Lancaster County Reckoning. Kit Wilkinson

he knew.

      “In the morning,” Elijah continued, “a few of us are planning to meet up at Jesse’s and help put the place back together. It’s quite a mess.”

      “I’ll be there.” Thomas shook Elijah’s hand.

      “Miss Simmons—” Elijah tipped his hat “—I hope you hear some good news very soon.”

      “Thank you.” Darcy nodded and finished up answering a few more questions from the chief.

      Thomas walked Elijah from the waiting area.

      “Thank you for coming.” He shook his friend’s hand. “It is gut to have someone who can help us make sense of these things. Not that I can see any sense in the harm that was done to Jesse. He was really beat up. And you heard about the phone call to Darcy?”

      “No.” Eli looked grim. “What phone call?”

      Thomas filled Elijah in on every detail. “If only Jesse could tell us what this is all about.”

      “I think Darcy should take that threat seriously after what happened to Jesse. But what could Jesse have that would be worth nearly killing him over?”

      “That is what I keep asking myself over and over,” Thomas said. “Do you remember when Jesse moved here? You and I wanted to go to his cottage every day after chores and play baseball or lawn croquet.”

      “I remember.” Elijah laughed then stopped abruptly.

      “Do you remember if he ever said where he came from?”

      “No. I don’t guess I ever really thought about it too much. He always just fit in. Like he’d been here forever.”

      “But he wasn’t,” Thomas said. “And he’s got a full-grown Englisch daughter to prove it.”

      “Maybe the Elders know. They must know something about his past from when they accepted him in to the Ordnung. I could ask my father.”

      “Would you? But would he even be able to tell you anything?” Thomas wondered if that was the right thing to do. “I mean it’s one thing for us to know he has a daughter. It’s another for us to know the whole story behind their past and their separation.”

      “I’m sure if Jesse thought that his daughter was in danger, he’d want us to help, no?” Elijah patted him on the back. “And we can help a lot more if we know more.”

      “But if we interfere then are we leaving it up to God?”

      “God will work through all of us. We will either get the answers or we won’t.”

      “Okay. I’ll see you at the cottage at noon tomorrow.”

      Elijah smiled. “All will be well.”

      All will be well. In God’s time.

      Thomas returned to the waiting room. McClendon had gone. Darcy had reseated herself on the other side of the room and did not look as if she wanted company. He could respect that. She had gone through a lot in one day. He imagined Darcy was barely holding it together.

      Thomas slumped down into a seat that he decided looked the least uncomfortable. He lowered his hat over his eyes and let his chin rest on his chest.

      Secret daughter? Jesse attacked and left for dead? Threats that he has something that belonged to someone else? Thomas just couldn’t wrap his head around it. It was as if the Jesse he’d always known was someone else entirely. Images of Jesse swam in Thomas’s head as he drifted off to sleep...

      * * *

      “Hey, man, wake up.”

      Thomas sat up fast. There was a horrible pain in his back and neck. Dr. Blake Jamison of the ER stood over him, looking like he hadn’t slept in days. Thomas checked the clock on the wall.

      “Seven thirty?” He stood and rubbed his neck. “Last I saw, it was midnight. I guess I fell asleep.”

      “Glad somebody did.” Blake glanced over toward Darcy. “Is that Jesse’s daughter? I have news.”

      “Ja. Come.” Thomas shook the ache from his stiff bones and led his doctor friend across the large waiting area. He hoped and prayed that Blake had good news.

      “Darcy, this is Dr. Jamison.” Thomas cleared the sleep from his voice. “Blake is the head of the ER here. He’s been with Jesse.”

      A brief smile brushed over Darcy’s lips. The lipstick had worn away and her lips were no longer stained with color. Plain and unpainted, they looked even lovelier to him than before. She shook hands with Blake. “So, how is Jesse?”

      Blake rubbed a thumb and forefinger over his scruffy stubble. It was clear he’d been at work for hours. “Well, he’s still with us. He made it through the night. The last procedure seemed to stop the rest of the internal bleeding.”

      Thomas let out a sigh of relief.

      “I get the sense that you led with the good news,” Darcy said shrewdly.

      Blake gave her a tired smile. “You’d be right. I’m afraid not all of my news is good.”

      “So what is the bad news?” she asked.

      “Jesse has slipped into a coma.”

       FOUR

      A coma? Thomas was thankful Jesse had lived. But for Darcy’s sake, and for the sake of Jesse’s continued safety, he sure wished he could ask his old neighbor a few questions. From the look of disappointment on Darcy’s face, Thomas guessed she was thinking the same thing. How were they going to get to the bottom of this without Jesse’s help?

      “A coma?” Darcy repeated. “How long will that last?”

      “I can’t say,” Blake answered. “But this can happen when recovering from such trauma to the brain. In many cases, the patient is able to eventually make a full recovery.”

      “So he will wake up?”

      “I can’t make any promises, but we certainly hope so. There’s a very good chance, and many of his indicators look positive. Still, he won’t be out of the woods completely even after waking up. There was a lot of hemorrhaging and we won’t be able to gauge the full extent of the damage until we can communicate with him.” Blake looked at Thomas.

      “So...what? What does that mean?” Darcy dropped her arms by her sides, demanding the rest of the news.

      “There is always some potential for brain damage. He may end up losing some or all of his cognitive and motor skills, and it’s very possible his memory will be affected.”

      “So he won’t remember who he is? He won’t remember me? Or Thomas?”

      “Every case is different,” Blake said, trying to console her. But Thomas knew what Blake was really saying was that he had no idea what was going to happen to Jesse. And Thomas could see Darcy’s tiny light of hope extinguishing. He couldn’t imagine how she felt, reconnecting with her father after all of these years only to run the risk of losing him again so soon.

      “Doctors have to tell you all of the possibilities,” Thomas said, trying to sound casual. “It doesn’t mean that’s what will happen. God will decide what will happen to Jesse.”

      “So you’ve said.” Darcy’s expression soured. “But isn’t there anything you can do medically to help him heal faster or better? To wake him from the coma?”

      “Unfortunately no,” Blake said. “His body is already doing what it needs. It’s trying to heal, to live. He’s breathing on his own. We just have to wait now.”

      “So he stays here? In this hospital? Can I move him to a hospital in the city? Closer to me?”

      “Moving