Wings of Love (7 page)

Adam headed out of town towards the open
farmland.  He stopped at the flashing yellow light by
Frank’s Corner Market.  When traffic cleared he made a
left hand turn heading east towards his family’s farm. When he
approached the first dirt road he made a right hand turn. 

Adam drove over an old wooden bridge which
covered the Cass River.  “This is where I used to fish
all the time.”  He shared the memories of his childhood
with Amy.  He pointed down a muddy lane that led into a
field that was now covered with snow.  “And over there is
where I took the cows out to pasture every morning and walked them
home every night.”

As Adam pulled into the dirt driveway a
couple dogs approached barking at the truck.  Once the
dogs recognized Adam their tails wagged happily to greet
him.  He pulled behind the house and parked his
truck. 

“Hold up babe.”  Adam came around
to the passenger side and handed her the pie.  He carried
Amy to the back door and set her down on the cement
step.  “You look so beautiful I didn’t want you to get
all muddy.”

“Thank you.”  Amy blushed that he
had noticed.  “I wanted to look extra special today for
you and your family.”

“You always look extra
special.”  Adam told her honestly. 

Adam took Amy by the arm through the wooden
screen door and entered the mudroom. The door slapped loudly
against the frame as they entered a second door that led them to
the kitchen.  The room was filled with a mixture of
fragrances.  The chicken and pumpkin pies were the most
noticeable of the aromas.

“Hi mom,” Adam said to a gray haired, short
woman who stood in front of  the open oven door as she
checked on the biscuits.  When she stood up he placed a
kiss on her cheek.

“Hello Adam.  It is good to see
you,” she placed her hands on her hips.  “Amy Makowski it
is certainly good to see you again!”  Mrs. LaPointe gave
her a hug.

“Thank you,” Amy smiled warmly at
her.  “It was nice of you to invite us over.”

Adam was pleased noticing that Amy had said
us instead of me.  It felt good to have someone in his
life to share it with.  He stood by admiring Amy as she
listened to his mom explaining how she made her fried
chicken. 

“Mom, how long until dinner?”  Adam
asked taking a key off the hook by the phone. He decided to put on
his Carhartt coveralls and boots while he waited for her to
answer.

“Oh I’d say about twenty minutes,” she
replied adding some more wood to the stove.  “I have
everything done so you kids just go on and enjoy yourselves.”

“We’ll be back by then.”  Adam
handed a snowmobile suit and boots to Amy that he found in the
mudroom.  “Here put these on.” 

“What do you have up your sleeve now, Adam
LaPointe?”  Amy questioned him with a puzzled look on her
face.

“I have something I want to show
you.”  He looked at her standing there in her oversized
attire.  “You’re really turning me on now,” he whispered
into her ear with a smirk on his face.

“I bet.”  Amy slapped him on the
arm as she rolled her eyes.

Adam grabbed her hand leading her back
outside to the tool shed.  He jumped onto a snowmobile,
started it up then handed Amy a helmet.  “Hop on,” he
shouted over the engine.  She got on behind him and
reached around his waist to hold on tight.  He drove out
of the tool shed, past the large gray barn and down the lane.

Adam followed the paths that wove around
acres of land owned by his family for generations.  He
continued over the fields then through a thick forest of black
walnut trees that had lost all their leaves for winter. Adam
took a path on the left that you would have missed if you didn’t
know it was there.  He speed up a steep hill then stopped
where the path appeared to end.

Adam got off the snowmobile and helped Amy
down.  He took her by the hand and walked between two
large pine trees.  They entered a clearing that was
surrounded by more pine trees dusted with snow.  In the
center was the tallest pine tree of all.

“My great, great grandfather planted this
when he first came here.”  Adam touched the trunk of the
tree proudly.

“It’s magnificent Adam.”  Amy said
as the beauty of it all took her breath away.  “It feels
so surreal.”

“I wanted to share it with
you.”  Adam took a pocketknife out of his
coveralls.  “This has always been my secret
place.” 

Adam carved the initials A. L. + A.M. into
the fifty foot pine tree.  “You’ve found a special place
in my heart Amy Makowski.”  He took her in his arms and
kissed her. “I hope I’ve found a place in yours.”  He
lifted her up and placed her on the snowmobile.  “We
better get back.”  As Amy held him close he could feel
the warmth of her breath on his neck
.  Even in a
snowmobile suit on the coldest day of the year this
woman could make me hot with desire
.

Adam took Amy back to the house and parked
the snowmobile in the tool shed.  They took off their
winter gear and went back into the warm kitchen where the family
had gathered around the table.

“Just in time,” Mr. LaPointe greeted
them.  “Evening Adam and Amy.”

Adam held the chair for her then sat down
between his father and Amy.  He introduced her to his two
sisters.  Michelle was four years younger than Adam and
in her senior year of high school.  She had long, black
hair and gray eyes just like her father and him.  His
other sister, Laurel, was a freshman in high school.  She
had short, brown hair and brown eyes resembling her mother.

Adam passed the potatoes to
Amy.  “My mom makes the best mashed potatoes and they’re
all from her garden too.”  He plopped a spoonful onto
both of their plates then passed it to his father.  His
father swapped him for the chicken.

“Here is the award winning fried chicken I
told you about.”  Adam reminded her as he gave her a
drumstick and placed a couple of pieces on his plate.

“The whole meal is delicious,” said Amy as
she took another helping of sweet potatoes and a biscuit.

“My mom is the best cook I know,” Adam
bragged then realized his error.  “And Amy is an
excellent cook too.”

Amy and Mrs. LaPointe looked at each other
and laughed.

“Good recovery son,” Mr. LaPointe
chuckled.  “Now let’s have some pie.”

The family sat around the table as they ate
dessert.  They discussed everything from last year’s crop
prices to prom dresses.  Adam sat with his father in the
living room while they drank a cup of coffee.  He could
see Amy in the kitchen from where he sat.  She chatted
with the girls as they cleaned up the kitchen and placed all the
leftovers in containers. 

“I’m glad you brought Amy
over.”  Mr. LaPointe winked at his son.  “Bout
time you found yourself a nice girl.”

“She is something, isn’t
she?”  Adam said proudly.  “I think she is a
keeper.” 

Amy came over and sat next to his father on
the plaid couch.  As she carried a conversation with his
father, Adam’s thoughts wandered off.  He had enjoyed her
spending the afternoon with him and his family.  It had
gone even better than he’d anticipated.  If these past
couple months were a glimpse of things to come he could see himself
with her for awhile, maybe longer.

Chapter 7

 Adam looked up in the crowd noticing
Amy with her bright red, Motor City Blades hat and a smile that
shined down on him.  She came to almost every game and
was his biggest fan.  Her devotion had given him the
confidence he much needed.  Adam paid his dues, which in
turn made him a more aggressive player and his speed picked up to
NHL level.

Adam’s team was down by two
goals.  He was passed the puck and pushed himself to get
it back to his right winger.  The opposing player
crosschecked Adam from behind.  He crashed into the
boards and came to an abrupt halt.  He heard a pop and
felt an agonizing pain shoot through his leg.  The
referee signaled a time out and the coach came out onto the
ice.

Adam was carried off the ice by his teammates
as they waited for an ambulance to arrive.  He could see
Amy’s face as she darted through the crowd of people surrounding
him.  He felt her as she grasped his hand between both of
hers.  

“Hi babe,” he looked up at her as his face
wretched with pain. 

“I’m here Adam.”  Amy said as she
walked alongside the stretcher that the paramedics placed him
on.  Adam passed out as they drove him to the
hospital.

When Adam woke up he was in the emergency
room and the first thing he saw was Amy’s face.  He
looked around and noticed there was a curtain pulled around
them.  “Hi babe,” he barely whispered.

“Hi honey,” Amy rose from the chair and
rushed to his side.  “I’m relieved you are
awake.  The doctor said you had a mild concussion.”

Adam lifted his hand and touched his
chin.  “What’s with the bandage?”

“When you fell you laid your chin
open.  They sutured you up, twenty-one stitches in all,”
She explained to Adam.

“How ironic,” Adam said as he noticed the
pain in his knee again. 

The curtain moved as a doctor came in and
approached him.  “I’m Dr. Perry,” he said as he shook
Adam’s hand.  “It looks like you damaged your medial
collateral ligament in your right knee.  Many of these
injuries require no treatment other than rest and possibly physical
therapy, but some injuries require surgery.”

“Surgery?”  Adam looked
shocked.  “Will I be able to play hockey?”

“Have you ever had an injury like this
before?”  The doctor shifted his weight as he wrote on
his clipboard.

“No, this is the first time,” answered
Adam.

“That’s good news.  You more than
likely will be able to play again.  But if you should
have a recurring injury you may have to quit.”  Dr. Perry
continued, “Although before we can reach a final decision I’m going
to have some x-rays taken to see the extent of the damage.”

“What can you do for him now Dr.
Perry?”  Amy showed concern in her eyes.  “He
still seems to be in a lot of pain.”

“I have prescribed him a painkiller and also
a muscle relaxant.  I advise that he stay off of the
injury at this point.”  The doctor looked at her with
compassion.  “I have him scheduled for an x-ray
now.  It will establish an accurate diagnosis of the
extent of the damage.  We will have a room ready for him
soon, so get plenty of bed rest.”  Dr. Perry placed the
clipboard on the back of his bed then left the room.

“What am I going to do if this has wrecked my
chances to play pro-hockey?”  Adam searched Amy eyes for
an answer.

“First of all we are not going to worry about
something that hasn’t even happened yet.”  Amy comforted
him as she squeezed his hand.  “The only thing I can
promise you is that we will get through this one way or
another.”

We….he liked the sound of
that
.  Adam picked up her hand and kissed it.

A short stout nurse came in and wheeled Adam
out to get his x-ray.  As Adam left the room he looked at
Amy.  “Could you give my mom and dad a call to let them
know what happened?”  Before he even heard her reply he
disappeared down the hallway.

***

Amy headed downstairs to locate a pay
phone.  She noticed there was one in the gift
shop.  She deposited two quarters and dialed Adam’s
folks’ home phone number.  She watched as people hurried
in and out of the gift shop with their purchases of flowers and
cards.  The telephone rang at least a half a dozen
times.

“Hello?”  His father’s voice could
be heard on the other end.

“Hi, Mr. LaPointe.  This is Amy,”
she said remaining calm.  “Adam asked me to call
you.  He has injured his knee and he is at the
hospital.”

“What hospital are you at?”  Mr.
LaPointe asked as he tried to relay to his wife what had
happened.

“Bad Axe General.”  Amy rubbed her
forehead with her hand as she felt the tension of a
headache.  “He had to go down to the lab for x-rays.”

“Okay Amy.”  Mr. LaPointe paused as
Amy heard Mrs. LaPointe in the background.  “Is there
anything we should bring?”  His father relayed the
message.

“Not that I can think of at the
moment.”  Amy replied truthfully.  “He’d just
be comforted to know you are here.”

Amy hung up the phone and collected her
change from the slot.  She turned around and spotted a
stuffed lion that held a heart between his paws.  Upon
the heart read the words “I love you and I’m not
lion.”  She smiled as she picked it up along with a
Sports Illustrated magazine and walked to the cash
register.  She looked up to pay the cashier and noticed
it was the waitress from Denny’s.

“Hi Crystal,” Amy smiled as she handed her
the money.  She took her change and gift bag then
proceeded back to the emergency room.  She sat waiting
for Adam to return as she thumbed through the magazine
absentmindedly.  Amy looked up relieved as the nurse
brought him back to the room. 

Adam grinned when he saw Amy as she walked
over to his bedside.  She leaned over and gave him a kiss
on the cheek tossing the magazine on the nightstand.  “I
called your parents and they’re on their way. How are you
doing?”  She softly caressed his arm. 

“I’m fine babe.”  Adam said
sleepily.  “You’re the best.”

Amy pulled up a chair and watched Adam as he
slept.  She noticed the movement of his chest rise and
fall as he breathed.  She studied the contrast of his
dark thick eyelashes and his curly black hair as it rested against
the whiteness of the pillow.  She drank in the image of
his square jaw line which was now hidden by the bandage on his
chin.  Amy leaned over and kissed the scar on his right
cheek as she touched the other one on his forehead.  His
lips turned slightly in a smile as he continued to sleep.