Chapter 3
Lying in a hospital bed for almost two hours gave a person a lot of time to examine one’s surroundings, Daisy decided.
The hospital walls had been painted what she supposed was a soothing apricot. There was a rather large window in the room, too. The midday sun was shining through the pane, making the orange walls shine brighter.
In the corner of the room was a chair that could be reclined, if one pushed hard enough on the back of it.
It was a muted green. Beside her bed was a pale yellow plastic chair, which completed the majority of the room’s décor.
Altogether, Daisy thought it looked like she’d been deposited into the middle of a bowl of rainbow sherbet.
Most people would probably think there were far worse-looking rooms in which one could recover from an accident.
Unfortunately, Daisy didn’t seem to be one of them. Maybe it was her recent trauma, but all she could think about was that this place was yet another place where she didn’t want to be.
She’d really believed that she would be much further along in life when she’d reached twenty-four years of age.
Feeling depressed all over again, she closed her eyes. If she slept, she wouldn’t have to stare at the walls. Or, most important, continually remember how it had felt to get tossed off her bicycle and into a ditch.
Barely a minute later, the sound of footsteps ruined her escape. She opened her eyes. Expecting to see Jamie, her nurse.
Instead it was her eldest brother, Lukas.
“Hey, little shveshtah. How’re you doing?” Lukas asked as he plopped down on the lemon-yellow chair at her bedside.
“I’m fine. I decided to take the day off from work and relax in an air-conditioned room for a spell,” Daisy joked.
“This fancy bed is a bonus.” Picking up the remote, she added, “I discovered that if I push the arrow buttons on both the top and bottom sections, it will practically make me into a sandwich.”
He didn’t smile. Instead, his gaze remained worried.
She reckoned Lukas had reason.
Looking down at herself in the hospital bed, she winced.
Her “little” bike accident had caused a lot of pain and discomfort.
She had a minor concussion, two bruised ribs, and a broken leg, which was the main reason she was still stuck in her hospital bed.
An orthopedic surgeon was supposed to stop by after he had time to examine the CT scan results on her leg.
There was a chance that she could have also torn a ligament and might even get to have surgery, too. “How are Mamm and Daed?”
“Oh, you know. They are currently outside in the waiting room chatting with two other families.” The dimple in his cheek popped. “I’m pretty sure Mamm decided that she needed to counsel a family whose ninety-year-old grandmother was in poor shape.”
“That sounds like Mamm.” Her mother was a born caretaker. She excelled at helping people in need—whether they wanted her help or advice or not.
Luckily, their mother was also blessed with a pleasing disposition. Everyone in their church district knew that her offers to help were always given with the best of intentions.
“Between you and me, I think she scared the nurses a little bit,” he added. “One of them suggested that we all don’t come in here at once.”
“Oh no.”
“I told everyone that I thought it was a good idea.” His expression still gentle, he added, “That way I was able to see you first.”
Lukas was the quietest of them all, which everyone in her family considered to be a blessing. He was a farmer, handsome, steady, and stalwart. Each of them depended on him in one way or another.
“I’m grateful for that. Thanks for coming.”
“Of course I was going to be here.” He unfolded his legs out in front of her. They stretched out far enough for him to put the toe of his boot on one of the bottom rungs of her bed.
All in all, he looked much like he did at home, when he was lounging on their farmhouse’s famously large front porch.
“Ben was here, too, but he had to go into work. He said to tell you that he loves you.” Grinning, he added, “Also, you aren’t to worry about your chores tonight. He’d take care of them.”
That was Ben. Emotional, always sweet to her, and always afraid to let anything in his type A personality falter. He also loved to tease her. “Gee. Thanks. I was just wondering how I was going to be able to clean the stalls tonight.”
Lukas chuckled. “He was just teasing ya. Besides, we both know that it’s gonna be me who will be picking up the slack around the farm. Ben don’t do squat.”
“True. At least he’s doing well at the factory.”
He grunted. “He is at that.”
Thinking about their Englischer brother, Ben, being so good at working at the factory but forever trying to get out of farmwork, she thought of Melissa. “I guess I should call my boss. Melissa’s probably wondering what’s going on with me.”
Lukas shifted. “Um, about that.”
“What about it?”
“I went ahead and called Walden Bulk Foods for ya.”
“Did anyone answer the phone?”
“Jah. Someone did. After I told them who I was and that you had an accident, the man who answered put me right through to Melissa.”
Noticing that Lukas was looking even more uncomfortable, Daisy decided to make his life easier. “Let me guess how she reacted. She wasn’t happy when you told her that I was probably not going to be able to work for two days.”
Lukas shifted again. Now he was sitting up straight and facing her directly.
His expression was as solemn as she’d ever seen it.
“Daisy, you and I both know that you’re gonna have to stay off your feet for a lot longer than two days.
Especially if your leg is broken. Especially if you have to have surgery. ”
“I doubt I’ll get surgery. That’s only going to happen if the doctors think the break is real bad or a tendon is torn.” She hoped she sounded more hopeful than she was. The truth was that her leg hurt very bad. It was in a temporary plastic brace and seemed to be doubling in size every hour.
She hadn’t been able to put any weight on it at all. The nurse had to help her walk to the bathroom.
“Even if it’s just a sprain, it’s a bad one. You’re going to have to take it easy.”
“I suppose.” She took a breath. “Come on, bruder. Tell me what Melissa said.”
Lukas sighed. “There ain’t no good way to tell you about this, Daisy.”
“Just spit it out.”
“All right. It’s like this. Melissa don’t want you working there anymore.”
“What? She fired me because I had an accident when I was on my way to work?” Daisy was stunned, and she’d been pretty sure that she could no longer be shocked by anything Melissa did.
Looking like he’d just bit into a sour lemon, Lukas nodded slowly. “I questioned that, too. At first she hemmed and hawed, saying about how business was a little slow right now.”
“She was lying. It’s been busier than ever.”
“Jah, I kind of told her that you’d said that.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “She didn’t care for me correcting her. I’m sorry to say that the conversation quickly went south after that.”
“I’m not surprised.” Melissa didn’t like to be contradicted.
“Yeah. Well, the gist of it is that if you canna work, she’s going to find someone who can.”
“Great.” Tears pricked her eyes.
“Oh, come now. I am sorry I didn’t handle the call better, but the job wasn’t worth it.”
“Lukas, you can say that because you don’t have to work for anyone else.”
“True, but you canna be upset about losing this job. You hated it. Please don’t cry.”
“I can’t help it. It’s not just the job that I lost. It’s everything.”
“Everything?”
It wasn’t fair, but she hated that he couldn’t read her mind.
“It’s that the Millers bought my farm. It’s that I spent all that money on that stupid bike, and all it got me was a hospital visit, a lost job, and probably a bunch of hospital bills.
” Meeting his gaze, she finished her sad little sob story. “All of my dreams are gone, Lukas.”
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s true.” She swiped her cheek with the side of her hand. “And, jah. I know I shouldn’t be so negative, but it feels like I don’t have much to be happy about right now.”
Lukas reached for her hand again. “Listen, all that’s happening is you’re in a slump. We’ve all been in them. I sure have.”
“Not like this.”
“Don’t you remember how disappointed I was when Elizabeth moved away? She’d been my girl since I was fifteen.”
“I remember.” They’d all thought Lukas and Elizabeth went together like peas and carrots. She was sweet and calm. In some ways she’d been the feminine version of Lukas.
Lukas had been upset about their breakup, though he could have married her, moved, and worked on her family’s farm with her father and brothers. If he had wanted that. He hadn’t.
Of course, Daisy also remembered that he’d only been sad for a couple of months. Mamm had whispered to her that was a sure sign that Elizabeth hadn’t been the one the Lord had intended for Lukas.
“You know what?” he asked as he stood up. “I’m going to tell Mamm and Daed that you’re awake. They’re going to want to see you.”
“All right. Thanks. And Lukas?”
He paused at the door. “Jah?”
“Thanks for being here. And for calling Melissa for me.”
“I’m glad I was the one to speak to her instead of you. She was rude. And as far as visiting you here? Don’t ever thank me for that. You’re my little sister. Of course I’m always going to do my best to help you, no matter what.”
“I love you.”
“I love you back.” His expression softened before his usual gruff mask appeared again. “Now … you go take a sip of water or something, because our parents are going to come in here hot.”
She laughed at his phrase and when he was out of sight, she carefully picked up her cup and sipped a good amount of ice-cold water.
When she heard footsteps approaching, she reached for the remote control switch the nurse had shown her how to use. Figuring facing both of her parents’ questions while sitting up would make answering them a little easier, she tapped the top button a couple of times.
Her body protested the new position but settled in.
“Here she is!” her father boomed. “Daisy, darling, are you decent?” he called out.
She groaned. No doubt every other patient in the hall heard him. “Jah, Daed.”
No sooner had she answered when her mother followed him in with a big smile.
“You’ll never guess who I met in the waiting room, Daisy!”
Her mother was right about that. Daisy had no idea, because it could’ve been an Amish couple, an Englischer lady on vacation … even a policeman or a plumber who’d gotten called in by the hospital staff. Anyone and everyone was fair game for Esther Lapp.
“Who?” she asked.
“Kyle!”
“Who?” She had just looked over at her father when a man walked through the door. A handsome, blond man holding a bouquet of multicolored daisies.
“Hey,” he said.
She pulled her sheet and blanket up more securely over her body. “Who are you?”
His tentative smile faded into obvious embarrassment. “Ah … I’m Kyle Hostetler. Do you remember me? I’m the guy who found you after your accident.”
Staring at him, it all came back.
Kyle had knelt down in the ditch. No doubt getting muddy when he’d inspected her for broken bones. When he’d checked her pulse.
When they’d talked and she argued with him about her helmet.
When he’d ignored her protests that she was all right and instead flagged down an Englischer driver who called 911.
When he’d stayed with her until the ambulance came.
Through it all, he’d been wonderful. Incredible. He’d gone above and beyond in order to help her.
And now, here he was, taking time out of his day to see her again. He even bought her a bouquet of flowers.
This Kyle Hostetler had to be one of the nicest people she’d ever met.
He was also the man who was working for the Millers. Doing her dream job.
And even though he was probably a great farmer, his presence in her hospital room wasn’t welcome. In fact, he was currently the symbol of everything she was not.
He was handsome, healthy, friendly, and had a good job.
She was on the plain side, injured, had a fierce headache, and had started to carry around a chip on her shoulder right around the time Winter encouraged half their school to call her boys’ names under their breaths.
Last but not least, she was currently unemployed. So not only was she not a farmer, she wasn’t much of anything. Especially now that she was sitting in a hospital bed.
All she was at the moment was a burden.
“Jah, Kyle Hostetler, I remember you,” she said without enthusiasm. “I remember you well.”