Wings of Love (23 page)

“Adam you always think of everything,” she
hugged him as she handed him the empty plate.

“One more thing,” Adam said as he held up
some tickets.  “I know it won’t replace Tonya’s mother,
but maybe we could take her and her sister to the circus next week
to help cheer them up.”

“Oh Adam.”  Amy held him close
loving this man more with every day that passed.  “You
are the kindest, smartest, compassionate man I have ever
known.”

“There’s only one problem.”  Adam
held her away as he looked seriously into her
eyes.  “I’ll be right back.”

“What?”  Amy worried as she seen
him leave the room.

“I left the house yesterday and forgot about
the casserole you asked me to put in the oven after
work.”  He stood there like a child who gotten caught
snitching a cookie before dinner holding up the remnants of a burnt
pan. 

“You are the also funniest man I
know.”  Amy bounced off the bed and stumbled into his
arms.  “I love you, even if you burnt dinner.”

“I promise I’ll leave the cooking to you from
now on.”  Adam was pleased to see that he had succeeded
in putting a smile back on her face.  

“Let’s see if we can cook something up right
now,” Amy tossed the pan aside pushing him onto the
bed.  She crawled in next to him forgetting about all of
yesterdays’ problems.

***

Amy was down the road from Shoemakers farm
helping in the kitchen with many of the other neighborhood
women.  They prepared a meal for all the men who
volunteered to put a new roof on Cal and Dorothy’s farmhouse which
had been torn off by the tornado.  The weather had
cooperated so it looked like they would get the job finished
today.

Amy added the homemade dressing to the giant
bowl of garden salad and tossed it.  She looked up when
she heard the gravel crunching in the driveway to see a convoy of
pickup trucks pull up next to the barn. Her heart melted when
she saw Adam walking to the barn with his dad and all the other men
that helped out today.  They took a seat at one of the
many picnic tables that were brought over earlier today. 

“Hi babe.”  Adam came up behind her
as she was stirring the roaster of Swedish meatballs her and Angie
had made last night.  “Could you put some over my
noodles?”

“Here you go,” she filled his plate with a
half dozen meatballs and sauce.  “Are we still going to
your folks after this?”

“Yeah, dad is persistent about getting that
field plowed and disked today.”  Adam took a spoonful of
mostaccioli as Amy followed behind him with her
plate.  “I think we can get it done before sundown but
we’ll have to leave as soon as we finish eating.”

“Okay, it looks like he is a little
tired.  I could help drive one of the tractors if you
want.”  Amy noticed his dad stumbled a little when he got
up from the picnic table. 

“Thanks for the offer babe, but he won’t even
let my mom help him.  He is too proud.”  Adam
sat down with Amy at the table he’d originally been
at.  “He was complaining he had a headache
earlier.  That is unlike dad to admit he is not feeling
well.”

When Amy and Adam finished dinner they left
with his father as well as a lot of the other
farmers.  Daylight was burning and their fields had to be
tended to since they had good weather today and the threat of more
rain was in the forecast for tomorrow.

Amy was sitting on the front porch with
Laurel cleaning peas when she saw Adam coming down the road at the
fastest speed the tractor would allow.  He was holding
his father in his lap with one arm and driving with the
other.  The bowl of peas spilled on the ground as Amy and
Laurel dropped what they were doing and ran towards the
tractor.

“Laurel, go get mom.”  Adam managed
to hold onto his father as he climbed down off the
tractor.  He ran with him cradled in his arms toward the
family car.  “Amy, open the door.”

Amy could see his father’s right side of his
mouth was drooping a bit when Adam laid him down in the back
seat.  Amy crawled in the back trying to comfort him by
holding his hand and talking softly.  She felt that his
right hand was cool.  “We’re going to get you to a
hospital.  Everything is going be fine.”  He
tried to speak to her but Amy couldn’t make out what he was trying
to say.

Adam backed the car up stopping briefly for
his mother to get into the front seat. 

“We’ll call you,” Adam shouted out the window
to Laurel as he took off out of the driveway and floored it down
the road to the main highway.  “”I’ll get him there as
fast as I can mom.”

Adam’s mom sat in the front seat with her
rosary in her hand silently praying the whole way to the
hospital.  Amy held his father’s hand trying to remain
calm so he would be at ease.  She felt as he squeezed her
hand noticing the look of fear in his eyes which was something Amy
had never seen there before.  “We’re almost there,” Amy
said soothing even though she felt nauseous.

Adam pulled into the emergency entrance of
Bad Axe General Hospital.  He ran in as the doors slid
open and came back out quickly with medical
assistance.  Amy stood with Adam in the background and
watched as they placed his father on the hospital gurney rolling
him into the emergency room with his mother following closely
behind him. 

“Oh my god,” Amy said as she rushed to the
garbage can sitting next to a bench. 

“Babe, are you okay?”  Adam held
her hair back for her as she lost all her dinner. 

“I’m fine now.”  Amy reassured
him.  “I think I just was upset and it was warm in the
back seat.”

“I’ll get you some water.”  He held
her hand and ran inside with her.  “Come on babe.”

Adam walked with Amy to the desk at the
entrance of the emergency room area.  “Excuse
me.  My wife had a queasy stomach, could we please have a
glass of water?”

The lady at the desk smiled as she got up and
walked into the back room.  “Here honey. I hope you feel
better.”  She handed her a small can of ginger ale and a
couple packages of crackers.”

“Could I go back and see my father
now?”  Adam pleaded.  “Mr. Alex LaPointe.”

“Did he just come in?”  She asked
politely.

“Yeah, I brought him here less than five
minutes ago.”

“Follow me.”  She walked from
behind the desk and led them to where Mr. LaPointe had been taken
and his mother stood beside him listening to the doctor’s
prognosis.

“This is my son and his
wife.”  Mrs. LaPointe explained to the doctor.

“I was just telling your mother,” continued
the doctor.  “We’ve given him an intravenous for fluids
because he was dehydrated.  He also will be on oxygen to
be sure that his brain is getting the maximal amount.”

“What’s wrong with him?”  Adam
tensed as he asked the question of most importance.

“It appears your father has had a
stroke.  It’s a good thing you got him here when you
did.  Time was of the most important factor.”

“What can we do for him
now?”  Adam’s jaw clenched as he waited for the answer to
his father’s fate.

“We are going to admit him to the hospital
for monitoring and further testing to figure out the cause of the
stroke and ways to prevent further strokes.”

“Thank -you doctor.”  Adam shook
his hand before he left the room.  “You hear that
dad?  You’re going to be just fine.”

Amy walked over next to Adam and caressed his
back softly.  She could see he was doing his best to be
the strongest man possible at this very moment for all of
them.  Knowing Adam as well as she did, Amy was certain
this was tearing him up inside.  She was determined to be
his rock should he need her strength if he faltered.

Chapter 18

Amy stared out the window as they drove to
pick up the girls for the circus this afternoon.  Her
thoughts lingered over the past week and the many different
occurrences that changed their lives.  Adam’s father was
now home from the hospital with a long road of recovery ahead of
him.  The stroke paralyzed the right side of his body
leaving him unable to do even the simplest of tasks.  The
adjustment had taken its toll on the whole family, especially Adam
who stepped up to take over the chores of the farm.  A
thought dawned on Amy as she processed all the changes in the last
six months. 

“You made the right choice
Adam.”  Amy shared her revelation with him.  “I
wasn’t certain at the time, but I am now.”

“What choice?”  Adam looked at her
puzzled. 

“The day you made the decision to give up
your dreams of playing pro hockey to come back home.”

“I know I made the right choice
babe.  And I didn’t give up my dreams, I have
you.”  Adam spoke honestly.  “I assumed you
felt the same way.”

“Oh, I do Adam.  What I meant is,
if you wouldn’t have been here,” she paused. “You’re father might
not be with us today.”

“Wow.”  Adam stared ahead at the
road as the realization sunk in.  “I never thought about
it like that.”

“You’ve been so busy you don’t even have time
to think.”  Amy patted his leg.  “You are a
good man Adam.”

“You know what they say,” Adam smiled at
her.  “Behind every good man is a great woman.”

“I’m not great.  I am just a woman
in love.”  Amy lightly punched Adam on the
arm.  “Could we stop at the drugstore before we pick up
the girls?”  Amy asked as they turned into
town.  “I need to pick up some shampoo.  I ran
out this morning.”

“Sure, I’ll just pull up front and you can
run in.”  Adam signaled before he took a spot. 

“Do you need anything?”  Amy asked
before shutting the door.

“No thanks babe.”  Adam smiled as
he watched her walk away.

“Who is brave enough to go on the elephant
ride with me?”  Adam made a trunk with his arm in front
of his nose and a sound like a trumpet.

“I am!”  Tanisha and Tonya jumped
up and down clapping their hands together.

Amy was overjoyed to see the idea to cheer up
the girls was working as he planned.  They squealed with
delight as Adam lifted them upon the elephant.  Before
Jumbo sauntered away she snapped a photo of the three smiling
faces.

“I’m can’t wait to see the
circus.”  Tonya ran over to where Amy waited with some
cotton candy and an elephant snow cone mug for each girl.

“We better get to our seats,” Amy heard the
music begin as Adam and Tanisha joined them.

Amy enjoyed watching Tonya and Tanisha’s
faces as the clowns came out to perform their antics for the
crowd.  She could see the laughter reach their eyes as a
clown ran up to them and threw a bucket of confetti on
them. 

“I thought we were going to get
wet!”  Adam laughed with the girls as he winked at
Amy.

“When I grow up I want to be a clown,” nodded
Tanisha taking a handful of cotton candy.

“When I was a little girl I dreamed of being
the lady flying through the air,” Amy said in awe as the trapeze
artist in her sparkling scanty costume did a double
somersault.  “Isn’t that awesome?”

“Did you dream of that often?” Adam whispered
in her ear playfully.  “I’m all up for role playing.”

“Adam LaPointe,” Amy slipped her arm through
his, laughing at his suggestion.  “I just might take you
up on that.”

The girls sat wide eyed as the performers
which included unicycles, jugglers, plate spinners and tightrope
walkers kept their undivided attention focused at the center
ring. 

The act they loved the most was the trained
circus dogs.  Tanisha crawled up on Adam’s lap to watch
in wonder.  She clapped for the conga line of poodles
walking on hind legs with their forepaws on the back of one
another.

“I wish my dog could do that,” Tonya watched
as a little dog did back flips and jumped on his hind
legs.  The act finished with a larger poodle jumping
threw a hoop.

“I did teach my dog a trick once.” Adam told
the girls as he handed them some popcorn.  “I would point
at a tree and do you know what I taught him to say?”

The girls shook their head at him waiting to
hear what fabulous word Adam had taught his dog.

“Bark!  Bark!”  Adam’s
eyes sparkled at the girls as they giggled hysterically at his
joke.

Amy caught herself laughing, not so much at
the joke, but that Adam seemed to be having just as much fun as the
girls.  By the end of the night he made two new best
friends.  The four of them applauded all the acts as they
paraded around the ring at the end of the show.  When the
lights came back on in the arena, Adam stood up stretching while
Amy helped the girls with their jackets.  She gathered
all trappings of the evening in her arms signaling it was time to
leave.

“Can you pick me up?”  Tanisha
tugged on Adam’s sweatshirt looking up at him with her sleepy
eyes.

“Sure,” Adam lifted her up and balanced her
on his hip.  She rested her head on his shoulder and her
tiny arm wrapped around his neck. 

Tonya reached for his other
hand.  “My granny says I should always hold someone’s
hand in a crowd.”

By the time they made it to the parking lot,
Tanisha was sound asleep in his arms.  Amy watched as
Adam placed her in the back seat of the truck, slipping his hooded
sweatshirt off to cover her up.  Tonya crawled in next to
her sister humming on her plastic kazoo the tune, Mary Had a Little
Lamb. 

Amy scooted over next to Adam and leaned on
his shoulder as they crawled at a snail’s pace through
traffic.  Before they even left the parking lot Amy
turned around to see why Tonya had stopped midway through Baa Baa
Black Sheep.  The kazoo lay next to her little hand, her
head tilted upward and her mouth open as she bobbed with the
movement of the truck, counting sheep of her own.

“Amy, are you okay?”  Adam knocked
on the bathroom door.  “I’m going to bed babe.”