"Of the five men left on the platform, Shelby's the only one who survived, but there could have been more killed if the workers had been close by."
She lifted her head forcing words out. "He's been resting quietly since they degloved him. They must have finally given him enough drugs to let him sleep."
"He was wearing gloves?" Anna asked a moment before the horror of what Crystal meant sank into her mind. They had removed dead skin as completely as if they pulled ofl a glove.
Panic climbed up Anna's spine. None of this was real. Not the fire she had watched in the distance. Not the hospital wait. Not the funeral. It was only part of a play she had been acting in for years. She knew all the parts: act happy, act interested, act as if you are loved. But the man dying only a few feet away made everything real. She spent a lifetime not feeling and suddenly, with this stranger, she knew his pain. She smelled it in the air, heard it in the drone of the machines, saw it in the agonizing way he fought not to move as he breathed.
Anna concentrated on Crystal, staring at the young woman's shaking hands, memorizing every detail as only an artist would. Slowly, like water trickling through her body,
She forced the horror of the fire and Shelby's burns to the side and once more stepped onto her own private little stage. The whispers of the pain that circled in the corners of her mind threatened to come forward and haunt any peace proclaimed. The thoughtful scenes she painted in her imagination grew cloudy.
Crystal took a long breath. "I have to be here when he comes to. 'Course, he can't talk with that ventilator down his throat, but I figure he'll know I'm close."
"I understand," Helena whispered. "You do what you think is right, child. Don't let anyone push you around, even this nurse."
Crystal smiled. "Thanks. I needed someone to say that. But Nurse Landry has been great. She's about the only one who seems to know I'm here. The others just walk around me."
While they watched, Shelby's fingers twitched, as if feeling along the bed for something.
Crystal grabbed her scrubs. In seconds, she had put on all the gear and rushed to his side. "What is it, honey?" she whispered close to his ear.
His bandaged fingers found her hand and closed around it slightly.
"I'm right here." Tears filled her eyes. "I'm right here."
She looked back at Helena and Anna. "He likes to hold my hand when the pain's bad. It calms him if I talk to him. Funny, before the accident, I don't remember him ever more than half listening to anything I had to say, but now he seems to want me to talk."
Helena glanced around the private room with eyes as sharp as a health inspector. "You'll need a more comfortable chair. If the hospital doesn't have one, I'll send one out."
Crystal's eyes widened. "Thanks," she mumbled. "Will they allow that?"
"Of course they will. You can't be expected to sit in this all day." Helena touched the broken-down recliner Crystal had been using as a bed, then looked back at her. "I'll call my hairdresser and have her come by later this afternoon She can wash and curl your hair in the hallway if nowhere else is available. And give you a manicure, too, while you're close enough to listen for Shelby."
Tears rolled down Crystal's face and soaked into the cotton mask she wore. To many women, Helena's offer would have seemed frivolous, but Anna saw that Helena offered Crystal a gift she would treasure.
Anna knew to follow suit. "I-if you like, as soon as the special clothes are not needed, I could stop by your house and pick out a few outfits for you."
Crystal broke into a full scale cry. "Oh," she wailed. "Would you?" She hid her face in gratitude. "Colorful clothes and a real nightgown. Tasteful, of course."
"O-of course." Anna doubted Crystal owned anything that could be worn at the hospital. "I-if I can not find your gowns, I will buy one for you, if you will allow me."
"Nothing low cut," Crystal added. "And only shoes with soles that don't make noise."
Anna smiled. "I will bring several outfits and a selection of night wear. As soon as you are able, they will be waiting for you."
"Wonderful." Crystal wiped her face as she moved away from Shelby's bed. The nurse carefully elevated his arms.
"I probably sound selfish, but you're the first people to visit me and not just Shelby. I can't tell you how good it is to see you."
"I'll be back tomorrow," Helena announced as she straightened formally. "In fact, I'll be back every day until that husband of yours wakes up and realizes what a jewel of a wife he has."
Crystal stood a little taller. "No one's ever called me a jewel before."
"Well, it's about time someone did," Helena said matter of factly.
Anna guessed Helena was a woman who made up her mind about who was friend or foe within minutes of meeting someone. For some reason, Helena decided she cared about Crystal. And for Helena, that was like signing on to a campaign.
After Helena made a few phone calls and had a short visit in the hallway with one of the nurses, the women said goodbye. Anna did not need to hear the words or even understand the language. She knew by the nurse's movements things would be easier for Crystal from this point on, or Helena Whitworth would see that heads rolled.
When oil rigs first spread across the land, labor was hard to find. Many of the farm boys were pulled from the cotton patch to work in what they called the "oil patch."
October 14
5:30 p.m.
RandellHouse Restaurant
Helena and Anna stopped off downtown at the Randell House for a late lunch. Neither wanted to end their time together.
Back in Italy, Anna would have left the funeral of a loved one to go home to a house full of company. Here, there was no one. She longed for relatives to cook for and clean up after. Somehow, keeping busy seemed a kinder way.
The two women walked into the empty restaurant arm in arm like old friends.
Davis once told Anna that during the 1890s the Randell House had been a huge home. The town had grown up around it. At some point, the house lost its first floor to commerce. Now, it stood like an architectural mutant with a top floor restaurant of old grace and charm and a main floor filled with offices and bank tellers. The Victorian decor had been further humiliated by the joining of a parking garage at the back.
As they sat at the table surrounded by dark mahogany and leaded glass, Anna saw nothing but the beauty that had somehow survived a hundred years.
Anna found Helena surprisingly easy to talk to. An unconditional acceptance between them crossed the barrier of age and made friendship possible.
From the second-floor windows, they watched shadows grow long across Main Street, elevating the town from dilapidated neglect into classic mystery. Helena ordered a thick cup of coffee and asked to see the dessert menu. Although neither woman commented, both realized that, for once in their lives, no one waited for them to come home.
Half an hour later, Anna sipped her coffee and watched Zack Larson walk into the restaurant. He looked as out of place among the ferns and bookshelves as a bull in a deli. His usual work shirt and jeans were gone and his old Stetson had been replaced by one without a sweat stain.
"That your neighbor?" Helena asked as she sampled her coconut pie and tried to peek through the foliage.
"H-he was at the funeral." She guessed Helena knew why Zack Larson was, but she continued anyway, "He has the p-place to the north of us." She only remembered speaking to the man a few times when Carlo or Davis could not be bothered to deliver a message. Larson had not been friendly. Once, she told him what she thought of the horrible barbed wire that fenced his cattle in, and once she had complained about the cattle trucks using the back road between their property lines. The constant roll of dirt had dusted her sunroom windows on the north side for two weeks.
"He hasn't been home to change out of that ghastly suit," Helena added. "Must have had business in town after the funeral. Word is his ranch is struggling, but then what ranch hasn't at some point? I would like to see him prosper enough to buy new clothes and maybe get a decent haircut. I hate to see a nice-looking man ugly himself up. I swear he wore that suit to his wedding."
"He is married?" Anna lowered her voice even though Zack Larson could not have overheard them.
"About eight years ago." Helena usually limited her gossip to the facts and comments about clothes. "His wife left him before the first year was out. He's kept pretty much to himself since then, not that he was particularly friendly before. He must be real tired of his own cooking to stop in here."
The waiter directed Zack to the table behind Anna. Even though plants separated them, Anna heard him ask the waiter if the place served beer.
"I got a headache the size of Oklahoma," he mumbled bumping both the table and chair as he tried to fold his six foot frame.
Anna turned back to Helena, Zack Larson forgotten. She watched Helena order another slice of pie. "You are very hungry?"
Helena laughed. "J.D. swears I can put away more than a field hand. I guess I just enjoy eating. Good food, good company." Helena raised her thin shoulders. "Well, that's not altogether true, though I've enjoyed your company. I eat just as much when I'm home alone. Give me a good movie and I'll finish off a bag of Oreos along with the popcorn."
"I-I do not mind eating alone," Anna admitted, as she wondered what Oreos were. After meeting Helena, she guessed they must be something fancy ordered in only the best shops. "Davis was gone most of the time, anyway. It is nice to eat in silence watching the day come to an end."
"I know," Helena answered. "With my two daughters setting up camp at my place this week, I long to be alone. They're masters at making trivial conversation. We've had entire meals with nothing talked about but a thirty-minute TV program from the night before. We could have all watched the rerun in less time." Helena waved at the waiter and pointed at her coffee cup. "Now, my grandchildren are a little better. If we ever get their volume controls fixed, I might listen to them."
Anna laughed. "Y-you know what I miss most?"
Anna laughed. "Y-you know what I miss most?"