Long Ride Home Read online

  She smiled back and nodded, praying it was true.

  Two

  In a dream-like state, Kevin floated through space and time. Peace flooded his being like the perfect drug. He felt full and satisfied as though he’d just gobbled down a bountiful Thanksgiving Day meal. He felt weightless, confident, and competitive, and imagined he was about to take the ride of his life.

  “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says. . .”

  What?

  Kevin tried to discover where the voice had come from, but his limbs felt restricted somehow. That tranquil feeling vanished, and he suddenly felt trapped.

  “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.”

  A wave of panic engulfed Kevin. He recognized the scriptural passage, but it had been years since he’d cracked open a Bible. He’d decided long ago that religion didn’t work. Look where it got his devout parents. Dead. Instead, Kevin chose to be the decider of his own fate. He lived life hard and fast, and he knew he was no saint. Experience had taught him that sinners had a lot more fun.

  But was God really talking to him now?

  Naw. Couldn’t be. This was just some weird dream.

  On the other hand, if it wasn’t, Kevin figured he was in for a heap of trouble. What could God want with him except to pour out His wrath and judgment?

  “For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

  Kevin knew that verse. He memorized it as a teenager. But that was a lifetime ago. He wasn’t the same person anymore.

  “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”

  Not me, God. You’ve got the wrong guy for that job.

  The reply couldn’t even take root for, all at once, Kevin felt himself free-falling downward, like a man who’d just jumped from an airplane without a parachute. Fear gripped every muscle and robbed him of his next breath.

  Help me! Help me! Don’t let me fall like this! God, please help me!

  ❧

  Lara glanced at her watch. Seven o’clock. This wasn’t exactly the way she had planned to spend her Friday night. However, she couldn’t get herself to leave the hospital without knowing Kevin was all right. Earlier, she had shown his friends to the Family Center where they could wait out the long and delicate procedure in some comfort. With that accomplished, Lara had returned to the ED where she finished her work. After a couple of hours of overtime, she made her way up to the Neurological Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, where she planted herself next to Polly Nivens, a unit secretary and one of Lara’s good friends.

  “I’m off work in a half-hour,” Polly said, “and I have no intentions of hanging around.”

  Lara shot her brunette friend a look of irritation. “I’d wait with you if you were in my situation.”

  “Yeah, I suppose you would.” Reluctance laced her tone.

  Lara grinned. She and Polly had been hired around the same time and met during their orientation week here at County General. They’d hit it off and, with so much in common, such as their Christian faith, they’d remained friends ever since. Together, they had even joined a local Christian singles’ group that met once a month. Some of the situations that occurred during those get-togethers kept Lara and Polly laughing until the next month’s meeting.

  “Well, maybe we won’t have to hang around too long after your shift. I called the recovery room,” Lara said, “and one of the nurses told me Kevin would be out of the OR soon. That was an hour ago. I imagine he’ll be brought up here to the unit any time now.”

  Polly shrugged in reply as she separated paperwork.

  Lars smiled and watched her friend complete her task. Wearing light blue scrubs with a colorful cotton cover-up, Polly stood an average five-feet four and had average proportions. She and Lara shared a similar figure—although they both admitted they’d like to shed a good twenty pounds. They swapped articles of clothing, an inexpensive way to enhance each other’s wardrobe, and they tried all types of diets. However, the latter more often than not resulted in a drive to Snoopy’s ice cream parlor after a stressful day where they ordered double scoops of “Death-by-Chocolate.”

  In fact, if Snoopy’s were open right now, Lara would be tempted to order a triple chocolate sundae or a banana split.

  “Are you thinking of your friend?” Polly asked with a sympathetic note in her voice.

  Lara laughed. “No, I’m thinking about how much I need an ice cream fix.”

  “Oh, yeah, that’d be good. I wonder what the Friday Flavor was today.” Opening her desk drawer, Polly removed a menu from Snoopy’s. “Cherry Cheesecake. Good, we didn’t miss much.”

  “We’re hopeless,” Lara stated, shaking her head and smiling.

  “I know it.”

  Untwisting the cap on her diet cola, Lara took a drink. The sugar-free beverage would have to suffice for now. Looking over at Polly again, she decided to change the subject. “What do you think the odds are that Kevin Wincouser would be flown to this hospital and I would be the social worker on call and in the trauma room?”

  “Not very likely, but when God’s involved, there are no such things as coincidences.”

  “I agree, but I’m too much in shock to think about what God might have in store for the future. I’ve been praying so hard that Kevin will be okay.”

  “What do you think you’ll say to him when he wakes up? ‘Where have you been all my life?’?”

  “Oh, quiet.” Lara cast an exasperated glance toward the ceiling. She and Polly had been admiring Kevin’s picture on his Missouri State driver’s license. Judging by his photo, Kevin had gone from a cute boy to a rakishly handsome man. And how many men—women too—ever looked so good on their driver’s licenses? Those government snapshots always seemed to capture people at the worst possible angles.

  But not Kevin’s.

  “You know, seriously, Polly, I hope I get the chance to thank him for sharing his knowledge about horses with me. It’s because of him that I’ve been able to teach my kids how to ride.”

  “Your kids?” Polly grinned. “That’s neat how you refer to them. You’re a true saint for volunteering your time over at the ranch. Handicapped kids require a lot of patience.”

  “You’re more than welcome to join me any time.”

  Polly chuckled. “Yeah, so you’ve told me. . .about a hundred times. Maybe even two hundred. The problem is, I’m lacking in the patience department.”

  “Maybe God will teach you patience when you donate your time.”

  Polly gave her a skeptical look.

  At that moment, a transporter and a nurse from recovery wheeled a gurney through the doors of the NICU.

  “Is that Room Seven?” Polly asked.

  “Sure is,” the husky transporter replied.

  Lara strained to get a look at Kevin, but all she could see was his bandaged head. Minutes later, Bill Kitrell, one of Dr. LaPont’s residents, walked in. He slapped down the metal-encased chart. Without a word, he began to write out orders.

  “Hey, Bill, is the guy in seven going to be all right?” Polly asked, stealing the words right off the tip of Lara’s tongue.

  “Yeah, I think so,” the young man said without even glancing up.

  “I’m asking because Lara grew up with him.”

  Bill raised his dark head and peered at Lara. “Oh, yeah?”

  She nodded.

  The soon-to-be neurosurgeon, a nice—and very married—guy, gazed at the chart again. “I was wondering what you were still doing here. Although. . .” He cast a hooded glance in Polly’s direction. “I know you two are cohorts, so I didn’t think too much about it.”

  “Cohorts?” Polly put her hands on her hips. “Who us
es that word in this day and age?”

  “I just did. Didn’t you hear me?” He slid the chart in Polly’s direction.

  “A wee bit crabby tonight, eh, Bill?”

  “Just a little,” he confessed. “I haven’t slept in two days.”

  “Is it all right if I go in and see Kevin?” Lara asked, interrupting the banter.

  “Sure.” Bill forced a tight smile. “But your friend is in a coma-induced state, and we’re keeping him that way for a while to make sure no more swelling occurs in his brain.”

  Lara stood and stepped out of the nurses’ station, only to glimpse several RNs at work in Kevin’s room. She paused, deciding to wait until they had him settled.

  “Bill, has anyone been to the Family Center to let Kevin’s friends know he’s out of surgery?”

  “Yeah, I think LaPont went down there.” He gave both ladies a curt nod. “Now if you’ll both excuse me, I need to catch a few winks.”

  The word “wink” reminded Lara of Kevin’s nickname. She straightened and glanced into his room again. The nurses were just finishing up. She walked to the doorway, and the male RN waved her in.

  “Working overtime, aren’t you? I don’t think this fellow’s up for an interview.”

  Lara smiled at the glib remark. Since her assigned areas as a social worker consisted of the emergency department and the three intensive care units, she was recognized by most of the personnel who worked there. “This is actually a personal call.”

  The nurse, lanky blond with a goatee, suddenly looked concerned. “Is this patient a friend of yours?”

  “Yes. A friend from the past. I haven’t seen him in about ten years.”

  “Tough way to get reacquainted,” the other RN said as she peeled off her protective gloves. Without waiting for a reply, the slender woman with short, light-brown hair and pockmarked complexion brushed past Lara.

  Stepping over to Kevin’s bedside, Lara cringed at all the ticking, pulsing machinery and plastic tubing coming and going from various parts of his body. He’d been placed on a ventilator to help him breathe, and the IV fluid that kept him hydrated and nourished ran into his arm. Surgical staff had bandaged his head so Kevin appeared to be wearing a white cap. His face resembled the Kevin Wincouser Lara used to know, and contrary to the celebrity smile on his driver’s license, his expression was now one of unconscious bliss.

  The other nurse left, and Lara touched the back of Kevin’s hand. Compassion engulfed her. Oh, Lord, please heal this man. I have no idea what sort of person he is now, but he was nice to me at a time when a lot of other kids weren’t.

  Lara could still recall how some of the boys in the neighborhood called her “Larda,” poking fun at her chubby size. But neither Kevin nor his brother ever taunted and teased her. The Wincouser boys had always been kindhearted and polite.

  She stood there a few more moments before giving herself a mental shake. She felt suddenly exhausted and knew it was time to go home. At least she’d learned Kevin had made it through surgery, and according to Bill Kitrell, he would recover.

  Leaving his room, Lara made her way over to where Polly stood gathering her belongings. The third-shift unit secretary had arrived and appeared busy at the computer.

  “Ready to leave?” Polly asked. “I sure am!”

  Lara nodded, and together, she and Polly walked out of the NICU. They reached the elevator, and Lara suddenly remembered she had Kevin’s driver’s license.

  “Pol, I need to stop at the Family Center. I should return Kevin’s license to his friends.”

  “Okay. I’ll go with you so neither of us has to brave the parking structure alone.”

  “Great.”

  Rounding the corner, the two women ambled into the surprisingly busy Family Center. Lara glanced around and spotted Dr. LaPont on the telephone nearby, but she didn’t see anyone of the four people who had been in the emergency department earlier. Once LaPont finished his call, Lara managed to catch his attention as he started to head out the door.

  “No one’s here with the patient,” the surgeon informed her. “I even had them paged overhead. I don’t have a phone number. Nothing.”

  “That’s odd. I got the impression Kevin’s friends were going to stick around until he came out of surgery.”

  LaPont shrugged, then proceeded to give Lara the rundown on Kevin, all of which she’d heard from the resident.

  “If I see his friends, I’ll be sure to tell them,” she said, wondering how she’d manage to keep her promise since she was off for the weekend.

  Dr. LaPont inclined his head in a parting nod, then left the Family Center.

  Feeling helpless, Lara looked at Polly who shrugged.

  “Nice friends.”

  Lara groaned. “If Kevin is from Missouri, like his driver’s license states, then he’s a long way from home. I don’t have a clue as to whether he has family. . .a wife. He could be married with five kids for all I know.”

  “That’d be a bummer.” Polly’s green eyes shimmered with the jest.

  Lara couldn’t help but laugh as they headed for the employee parking structure on the other side of the hospital. “I must confess, I did have a crush on Kevin my freshman year of high school. He was a senior, and every time he saw me in the hallway, he’d wave or smile or say hello.” Lara chuckled at the recollection. “I was the envy of all the freshman girls—maybe even all the girls.”

  “He sounds like he was a nice guy back then. I wonder if he’s still a nice guy.”

  “Don’t know.” Lara hitched her purse strap up higher onto her shoulder. “Doesn’t seem like he has very nice friends.”

  “Maybe they went to get something to eat. If they come back, they can call Admitting and find out where Kevin is, although they won’t be allowed in the NICU at this time of night. Maybe someone told them that, so they left.”

  “Yeah, maybe. . .” Lara thought it over. “Do you think they’ll know to call the admitting department?”

  “Well, if they don’t, it’s not your problem, Lara. You’re off duty now—you have been for the last six and a half hours.”

  “I know, but—”

  “But you knew the guy way-back-when. . .I understand, except it’s still not your problem. Who’s the social worker on call this weekend?”

  “Sarah Jackson.”

  “Good. It’s Sarah’s problem, and since it’s our weekend off, we’re going to enjoy it!”

  Stepping out into the balmy June night, Lara pushed out a smile. She agreed with everything Polly told her; however, her heart didn’t seem to be listening. Kevin Wincouser was her “problem.” The niggling deep inside her chest told her so. What’s more, she had an odd feeling that he would likely be her problem until some family member claimed him.

  Three

  “What’s the matter, Muffin? You seem a million miles away this morning.”

  Lara snapped out of her musings and realized she’d been staring sightlessly into her coffee cup. Lifting her gaze, she smiled at her grandmother who was spreading jam across her slice of toast. “Guess I’ve been a rude breakfast companion.”

  “Not at all. You obviously have a lot on your mind.”

  “Yeah, I do.” Lara looked back down into her black coffee.

  “Anything you’d like to talk about?”

  Lara considered the offer. She’d been thinking about Kevin ever since Flight-for-Life flew him into the ED yesterday, and now, this morning, she wondered how to get in touch with his friends. She supposed she could drive out to the rodeo in Waukesha. It wasn’t all that far away. What gnawed at her was the fact she hadn’t gotten the chance to say she and Kevin knew each other as kids and. . . Were they going to contact Kevin’s brother, Clayt? Somebody should!

  “Gram, do you remember the Wincousers?” Lara warned hers
elf to be careful. If she said too much, she’d violate patient confidentiality laws. Looking up from her coffee, she peered into her grandmother’s face with its delicate features bordered by white hair that she wore in a short, classy style.

  “The Wincousers. . .yes, of course I remember them. Ted and Roberta were the ones killed in that tragic train wreck in Japan, isn’t that right?”

  Lara nodded.

  “And they had two sons, both fine young men, if I recall.” Gram took a sip of her freshly brewed green tea. “I wonder what ever happened to them.”

  “Kevin left to compete in the rodeo.” That hadn’t been a secret. Lara recalled hearing her parents discussing the topic in hushed voices. The pastor had been unsuccessful in talking Kevin out of moving away. Various other well-intentioned church people tried to dissuade him also, but Kevin seemed determined to leave Wisconsin.

  “He was the older boy, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Seems to me he took his parents’ deaths extraordinarily hard.”

  “That’s what I heard too.”

  Gram bit into her toast, chewed, and swallowed. Then one of her light brows dipped in a frown. “Why are you thinking about the Wincousers?”

  “Oh, something happened yesterday that caused me to remember them. I can’t go into details, though.”

  “I see.”

  Lara scooted her chair back and stood. Lifting her cereal bowl and coffee mug off the kitchen table, she carried them to the sink.

  “Don’t worry about the dishes, Muffin, I’ll take care of them.”

  “Thanks, Gram. I’ve got some errands to do, and the sooner I leave the better.”

  “Well, then, don’t let breakfast dishes keep you.”

  Smiling, Lara kissed her grandmother’s cheek before ambling down the hallway of the spacious flat they shared. The lower half of the duplex was occupied by Lara’s parents and her younger brother, Tim. An older sister lived on the other side of town with her husband and their three small children.

  Entering the large bathroom with its white ceramic-tiled floor, Lara shed her nightgown and stepped into the tub and turned on the faucet. She heard the familiar knocking of the pipes before she pulled up the knob activating the overhead shower.