Blind Promises

Dana came to with Mrs. Pibbs standing over her, taking her pulse. For just a moment she was back in her student nurse's class six years earlier, watching Mrs. Pibbs give pointers on nursing procedure. But when she felt the stabs of pain in her head and the bruises on her slender body, she realized that she wasn't in class. She was a patient in Ashton General Hospital.Her face felt tight when she tried to speak, and her head throbbed abominably. "Mother...?" she managed weakly.Mrs. Pibbs sighed, laying the long-fingered young hand down on the crisp white sheet. "I'm sorry, my dear," she said gently.Tears ran down the Nordic face, misting the soft brown eyes in their frame of tousled platinum-blond hair. She'd known before she asked the question. Her last memory was of her mother's unnatural position in the metallic tangle of the front seat. But she'd hoped..."Your father is here," Mrs. Pibbs said.Dana's hurt eyes flashed. "No," she said stiffly.The older woman looked shocked. "You don't want to see Mr. Steele?"Dana's eyes closed. After what her mother had confessed just before the wreck, she never wanted to see him again. "I don't feel up to it," she said tightly."You aren't critically injured, Nurse," Mrs. Pibbs reminded her in that tutor voice. "Just some bruises and a few deep lacerations; not even a broken bone. We're observing you because of a concussion and shock more than for any great injury.""I know. Please, Mrs. Pibbs, I'm so tired," she pleaded.The plump woman's hard face melted a little at the look. For all her facade of stone, she was a marshmallow inside. "All right," she agreed finally. "I'll tell him you aren't up to it. Shall I ask him anything?"Dana blinked her eyes. "The funeral arrangements.... Is my Aunt Helen taking care of those, or must I...?""Your aunt and I spoke briefly this morning. Everything is being taken care of," came the quiet reply. "It's to be tomorrow. Your aunt will be by later to explain."Dana nodded, closing her eyes wearily. It seemed like a nightmare. If only she could wake up!"I'll tell Mr. Steele you're indisposed," Mrs. Pibbs added formally, and left Dana alone.Dana turned her face to the wall. She couldn't bear even the sight of her father, the sound of his name. Poor little Mandy, poor little Mandy, who hadn't the weapons to survive all alone after twenty-five years of being provided for. It was inevitable that she'd break eventually. For the first few weeks after the divorce was final, Dana had been on the lookout for it to happen. But it hadn't, not even when Jack Steele announced his marriage to one of the women he worked with, a blond, motherly woman whom Dana had only seen once.Mandy had held on, working at a florist's shop, doing well, apparently happy and with everything to live for. Until Jack had been married three months. And then, last night, Mandy had called Dana, crying hysterically, and begged for a talk.Dana had gone, as she always went when Mandy called, and found her mother drinking heavily. "Let's go out to supper," Mandy had begged, her pale brown eyes watery with hot tears, her wrinkled face showing its age. "I can't bear being alone anymore. Let's go out to supper and talk. I thought you might want to come back home and live with me again."Dana had been as floored by the state her mother was in as she was by the request. She didn't want to live at home again; she wanted her independence. But there had to be some kind way to tell Mandy that, and she was searching for it when they went out to the car."I'll drive," Mandy had insisted. "I'm fine, dear, really I am. Just a couple of martinis, you know, nothing heavy. Get in, get in."At that point Dana should have insisted on driving, but she'd been upset by her mother's sudden request that she move back in and she'd climbed obediently into the front seat."It will be lovely having you home again," Mandy cooed as sPalmer, Diana is the author of 'Blind Promises', published 2008 under ISBN 9780373786169 and ISBN 0373786166.