her sharply from under a dubiously arched eyebrow. “I would say that’s pushing it, Maddie.”
“I feel fine, and I have responsibilities.”
“We all do, but an accident such as yours really puts everything else on hold. Or, it should. You haven’t had a lot of visitors. Don’t you have family or friends living in the vicinity?”
“I’m from Montana, and my friends go where the rodeos take them. Doctor, I’ve been completely self-sufficient for years, and I’m perfectly capable of applying antibiotic creams or salves to my scrapes and bruises, and taking pills on a timed schedule. I can’t just lie here and wish for a miracle. I want to go home today. Right now, in fact, or as soon as I can be checked out. Please release me, Dr. Upton. Please.”
The doctor studied her chart. “Well, your vitals have been stable for more than twenty-four hours,” he murmured, and appeared to be thinking for several moments. Then his gaze lifted. “How would you get home? Is there someone you could call to come and pick you up? I don’t want you driving today, Maddie.”
Her pulse quickened because he hadn’t immediately refused her request. “I would call a taxi,” she said honestly. “I don’t have a vehicle here if I wanted to drive home, which I don’t.”
“Okay, tell you what. Let me see you get out of bed and walk around. I’ll release you today if I see that you are truly mobile.”
Maddie gulped, but she forced herself to sit up, shove her sheet aside and then cautiously slide off the bed to put her feet on the floor. There were hospital slippers down there somewhere, but she was afraid that if she bent over to look for them she might pass out. So she held the back of her gown shut with her left hand and took a barefoot stroll around the room, fighting nausea and dizziness every step of the way.
“Okay, you’ve convinced me,” Dr. Upton declared. “It will take about two hours to check you out. You’ll be taking prescriptions for antibiotics and painkillers with you. Get them filled right here in the hospital pharmacy or on your way home, whichever you prefer. I’d like to see you in my office in a week. Call for an appointment and tell the receptionist to fit you in. I’ll try to remember to tell her your name and to expect your call.”
“Thank you,” Maddie said with her very last ounce of strength. She was so glad that Dr. Upton left right away that she could have cheered. Instead, she stumbled to the bed and groaned under her breath while struggling to get herself back on it. Finally prone and covered with the sheet again, with her heart beating overly fast from the exertion, she shut her eyes and suffered in silence.
But the pain didn’t matter. She was going to be free to check on Fanny in a matter of hours. For that privilege she could stand anything.
Maddie had managed to relax some when a nurse came in and stated cheerfully, “So, you’re leaving us already.” The woman took Maddie’s wrist and checked her pulse.
“Yes, I’ll be leaving as soon as…” It hit her suddenly and hard enough to make her groan.
“You’re in pain again?” the nurse asked with a concerned expression.
“No, I just realized that I have nothing here…no money, no credit cards, not my insurance card. How can I check out without my insurance information?”
“Aren’t those things in your purse?”
“That’s exactly where they are, but my purse is in my trailer.” Maddie really did feel like bawling then. This brick wall she didn’t need!
“Maddie, your purse is in the closet with your clothes. Don’t you remember? A very nice young woman brought your purse…she said that you’d probably need it…and it was put with your other things.”
Maddie’s head swam in a concerted effort to figure out who the “nice young woman” was. For one thing, her purse was—or had been—in her locked trailer and she was the only one with a key. She took nothing with her to a contest, which was fairly common practice amongst rodeo contestants. Even loose change in a pocket could cause injury during a fall, so everyone pretty much did his or her thing with empty pockets.
Given the circumstances she could only conclude that what had been delivered by visitors she had absolutely no recollection of seeing was something other than her purse.
But she was curious about it, all the same. “Would you mind getting it for me?”
“Wouldn’t mind at all.” The nurse went to the closet and returned with…Maddie’s purse!
“How…who…for goodness sake,” she sputtered. “It is my purse, but how did someone go into my trailer to get it?”
“Wouldn’t know, honey. See you later.” The nurse departed.
Maddie opened her purse and saw, with relief, her wallet. She also saw a rosy pink piece of paper, which she knew for a fact hadn’t been in there the last time she’d looked. She took it out and unfolded it. It was a handwritten note and Maddie quickly read it.
Maddie,
I’m terribly sorry about your accident. Most of us in rodeo are not happy to win by default, which is what happened today. This is one trophy for which I feel no pride. At any rate, after they took you away in the ambulance I got to worrying about you being so alone in Austin. It also occurred to me that you didn’t have anything important with you, such as your wallet. So here it is.
I’m sure you’re wondering by now how I got into your trailer to get your purse. Don’t worry, I didn’t break in. It was only logical that you would have a door key hidden on or near the trailer, so I went hunting for it. Obviously I found it or you wouldn’t be reading this note but it took me a while.
I’m off to Abilene and then Laredo—you have the schedule—and since I feel certain that you’ll hit the circuit as soon as you’re able, we’ll be seeing each other again. I hope it will be very soon.
Janie Weston
Maddie almost couldn’t believe what she’d just read. It was so nice of Janie to go out of her way like this that Maddie was truly stunned. While she and Janie were friendly to each other, they’d never really been buddies. Frowning slightly, Maddie couldn’t elude the fact that she had very few close friends. In fact, she was hard-pressed to come up with even one. It was the lifestyle, the endless traveling, the moving on to one rodeo while a person who might have become a good friend went in another direction to the rodeo of her or his choice. For that same reason and the fact that followers of rodeo usually hung out in groups, it had been ages since Maddie had done more than drink a beer or have a dance with a man.
Sighing heavily, Maddie took out her wallet and flipped it open. The very first thing she saw was the snapshot of her brother. “Mark,” she whispered, and studied the handsome features of her older brother. With their parents gone, Mark was all she had. Oh, there were plenty of Kincaids living in the Whitehorn, Montana area, but none of them meant to her what Mark did.
Loneliness suddenly beset her. She needed to talk to Mark. Maybe she needed to hear him say something sympathetic, something kind and loving that would bring tears to her eyes and joy to her heart.
No, she didn’t want sympathy, not even from Mark. But she really would like to talk to him, and years ago he’d made her promise that if she was ever ill or injured she would let him know. He didn’t entirely approve
