The rest of the family, knowing Sue wasn’t in any danger left her to the care of the nurses, and the tender mercies of her beloved fiance’. Sue had been given medicine for the pain, and assured that she would soon be feeling drowsy, despite her wish to stay awake and tell Rick about the party.

She tried her best to talk to him, but nothing she said made sense, even to her, so she gave it up and let herself drift off to sleep. Her last conscious memory was Rick leaning down to kiss her. Rick settled into the easy chair next to her bed, and turned her I-pad on to listen to the music. Her Dad had seen it in the floorboard of her pickup and stuck it in his pocket. He had given it to Rick just as they were all leaving.

The floor nurse, Ms. Beckham, had come by several times during the night. They had 3 other patients at the time. One had been a badly twisted ankle, one was a dislocated shoulder. The man had been putting a new roof on a house and had slipped and fallen 20 feet to the ground The most serious was a man who had been thrown from a horse. He was trying to break him, and had landed across the 2×12 top rail of the pen. He had 4 broken ribs. One of which had punctured his lung, leaving him in serious condition. One of the LPNs was stationed just across from his room. The doc had said if he wasn’t better soon, he was going to transfer him to another hospital that had better care for internal injuries. His wife and son were with him.

Ms. Beckham had smiled when he told her that Cathy was his Sis-in Law. “She’s got the makings of a VERY good nurse.” she had said. “I been doing this for almost 35 years. I retired from the Army with 23 years, and went to work here. I have a grown son in the Army right now. He’s a helicopter mechanic. He’s been in for almost 14 years, and is an E-7. Sergeant First Class. He’s in the Middle East. I talk to him every morning when I get home. His wife and 2 k**s are in Texas, waiting for him to come home. He has 3 more months to go, before he comes home.

It was now nearly 7 in the morning. HIS phone rang. It was Billy. “How’s our little girl?” I just called to tell ya that we are fixin a surprise for her. We went up and pulled her truck out of the ditch, a little while ago. It’s on a trailer, and Jerry is takin’ it to his shop. He’s gonna fix it up like brand new for her graduation gift. He has several part houses in his computer that carry stuff for old pickups. He looked it over when we pulled it out on the road, and said he could have it finished to original in a couple of weeks. It’ll look just like it came off the showroom floor. We’ll be in to see her in a couple of hours. Cathy’s off till Monday, and the rest of us want to see ‘er to make sure that she’s okay. Her Mom, Annie, and Patti are fixin’ to go to the store and buy some stuff for ‘er. Give ‘er our love, and we’ll see ‘er in a little bit.”