he'd have to push onward.

For once he was glad he had listened to Deke
and taken the truck. Riding a bike in a storm was no pleasure
ride.

Jake tried to wipe the windows with his
bandana; he slowed, knowing it was better to take his time than to
try and out run the storm. It often came a gully washer in the
middle of a drought season. This wasn't the worst he'd been
through.

He turned on the radio to get a weather
forecast but there was too much static. He switched it off.

There was a lot of traffic on the other side
of the highway, but his side was pretty clear. Most of the traffic
was moving towards the metroplex areas and not toward the
country.

Summer storms were common and this one would
soon blow over as though it had never been.

He saw the car on the other side of the road
coming up fast and passing the semi then swerving a bit. Then the
car almost braked and the truck began to swerve. He's out of
control…

It happened so fast, Jake didn't know what
hit him, but the semi came barreling through on the other side of
the road, obviously in a hurry, he was splashing water everywhere,
making it a blind spot to see for the other cars. The truck driver
had lost control and was now headed toward Jake. Jake tried to
swerve and hit his breaks too hard. He was suddenly in a spin and
went sailing into the ditch, rolling several times before he came
to a silent halt.

Never had rain sounded so haunting almost
like it was in some dream. He couldn't see, everything had gone
dark. He didn't move, he knew he should but somehow he couldn't. He
blinked but there was nothing but darkness. There were noises too,
but he couldn't make them out, like falling into some black void.
He wanted desperately to see what had happened, but everything
began to fade out. Pain shot through him somewhere but he couldn't
identify where.

His mind drifted to the fact that there was
an accident somewhere. Was anyone hurt and could he help? But the
void drew him in. And then there was nothing.

***

Samantha put the phone down with a loud bang.
She stood motionless for a long minute. Selma came into the kitchen
and stared at her daughter, noting the way Samantha stood there, as
though in shock. "Is something wrong, dear?"

Samantha nodded woodenly, her eyes full of
tears, her mind in a huge turmoil.

"Jake's been in an accident, that was Emma on
the phone. He's being care lighted to the hospital. I've got to get
down there." Samantha cried out.

"Oh my, I'll go with you…" Selma nodded, her
own face ashen from the news.

"Momma, are you sure you feel up to it?"
Samantha asked her mind in a fog.

"Of course I do. Now, let's get the keys and
go. Does she know anything?" Selma asked.

"Not really, the police notified Deke because
Jake borrowed his truck to go to Peaceful. He was going to clear
out his desk and take care of his business there." Samantha
murmured. "I'm glad he was in the truck…instead of on his bike. Can
you imagine if he'd been on his bike?"

Selma nodded, "Come on dear. It will be all
right, leave it in God's hands…" Selma looked at her daughter with
concern.

Samantha's mind was working overtime and all
the what if's in the world didn't help. She had to keep calm, and
concentrate. Just driving to the hospital seemed like some deep
fog. She didn't remember even parking.

When they arrived, Deke and Clint were
already there, and they hugged them,

"How is he?" Samantha whispered in Deke's
ear.

Deke's face was lined with worry and Samantha
felt her world start to crumble.

"He's…he's in a coma, Samantha."

"Thought you were gonna lay it on her easy
like, bro," Clint protested, and then shook his head, "Sorry, I
guess we are all a little tense."

"What does it mean, Deke. How bad is he? Did
he hit his head?" Samantha was full of questions.

Deke guided her and Selma to the waiting room
and had them sit down. He bent to a squat in front of Samantha and
took her hands in his. Samantha thought Jake must be dying the way
Deke was acting.

"He's had some trauma to his head, he hit the
dash, the truck rolled with him, so he was bound to have some
injuries. But right now they are doing tests on him to see exactly
how bad it is. They said at this point they know nothing. It could
be days…weeks, even months but they are holding out for no more
than a couple of weeks." Deke explained to her.

"How could they know that?" she shrieked.

"They don't, they just wanted to calm us down
for the time being. Me and Clint sort of barged in here and I'm
sure they don't want a disturbance." Deke tried to smile.

Samantha squeezed his hand, "But…he will be
all right…right?"

"Hon…I just don't know." Deke sighed.

"Can we see him?" The urgency in her voice
seemed to echo through the hallway.

Clint shook his head, "That was a definite
no, for now. They said once they have established how bad an injury
he has, and have him stablized then we can go in and see him. They
said the danger now is asphyxiation." He obviously saw Samantha
tensing and tried to sound reassuring, "But they are taking all
precautions."

"Stablizied that sounds so serious. Is he in
ICU?"

"Yes…and will be a while…"

"Does anyone know what happened?" Samantha
asked, putting a hand to her temple and rubbing.

"Not entirely, no. They said a policeman
would be by with some kind of report on the accident." Clint
volunteered the information.

"Was his head the only injury?" she asked
after another worry hit her.

Deke looked at Clint, "His leg, they had to
reset it, it was broken. A couple of ribs were broken too, so far
that's all we know…"

"They were waiting on the results from a MRI
before they said anything else. It is all at the testing stage
right now. But at least they are being thorough." Deke assured
her.

Samantha nodded, "Does….Cal know yet?"

"Not yet, we weren't able to reach him. They
were probably out and about, we should be able to get a hold of
them before too long."

Deke got back to his feet and paced the area,
glancing at the desk nurse. But nothing was happening and his
pacing continued. Why did nurses always look so unconcerned, so
distanced?

Clint closed his eyes a time or two and when
he opened them, the sight of a tear had Samantha worrying more.
Were they telling her everything? She wished she was already
married to Jake so they would tell her how he was. An engagement
didn't mean anything to doctors. If she wasn't his wife, they
wouldn't rush to tell her they'd tell his family. Not that the
Travers didn't consider her family, she sighed.

Selma reached for her hand and squeezed
it.

Samantha squeezed back.

Emma and Abby showed up next, concern laced
their faces, as they hugged Samantha and Selma and listened to Deke
explain his condition to them. Emma nodded as though she understood
and was taking it from there. She sat beside Samantha and Selma,
her face calm and serious.

"Jake's a healthy man, and he has faith in
God. I know that he is going to come out of this, okay. Don't you
worry…"

Samantha wanted to shout, scream, do anything
besides wait here in a cold waiting room for word. She wanted to
see Jake, and reassure herself that he would be all right.

Emma glanced up at her husband, "I…I finally
got a hold of Cal…"

Deke pulled her to him, "How'd he take
it?"

"I heard the concern in his voice. He said
they'd be on the first flight home and they'd call us when they got
in."

"Good…thank you for taking care of it for
me." Deke murmured and kissed her cheek.

"Do you know any more…" Emma asked.

Deke filled her in on Jake's condition
according to the paramedic who care flighted him to the
hospital.

Selma suddenly looked up and her expression
was one of concern, "Was anyone killed?"

Deke glanced at her, his glance going to the
floor. "Yeah…the man driving the semi, the car in front of him
swerved and they had some minor injuries, but the truck driver
didn't make it. Killed on impact."

Selma sighed heavily and shook her head.
"This will affect Jake deeply…"

Clint nodded, "She's right about that…"

Samantha shook herself, "I'm just glad it
wasn't him…."

"Did he have family, was he a local…?" Selma
asked.

"He has a sister here in town. That's why he
was here. He'd been visiting her."

"Then I'll get the ladies auxillary together
and we'll gather a meal up for her. Do you know how old he was or
anything?"

Deke shook his head. "No…but that's a great
idea, Selma."

Samantha squeezed her mother's hand again.
"That's very sweet mamma."

Samantha couldn't concentrate on all the
small talk, she was too worried about Jake. She wanted to see him
so badly, to reassure him everything would be all right and all
their plans were not ruined.

But they were interrupted by a police officer
who stopped by to talk to them.

"Are you the family," the officer asked.

"Yes, we are…" Deke answered.

The officer shook his hand, "Officer
Daniels."

Samantha wanted to hear, and Clint didn't
hesitate to bring her forward, situating her between Deke and
himself.

"We got a report from a Highway Patrolman. A
small sedan with some college kids were in front of the semi going
east, your brother was headed west. The sedan was swerving all over
the road according to some eye witnesses, and speeding, the
witnesses stopped long enough to make a report, For some reason the
ones in the sedan put on the brakes and the Semi tried to correct
and couldn't, he lost control of his vehicle, sending him into your
brother's lane and bouncing him over the highway where he rolled
several times into a ditch. Fortunately there was no one on that
side but him at the time. The pickup didn't catch fire, but it was
totaled. We're holding the kids driving the sedan. They didn't pass
the sobriety test, needless to say. I'm sorry. Is your brother
going to be all right?"

"We don't know…we're waiting now to hear. He
had a head injury, his leg and a couple of ribs were broken." Deke
replied.

"I'm very sorry. These kids, they won't be
drinking for a long time to come." The officer assured them. "Been
to a college party after the game, celebrating."

"Did the driver die instantly?" Selma asked
from the back of the crowd.

"Yes ma'am he did."

"Thank God…" Selma nodded, "Thank you
officer…"

"I'll make my report and you can come by the
station and collect your brothers things." He informed them.

"Thank you…"

Now all that was left was to wait for the
doctor's report. How long would that be?

"Honey, if you want to go home, go ahead,
Clint and I will stay with Samantha and Selma." Deke said.