Chapter 6 #3
They decided to just leave home with the shirts on their backs because had they taken something their father would have accused them of stealing from him and had them arrested.
Locke had bought the van second-hand and had kept it hidden away until the day they left.
Since he’d been at a friend’s house playing chess, they one by one got into the van until he was ready to leave.
To this day, Knox wondered how they’d been able to make such a clean break of things and leave their father.
He’d been an abusive bastard to them since they were small children.
It was a wonder how they’d been able to survive him all those years.
“Do you suppose he missed us?” He said that he more than likely did miss them because they were the only ones working. “For years after we left, I wanted to go to him and see why he hated us so much. I never did, but I do wonder at times.” Locke shook his head before speaking.
“The only time he was remotely nice to us was when there was someone around, like the police, mostly. It’s a right shame that the police department knew us all by name because of him.
I don’t ever want to be compared to him.
I never want anything associated with him to come back and bite us in the ass.
I don’t think that it will, but I think about that sometimes.
” Knox said that he used to think about him finding them when they first moved here.
“I think we all did like when we’d have money on us.
I’d think that he was going to come out of nowhere and beat us for the cash.
But he’s dead now, and nothing we have to worry about. ”
“That’s true.” Knox smiled then. “I couldn’t point him out in a line-up if it ever was to have come to that.
He is nothing but a blimp in my mind. Someone who means nothing to me and never will again.
I’m glad that he sired us, but that’s the extent of anything that I’ve felt for him in a long time. ”
“You got that right.” When Locke left him with Elaine, she had to go and have some x-rays done.
They were doing them every other day to make sure that she was healing correctly.
With tomorrow being her first day of walking around, they wanted to make sure that she wasn’t going to harm herself when she did it.
He couldn’t wait for her to be up and around.
He loved that she was getting better daily.
When Elaine went to sleep, he pulled out his laptop and worked on a few things that he’d been putting off in order to stay with her.
There were quite a few emails that he’d had to answer, but he decided that he could put them off for another day.
Tomorrow was going to be a big day, and he wanted to be rested.
Since he’d been home, they’d brought him in another chair that was actually comfortable, and he decided to keep up with his sleep.
Once he was laid back in the chair, he closed his eyes.
Like Elaine, he could hear the nurses talking out at the desk but could not make out what they were saying.
It was a calming way to get some sleep, and he dozed off quickly.
After a breakfast of pureed foods, she wanted to get up and get around.
It took the staff three times to get her out of bed.
She was dizzy and was glad that Locke had warned them of that.
Once she was up, she held onto the bed and walked around the room for a little while before she became tired and needed to rest. Taking it easy was the advice of the doctor who had seen her, and he was happy with her first day getting around.
Tomorrow, he promised them it would be better.
Elaine was disappointed. She imagined herself walking the halls by now.
He was sort of happy that she wasn’t. If she’d fallen while walking, there was no telling what more damage she would have done to herself.
It was scary to think that she’d only been in bed for a week and was so weak.
He was going to make sure that she rested a great deal so that she’d not fall.
“I guess I should be happy with what I was able to do.” He said that he was. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess that I’d get out of bed and walk. I did a lot of walking before being hurt. I think that I thought I’d be in good enough shape to do it again.”
“I’m just glad that you didn’t fall. You could have.
” She told him that she thought that she might have too, that she’d been so dizzy and weak that she was glad for something to hold onto while up.
“Tomorrow, they said they’d get you a walker.
I’d use it if I were you. Just so you have something to hang onto while up and about. ”
“I’d feel so old.” He laughed, and she stuck her tongue out at him. “Well, first of all, I guess since I can’t see, that it’ll be fine, but it still bothers me that I’m not as strong as I thought that I might be.”
“Remember too that you’ve not been eating all that much either.
There can’t be that many calories in what you’re consuming.
” She said that she’d never thought of that.
“When you get stronger, I’m betting that your doctor will allow you more food that isn’t as mushy as the stuff you’ve been eating. I know you can taste how bland it is.”
“It’s not all that good, but it’s something to put in my belly.
” He smiled, and she could almost feel his approval.
“I want an apple so bad. Not applesauce. But an honest-to-goodness apple that I can bite into. I like applesauce all right, but it’s not the same.
This time of year, I make myself a can of caramel and have that with apples as a snack.
Have you ever made your own caramel? It’s super easy. ”
“No, I don’t think that I have.” She told him how to do it. “That does sound very easy. Just simmer a can of sweetened condensed milk for four hours, and that makes caramel? That sounds too easy.”
“You have to make sure that the can is covered in water all the time. If you don’t, then it could explode.
I’ve heard of the mess hot caramel can make of a kitchen if you allow the can to get uncovered.
” Knox said he was going to make some when he got home.
“Good. Maybe by next week, I’ll be able to eat something more than just mushy food.
You’re going to love it. I know that I do. ”
They talked about the different kinds of foods that they liked.
He loved food that was spicy, and she didn’t care for it.
While she told him that she could eat Mexican food every day, he said that his favorite was Chinese.
They were teasing each other about the kinds of foods they both liked and were having a good time.
The nurse came in with her dinner tray just as she was saying how hungry she was.
He went to the cafeteria to get himself something to eat so as not to tempt her with something that he got.
After all the talk about food, he was nearly starving when he finally decided to have the special for the day, roast beef and noodles with sour cream.
It was really good, but not like he got at home, but he was fine.
It filled his belly, and that was the best part.