Love Finds You in Treasure Island, Florida (22 page)

He frowned then chuckled. “Oh yeah. I remember.” His gaze moved from Jerry to Amanda; then he seemed to search for something or someone else. “Where’s my wife?”

Amanda let go of his hand, took a step back, and gently guided Jerry’s mother into his dad’s line of vision. “Here she is.”

Jerry put his arm around his mother and pulled her toward his dad. “Mom and I have been very worried about you.” He didn’t know what else to say. It was obvious that his dad still didn’t recognize him, and he hated to admit, even to himself, that it broke his heart.

“Where does it hurt, Harold?” his mother asked.

His dad squirmed then grimaced in pain. A medical assistant rushed into the room to see what was going on.

“Stop fussing over me,” his dad barked. “Just do what you gotta do so I can get outta here.”

The young woman who looked barely old enough to be out of high school shook her head. “Sorry, Mr. Simpson, but we have to keep you overnight for observation.”

“I’m not spending the night here.”

“If you choose to check yourself out, we’ll have to let the insurance company know, and they might not pay your bill.”

Jerry whipped around to see his dad’s reaction. He was surprised when all he got was a snort and a snide remark about how insurance companies ran people’s lives.

After the woman left, Jerry glared down at his dad. “She can’t help it.”

“I know, but this is ridiculous. I fell down, and now they act like I might not live if I go home.”

When the doctor arrived and asked to speak to Jerry and his mother, Amanda suddenly reappeared and took over with his dad. He was glad to have her there. She always knew what to do, what to say, and when to disappear.

The doctor led them to a small room nearby and offered them a seat. Jerry held his mother’s hand, just in case the news was bad.

“How serious is it?” Jerry asked.

“We’re not sure yet, but we think he suffered a concussion. I think he’ll be fine in a day or two, but we need to keep him here to be sure.” The doctor flipped the page on the chart in front of him. “He has a few bruises, but the brunt of the fall was mostly on his head.” He glanced up and looked at Jerry’s mother. “Can you give me a list of his prescriptions?”

She scrunched her forehead as she thought. “I can’t remember the names of all of them.”

“We have them at the condo we’re renting,” Jerry said. “Want us to go home and write down all the names of his medicine?”

The doctor nodded. “Better yet, if you can bring them in, we’ll administer them while he’s here.” He looked up with a stern expression and added, “Perhaps we can make a few adjustments that might help.”

Jerry nodded. “We can do that.”

“Anything else I need to know about his health?” The doctor poised his pen above the chart and glanced up at his mother, who seemed too distraught to talk, so Jerry took over.

“He’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.”

“That explains a few things,” the doctor said as he jotted a few things in the chart. “I wondered about that.”

“Early stages. His memory is good at times, and others…” Jerry’s voice trailed off.

The doctor chewed his bottom lip as he studied the chart then put it down. “This says they were riding a bicycle built for two.”

Jerry nodded. “I always rent one so they can stay active.”

“I understand that exercise is important for his health, but he needs to take all the safety precautions. Does he have access to a helmet?”

Jerry felt sick to his stomach. If he’d been stronger and made his dad wear the helmet, this wouldn’t have been as serious. “He has one, but he hates wearing it.”

The doctor smiled with a hint of sympathy. “My parents hate them, too, but I always insist.” He stood up and gestured for them to go ahead of him. “If I had to wager a guess, I think he’ll be well enough to go home on Saturday—unless something shows up in the x-ray.”

“Just do whatever it takes to make him better,” Jerry said. “I’ll bring his prescriptions as soon as I can.”

As they headed back to the small room, his mother babbled about how it wasn’t Jerry’s fault; it was hers. She was the one steering the bike.

His dad had a scowl on his face when they got to his room. “I wanna go home.”

“Sorry, Dad, but you have to stay here for a couple of days.”

“That’s silly.” He turned his head toward the window, away from Jerry and his mother.

“The next time you go out on the bicycle, you need to wear your helmet,” Jerry said. “I shouldn’t have let you go off without it.”

His mother reached out and squeezed his arm. “It’s not your fault, honey. I’m the one who wasn’t careful enough.”

Jerry argued for a moment and then figured there was no point. Everyone felt responsible, and nothing would change that. When his mom offered to stay in the hospital while he and Amanda went back for his dad’s medicine, he nodded his agreement. At least if something happened to her there, someone would be able to help her.

Amanda didn’t talk much on the way to the condo, and Jerry was glad. Not only was there not much to say, any conversation would seem trite and disrespectful under the circumstances.

She sensed that he needed his space, so Amanda remained quiet as she drove him to the condo. He said he’d go back to the hospital in his own car, so after dropping Jerry off, she headed straight home.

Her heart sank when she saw Brad’s car parked at the curb. After all she’d been through, she didn’t feel like socializing.

The instant she walked inside, Timmy accosted her. “Daddy said Gramps is in the hospital, and I wanna go see him.”

Amanda glanced over at Lacy, who sat on the sofa beside Brad, both of them staring at her. “How did you know?”

Lacy stood up and walked toward her. “We went to see you at the shop, and Tiffany told us. Why didn’t you call me?”

Amanda shut her eyes and said a short prayer for guidance and the ability to keep her temper in check. Then she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I haven’t had a chance.”

“Well, is he going to live?”

Lacy didn’t have any tact, and she needed to be more careful around Timmy or she’d scare the poor child half to death. “I’m pretty sure it’s not that serious.”

“Tiffany said he hit his head and was gushing blood.” Lacy scrunched her nose and shivered.

Brad stood up and took Lacy by the hand. “Sometimes it looks worse than it is.” He glanced over at Amanda as if looking for affirmation.

“I’m pretty sure that’s the case with Harold. He hit his head on the curb and suffered what the doctor thinks is a mild concussion. Hopefully, there won’t be any long-term problems.”

“Is Gramps gonna die?” Timmy’s quivering voice let Amanda know they’d frightened him.

Amanda looked down at the little boy who stared up at her, wide-eyed and obviously worried sick about Gramps. She shook her head. “No, honey, he’s not going to die—at least not anytime soon, from what we can tell. He fell and got a bad bump on his head.”

“He’s sick, Timmy,” Brad added.

Timmy jumped up and down. “I don’t want Gramps to be sick. Can I go see him?”

Amanda glanced over at Brad, who waited for her answer. “I can call Jerry and ask what he thinks.”

Timmy grinned. “Gramps will wanna see me. He’s my bestest friend in the whole wide world.”

Brad looked helpless, so Amanda nodded. “I’m sure he’ll want to see you, Timmy, but I’m not sure—”

“Hey, champ, why don’t we head on home and let the ladies have a little time alone?” Brad reached for Timmy’s hand.

Timmy’s smile turned to a frown as he yanked away from his father. “No. I wanna go see Gramps.”

Amanda didn’t feel like dealing with this. “Let me try giving Jerry a call and see what he thinks.”

Jerry answered his cell phone immediately. After Amanda explained that Timmy was adamant about wanting to see Gramps, he said he thought that might be an excellent idea. “I just hope Dad remembers Timmy.”

“Maybe you can tell him Timmy is coming, and if he doesn’t remember him, you can explain who he is.”

“Good idea.”

“This might be what both of them need,” Amanda said.

“Why don’t you give me about an hour with him before you bring Timmy?” Jerry asked.

Amanda hadn’t planned to go back to the hospital, but she couldn’t turn him down after all he’d been through. “Okay, but let me know if anything changes.”

Timmy was ecstatic about visiting Gramps in the hospital. “Can we go to the store and get him something really cool?”

Brad cast another helpless glance in Amanda’s direction. “What does he want?”

“I know what he likes,” Timmy said. “Just take me to the store, and I’ll show you.”

Amanda nodded. “He’s at Palms of Pasadena. Why don’t we meet there in an hour?”

Timmy looked up at his dad, who nodded. “I’ll take him to the store, and we’ll meet both of you there.”

Lacy narrowed her eyes, gave Amanda a cursory glance, crossed the room, grabbed her handbag, and headed for the door. “I’m going with you and Timmy. My sister obviously doesn’t want me around.”

Amanda’s jaw went slack. How could her sister be so harsh when she was still in shock over what had happened to Harold? But she didn’t have a chance to say a word before Brad, Timmy, and Lacy took off.

After they were gone, Amanda plopped down on the sofa and leaned her head back. This had been an unbelievable day. She’d felt pretty good that morning, but her pulse quickly shot up when Jerry arrived.

Every few minutes she looked at the clock, waiting for the time she needed to leave in order to meet Brad, Timmy, and Lacy at the hospital. After a half hour, she got up to splash a little water on her face to try to erase some of the visible tension. One look in the mirror let her know she needed more than a few drops of water.

She powdered her face then patted a little blush on her cheeks before applying a thin layer of lip gloss. It didn’t do much, but she felt a little better for at least attempting to look human.

On the way, she spotted a guy on the street selling summer bouquets, so she stopped and purchased one for Harold. It wasn’t much, but at least she wouldn’t walk into the hospital empty-handed.

When she arrived at the emergency room reception desk, Amanda was directed to another wing. “They put him in a room,” the receptionist explained. Then she gave detailed directions.

She pulled out her cell phone and called Lacy to let her know where to go. Once she got to Harold’s wing, she waited by the nursing station for Lacy, Timmy, and Brad. They arrived about ten minutes later.

“I got Gramps his favorite thing,” Timmy announced the instant he spotted her.

“What’s that?” Amanda asked.

“It’s a surprise.” He beamed as he clenched the bag tightly in his fist.

The lady at the desk said Timmy couldn’t go into the patient area. He scrunched his face and started wailing.

Amanda gestured for the nurse to step away. “Gramps really loves little Timmy. Can’t you make at least one exception? I think it’ll make him feel so much better….” Amanda paused for a couple of seconds before adding, “It’ll give Gramps something to look forward to, and he’ll be much happier.”

The nurse pondered for a moment and finally nodded. After the nurse directed them to Harold’s room, the four of them headed down the hall. Amanda could only imagine what the medical staff thought.

When they were halfway there, Amanda heard Harold bellowing about wanting to go home and then Rosemary telling him to be quiet. Well, at least things were back to normal.

Timmy yanked free from his dad’s hand and bolted toward Harold’s room before anyone could stop him. “Timmy, come back here!” his dad yelled. “You can’t run in a hospital!”

The little boy ignored his dad as he darted into the room. “Gramps! I brought you something to make you feel all better!”

By the time Amanda, Brad, and Lacy got to Harold’s room, Timmy was already up in the bed beside him. To Amanda’s surprise, Harold’s face was the picture of pure joy.

“What took you so long to get here?” Harold asked. “I figured you’d come right away and spring me from this awful place.”

Timmy beamed right back at him. “Here, Gramps.” He shoved the bag toward Harold. “Daddy took me to the store, and I picked these out just for you.”

Harold grinned as he looked around the room at everyone. Then he settled his gaze on Timmy. “You did this for me?”

Timmy nodded. “It’s all yours. Open it.”

As Harold slowly opened the bag, Timmy bounced beside him on the bed. Brad reached out to still him, but Jerry shook his head and gestured to let him be.

“Oh, wow!” Harold pulled out a stack of baseball cards. “This is perfect!” He chuckled. “Who all is in here?”

Timmy helped him open the packs of cards, and they made all kinds of joyful sounds as they flipped through the stack. Amanda watched in awe as she realized that until Timmy had arrived, Harold was grumpy and completely out of sorts. Now that the little boy was beside him, the whole room seemed charged with positive energy.

“Here, let me take that.” Jerry reached for the flowers in Amanda’s hand. She’d forgotten she had them. “Dad, Amanda brought you some flowers.”

Harold barely glanced up. “That’s nice.” Then he turned all his attention back to Timmy.