DASHED DREAMS (20 page)

The hospital’s Chief of Staff, Dr. Glen Cleveland, handled the introductions. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending the benefit concert to support our hospital. Please welcome, Robert John Montgomery.” The applause was awesome.

Gary handed him a wireless mic, and he strolled out onto the stage. The band started playing a soft mixture of Robert John Montgomery hits.

“Good evening, Yerington! How are you this evening?”

The audience applauded generously.

“We’re here to benefit the hospital, that does such a good job.”

Suddenly a loud crashing noise came from the back of the stage.

“Oh no! Hey, guys, save the pieces back there.”

The crowd laughed.

“I want to thank the folks of Yerington for making me and my guys feel so welcome. I’d also like to acknowledge a couple of folks who traveled all the way from Oklahoma to see me here tonight…my cousin Angyne and her husband, Billy Bean. They try to come to my shows whenever they can.” He blew Angyne a kiss. “Please make them welcome.”

The audience applauded.

“Here’s a tune that you, my fans, voted the Top Single of the Year last year. Jillie, this is for you.” Again the audience roared with applause. He started singing, weaving his magic.

Gary stepped up and tapped Jillian on the shoulder. He whispered into her ear, she nodded, and followed Gary down the stairs and around to the back of the stage at ground level. Elliott Harris, the group’s electrician, was sitting in the dirt holding his left ankle. He looked up at Jillian and Gary and laughed. “That last step was a big one. I tried to land on my feet, but I guess it didn’t happen. Doc, it’s really hurting.” Jillian squatted down and examined his ankle. Swelling had already depleted any sock space he had. She knew right away that he’d probably broken his ankle, the only question being to what extent.

“I’ll tell him. Let us know how Elliott is.”

After Elliott was settled into an ER exam room, Jillian examined his ankle. She ordered a set of X-rays and she sat in the doctors’ lounge to wait until the films came back. Nurse Julie Wyscroft stuck her head in the doorway of the lounge. “Hey, Doc, I thought you’d be at your boyfriend’s concert?”

“One of his band members injured his ankle, so we’re here to check it out. I’m waiting on his films to come back.”

“I hate to do this, but we have an ortho case in Number 1. Would you mind taking a look, since you’re here and on call?” The nurse stood waiting for Jillian’s reply.

“Sure, since I’m here. What’ve we got?”

“A shoulder injury: 44-year-old baseball player.” The nurse handed her the chart.

Into his second song, RJ noticed that Jillie was no longer sitting on the stool. He looked at Emma, who smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

The country star finished the concert, giving the crowd its money’s worth. He held his meet and greet in front of the stage. Gary handed him a bottle of water. Mrs. Crawford was front and center, commanding the whole session. In a hurry to find Jillie, he wanted to rush out but was polite. He posed for pictures and signed autographs until most of the crowd left. RJ joined Gary and Emma, Lynda and Jack Morgan who stood off to the side of the stage watching the event.

“Gary, what happened to Jillie?”

“Remember the crash, just as you started the show?”

“Yep.”

“Well, Elliott fell off the back of the stage and hurt his ankle. It looked pretty bad. Jillie took him to the hospital. I thought they’d be back by now.”

“I’m still really dry. What else do we have to drink?”

“I’ve got plenty to drink. Come on over to my house, while we wait for Jillie.” Emma, the perfect hostess, opened her home to the group.

After everyone was served a drink, she and Gary started fixing pizzas. They were up to their arms in grating cheese, rolling dough, and deciding what toppings to use. As RJ approached the kitchen, he heard them laughing. He entered unnoticed and he stood in the doorway watching the two chefs. They were absolutely having fun together. Why did he feel so alone… so empty?

He walked across the alley and up the steps. He entered the quiet house. For a brief second he could smell Jillian’s perfume and said, “Why not?”

RJ walked the couple of blocks down to Surprise Street, turned the corner, and headed for the hospital. A sign posted on the hospital’s main entrance read: After hours, please enter through the Emergency Room. RJ thought to himself: It’s 10:30, must be after hours. He followed the arrows and entered through the double doors marked “Emergency.”

“May I help you?” the receptionist asked routinely, without looking up. As soon as she recognized who she was addressing, she stammered, “Mr. Montgomery, how may I help you? I can’t believe you’re in our ER.”

He made a point of reading her name tag and addressing her by name, “Good evening, Kathy. Is Dr. James still here? I’d like to see her.”

“Dr. James can’t come out to see…” The receptionist stopped in mid-sentence, realizing what she was saying and to whom. From behind her a couple of white-coated people walked over to a counter, discussing something on the screen before them. RJ saw that Jillian was one of the persons involved in the discussion. She wore an apron with a white substance on the front. She was removing a pair of surgical gloves that were also coated with the white substance. As she approached the desk, a nurse handed a stack of papers. She looked up and saw RJ, just as he said her name. Shocked to see him there, she smiled and said, “Hey, you. What’re you doing here?”

They walked through the reception area and into the main part of the ER. RJ stopped beside where Jillian and kissed her on her cheek. Jillian felt self-conscious in her territory with her colleagues watching. To ease the tension, she said, “Everyone meet Robert John Montgomery.” Her coworkers nodded and smiled, but no one approached them.

“He’s right over here.”

They entered a room marked, CAST ROOM, and RJ saw Elliott sitting on a bed with a white cast underneath the knee and continued down to where only tips of his toes were showing.

“Not quite dry enough for you to leave. We’re going to fit you with a pair of crutches. No weight-bearing for you for a couple of weeks. You’re going to have to take it easy for the next few weeks. Although the fracture was clean, it was in a delicate part of the ankle. So, if you don’t baby yourself now, you’ll probably have ankle problems later. Give yourself time enough to heal. Follow my instructions and you’ll do just fine.”

“Okay, Doc, I will. How long do I have to keep this on?”

“Probably about six to eight weeks. I want you to follow up with a specialist, when you get home. He can follow your recovery from there.”

“I’ll see he takes care of himself. You know El, you have quite bit of vacation time. Why don’t you take some and go home for a few weeks…just to take it easy.”

“You know, my family’s been saying they’ve forgotten what my mug looks like. Maybe I will. You know, RJ, you’ve got some kind lady here.” Elliott winked at Jillie.

“You don’t have to tell me that,” RJ said, putting his arm around Jillie’s shoulder. “How are you going to get back to the motorhome?”

“I called Charles to come down and pick me up. He should be here soon.”

“Here are your instructions and a prescription for some pain medication. Since our drugstore’s closed tonight, I’ve told hospital pharmacy to give you a couple of pain pills to get you through the night...one every four to six hours, depending on the pain. I don’t foresee any problems until you leave, but if you do please don’t hesitate to call.”

“Gotcha. And thank you.”

The party was still going on at Emma’s, when Jillie and RJ arrived back home. “Do you want to go over?” Jillie asked as she opened the back door.

“Nah, its 11:30 and I’m beat.”

“I’ll bet you are. Can I fix you anything? Are you hungry?” Jillian questioned.

“Ah, could be if I thought about it.”

“How about scrambled eggs and toast? Decaf coffee?”

“I was thinking about something a little stronger.”

“Sorry, I don’t have much of a choice. Check above the stove,” Jillian said as she washed her hands.

RJ rummaged through the cabinet and found a bottle of whiskey that contained about an inch of caramel colored liquid. He sloshed it around, opened the bottle, and poured some in a glass. He took a long, slow drink, swallowing slowly treasuring every drop. They sat at the small kitchen table, next to the window overlooking the alley. They saw the party break up around 11:45, Emma’s backporch light, and the downstairs lights darken. An upstairs light came on.

They continued to eat and make small conversation. Emma’s room darkened, and Jillian suddenly felt self-conscious. She started clearing away the empty plates.

To change the non-verbal subject, RJ said, “Hey, how about we go up to the lake and stay at my house?” He was jubilant with his idea.

“Now?”

“Sure, why not?”

“I’ll have to pack and you’ll have to repack.”

“Hey, I never unpacked. We’ll be up there by one, you’d better get packing.”

Jillian shrugged. She was tired and wanted only to go to bed. She realized that this was RJ’s prime time, but she was tired.

She packed and was ready to go in about 30 minutes. He’d already packed a few things into her car and was waiting. When she turned out the mudroom light and closed the back door, she was mumbling to herself, “I wanted to show him my home.” RJ was waving at her as she approached the car.

“Hey, Jillie are you ready for Tahoe?”

She shook her head and started to open the passenger side door. RJ hopped out of the driver side of the car and moved over to the passenger side. Jillian was rather confused.

“Darlin’, I thought I’d let you drive as I haven’t quite finished my drink.” He held up an newly filled glass of liquor, “Hope you don’t mind.”

“No, I’ll drive,” she said grouchily.

Chapter 24

They turned right off Highway 50 onto Tahoe Drive at about two a.m. Jillian pulled up to the security gate. The community’s security guard opened his guardhouse door and came over to the car door with a clipboard and a flashlight. He briefly shone the light into the car, recognizing one of its occupants.

“Good morning, Mr. Montgomery. Are you here only for the night?”

“Good morning. No, we’re going to be here for a couple of days.”

The guard handed Jillian a permit, then asked if they needed a gate opener. RJ told him that he had a gate opener down at the house. The guard nodded, backed up and opened the gate, “Have a nice next few days, Mr. Montgomery.”

“Thank you.”

Jillian started down Tahoe Drive towards the lake, and made the turn into RJ’s driveway. Looking around, RJ said, “Damn, think I need anymore lights on?” The outside of the house was lit up like a neon sign with small yard lights.

“I’m sure glad I don’t pay your electric bill. By the way, who pays all your bills? You certainly don’t sit down and write checks for utilities and such, do you?”

“No, I have a great couple of CPA’s in LA who take care of all that stuff and give me a quarterly statement. That reminds me, I should look at the last statement to see how much the electric bill is for this place.”

Jillian looked at the houses on each side of his and they both had their outside illuminated, but not nearly as much as RJ’s. He got out and punched in a code for the garage door. After the first door opened, Jillie parked the car in the center of the empty garage. When they entered the laundry room, RJ opened the security-light box and turned on several house lights. Jillian noticed that a washer and dryer had been added to the laundry room, since she’d last been here. RJ put down their bags and took Jillie’s hand, “Come on, I haven’t seen all the additions. I had a interior designer come in and totally furnish the place. Let’s go snoop.”

“Wow, what a magnificent change! It’s amazing what money can do.” Jillie laughed as she looked around the great room that now looked like one from a home designer’s magazine. She and RJ went from room to room, looking at the transformation from empty to complete. Each room was decorated in perfect colors, with perfect furniture and perfect accessories. The kitchen was a cook’s dream, with everything to be desired. Cabinets were stocked with spices and cooking supplies. The freezer in the pantry was completely stocked. Off to the side of the pantry was a shelf that contained almost every brand of liquor imaginable. RJ grabbed a bottle of whiskey, he found a glass, and poured some.