What you are about to read is a work of fiction. Although the characters are based on actual people their names have been changed. This story contains the feelings and the fantasies that an old man has about his daughter-in-law. None of what is contained herein ever happened.
Melissa
*
The nest weekend brought beautiful weather and I went out to the ranch for another day of fighting with the prickly pear and mesquite. Earlier in the summer I had sprayed the mesquite with chemical to try and kill the little sprouts that kept coming up. This had limited success, but I was going to remove the dead sprouts and put them on the compost pile. I was alone with my thoughts as I drove and Melissa kept coming to my mind. I was going to miss her companionship today, as she had told me she had some errands to run.
I arrived at the ranch and as was my custom I called Amy to let her know I was there. My phone call got no response and I didn't give it serious thought because sometimes Amy was busy and did not hear the phone ringing, so I left a message for her to call and started my work.
After about an hour I still had not heard from Amy, so I called her again. No answer. I rang the number to her cell phone with the same results. I waited fifteen minutes and tried again. Still no answer. Now I was getting worried.
I called Melissa to see if she could go by the house and check on Amy, but she didn't answer either. I then called our next door neighbor Debbie. She answered, thank goodness, and I asked her to go over and check on Amy, as I had not been able to reach her. She said she would and that she would call me right back.
As I closed my cell phone I had this feeling that something bad had happened, and contrary to advice I've given, I allowed my mind to run away into all the bad scenarios.
When my neighbor didn't call back in a reasonable time, I really did begin to worry. Finally after about fifteen minutes my phone rang. It was my Debbie, my neighbor.
"Travis, Amy had an accident in the garage." She told me.
"What happened?" I asked as I began to put stuff in the back of Red in preparation of heading home.
"She fell coming down the steps, and I think her hip might be broken. The paramedics are here and they are getting her ready to transport." She informed me.
"Tell them I am on my way, and tell Amy I love her."
"I will, and I'll go to the ER with her and stay with her until you get there." Debbie said.
"Thanks Debbie, I'll be there as soon as I can."
I finished getting ready to go and headed for town and the emergency room at the local hospital. As I was on my way my phone rang and it was Melissa. I told her all the details I knew and she informed me she would meet me at the hospital.
I got there in about an hour and located Amy on a gurney with a ton of paperwork lying on her stomach. She reached out to me and I could tell she was under the influence of pain killers as she said "Travis I am so sorry, I was in a hurry and old clumsy me took a tumble."
"Baby, it's okay, I hate it that you are hurt. Now we just concentrate on making you better." I said to her.
"Well, at least it's not as bad as we first feared." She mumbled through the drugs. "My hip is not broken. But I do have a bad lower back muscle pull. They want to keep me here overnight for observation."
About that time Melissa arrived and Amy asked me, "Did you notify the whole town?"
I laughed at that and commented that at least Amy had not damaged her sense of humor.
It took some time to get Amy up to her room and get her settled. Melissa and Debbie both stayed with me even though I had told them to go home. Amy was sleeping and according to the nurse, she would probably stay that way as she had been given some very powerful muscle relaxants and pain meds.
We stayed in Amy's room for a while and I finally decided to go to the house and shower and then come back to the hospital to see how Amy was doing.
Melissa headed home and Debbie road with me going home, she had ridden in the ambulance over to the hospital. Once home I showered and made myself something to eat and then headed back to the hospital.
Amy was asleep when I got there and the nurse told me that she had been awake earlier and eaten a light lunch. I stayed in Amy's room for a couple hours and then decided to go outside for a few minutes. When I came back Amy was still asleep. I again spoke with the nurse and she told me she would be very surprise if Amy woke up before the next morning. After mulling that information over for a while I decided to go back home and come back very early the next morning.
As I turned onto the street where we lived I spotted Melissa's car parked in front of the house. I parked my truck and went inside to find Melissa watching television. When she heard me come in she got up, came over to me and kissed me.
"What are you doing here baby," I asked. "And where are the kids?"
"Well, what I'm doing here is that I'm not going to pass up an opportunity to be with you, besides I thought you may need help tonight. And the kids are at a friends' house for the night. Besides, you may need someone to talk to."
I took her in my arms and kissed her deeply. "I'm so glad you came over. You know I love being with you."
Melissa asked about Amy and how she was doing and what the prognosis was. I told her that Amy would be home tomorrow and other than having to be very careful until the muscle healed she would be fine.
"So there will be no lasting problems?" Melissa asked.
"None is expected." I said.
