Nellie sat on the opposite side, in one of those unforgiving plastic chairs you see in hospitals and medical offices. “Jordan, you have lost your damn mind. Somebody just tried to blow Mary into a million pieces. This is not our lucky day.”
“But that’s my point,” Jordan said. “Mary was targeted, but she’s alive. Not even hurt too badly.”
I wouldn’t go that far.
Yes, I was alive. And that was purely a result of luck. I was supposed to trip the wire when I walked up to enter the house. The trip wire had surrounded the house on all four sides, so it wouldn’t matter whether I came up to the front porch or went in the side entrance, by the carport.
But despite Jordan’s rosy diagnosis, I was hurting. Physically, my back was killing me; my head felt like I’d been bashed with a baseball bat; my tailbone was so sore, I couldn’t sit upright. These were just the primary complaints.
And my mental health? Oh, Lord. No blessings to count on that score.
Jordan squeezed my hand too tightly for comfort. I made a face as I disengaged her fingers.
“Oh! Sorry about that, Mary.” She looked so crestfallen, I thought I should have borne the pain. Then she tugged my hospital gown into place; it had fallen down on one side, exposing more of me than she was comfortable with.
“And the barn was spared. The fire department couldn’t save the house. We’re all sad about that. But the barn’s still standing. Your horse is just fine, the animals are all right.”
“Jordan’s got a point,” Nellie said. “Tornado was shut inside the barn. If that horse had died, you would’ve had a hard time with that.”
I didn’t say it out loud, but I was having a hard time. Yes, I was thankful that my horse had survived. But in the aftermath of the explosion and fire, I felt despair raining down on me. Crushing me under its weight. A black hole was pulling me into the abyss, the gravity flinging me into an emotional nether land.
There was a heavy tread of boots coming down the tiled hallway outside the door. Mick Owens walked into the room without knocking first.
“How you feeling, Mary?”
I glared at him, thinking it was a good thing my little sister had covered me up. “It’s a funny thing about hospitals. You forfeit your right to privacy when you check in.”
He ignored the set-down. “Nellie, how’s she doing?”
“Hard to say.” Nellie gave me a once-over. Her eyes were troubled. “I think they ought to give her something. She got blown across the side yard. I know she’s hurting. But she won’t accept it. Keeps telling the nurse her pain is at the zero to one level. Now, that’s a damn lie.”
Mick walked over to the bed and stared down at me, frowning. “How bad is it, Mary?”
I wasn’t going to detail my pain for him. He wasn’t a doctor.
When I didn’t answer, Jordan piped up. “Mary is so strong!”
“No pain meds. I’m keeping my head clear,” I said, biting off the words. Because it took an effort to speak. “I want to know what y’all are finding out there on my property.”
“We’re still investigating the scene,” he said. “No conclusions yet.”
“But what did you see? Did I tell you about the guardsmen, what they told me today?”
I couldn’t remember whether I’d passed the information on to Mick. Everything that had occurred over the past hours was patchy. My sharpest recall involved impressions: the smell of smoke, heat of the fire on my face, sound of sirens, flashing red and blue lights. My horse screaming in the barn.
I closed my eyes, trying to block it out. Someone started patting my hand. Not Jordan this time. It was the sheriff.
“You ought to let the nurse give you an injection, or a pill. Or are you staying awake because of a concussion?”
I couldn’t even remember. “What about the boy from the courtroom? The one Nova pointed out.”
“His name is Elgin Frane. Seventeen-year-old dropout from Russell County. Bad seed. Already has a record.”
“What about his pal? The other attacker?”
“Elgin hasn’t given him up yet,” said Mick, “but he will. When we have ’em both, we’ll see which one cracks first.”
“If they’re sixteen or older, they can be tried as adults, if juvenile court certifies them. Forcible rape is a Class A felony.”
