“Then I’ll pray out loud,” Katherine said. Tommy clasped his hands together and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Lord, help Captain Braddock. Help him to wake up and help his injuries to heal. Help us to stay calm and be of whatever use we can. Show us how we can help him.” Her voice broke and she had to pause for a while before finally whispering, “Please, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
“Amen,” Tommy echoed in a whisper, and the two clung tightly, eyes glued to the captain’s face.
After several minutes, Katherine heard sirens in the distance. At the same moment, Captain Braddock’s lips parted and a low moan escaped.
“Captain?” Katherine said, gently putting Tommy to one side to free her arms. “Captain, can you hear me?”
“What…” the word was mumbled and barely recognizable. “Katherine…”
“Well, at least you know me.” Katherine said, with an encouraging smile for Tommy.
“That…noise…”
“It’s the paramedics, Captain. You’ve had a fall, and they’ve come to help.” She squeezed his hand then turned to Tommy. “Go open the door and wave at them so they know where to go.”
Tommy ran to the door and flung it open, the bell jingling raucously.
“Hang on, Captain. Help is here. You’ll be all right.” She gave the captain’s hand another squeeze. Lord, please let him be all right!
* * * *
Katherine sat listening to the dull beep of the monitors and the soft hum of the nurses in the hallway outside. She had called Tommy’s mom, who came to pick him up just after the captain was loaded into the ambulance. Since then, she sat by the captain’s side while they ran tests and spoke in hushed tones, asking her what happened and how she was related to him.
They had called Serena, who had given the doctors permission to talk to Katherine about her brother’s medical condition until she could get there. The captain himself drifted in and out of consciousness for a while, but now was soundly sleeping.
The doctors said he was suffering from a concussion, and would need to rest as much as possible. Their scans had also shown a broken bone in his ankle that required a splint for now, and a sturdier cast later on. Katherine felt she couldn’t leave him there alone, especially since the doctors told her he was likely to experience some confusion and temporary issues with his memory as his brain healed from the concussion.
“Katherine?”
“I’m here. How are you feeling?” Katherine squeezed the captain’s hand and leaned forward so he could see her better.
“I don’t…what happened?”
“I didn’t see, but Tommy said you fell.”
“Tommy…is he ok?” His voice trailed off.
“Yes, he’s just fine. His mom took him home.” Katherine smiled and was thankful for a fresh wave of patience—this was the third time he had asked these same questions.
“My ankle hurts,” he said, trying to sit up.
“Stay there.” Katherine gently pushed his shoulder. He settled back into the pillows, and Katherine explained. “You broke your ankle when you fell. You also hit your head.”
“Did I fall?”
“Yes.” Katherine’s heart squeezed. It pained her to see the confident, gruff captain so feeble and confused. Lord, help him! she prayed again. It was the only prayer her mind could form since the captain’s fall, but it had become like breathing to her.
She watched as his eyes slowly drifted shut again and wondered, What would I do without him? The thought filled her with dread, and she inched her chair just a little closer to the hospital bed.
She looked into his weathered face and remembered the first time she had met him. She would never have guessed that the gruff, distant man would end up so dear. She recalled his bluster about the Harborside being a family business, and her eyes filled with tears. He was family, maybe not by blood, but family, nonetheless.
Resting her forehead on his rough, wrinkled hand, she repeated the verse which she had been clinging to, feeling in deeper need than ever of its truth.
There is no fear in love…
14 Shipwrecked
Katherine slowly drifted awake in the dim light of the hospital room. Through sleep-bleared eyes, she peered around, unsure at first where she was. As her eyes cleared, she became aware of stiff legs and arms, and a back aching from being too long in an awkward position.
She gingerly straightened her legs and began to stretch. The chair she had curled up in was far from comfortable, but she hadn’t wanted to leave the captain. He was still sleeping, so she stood and gingerly took a few steps around the room, trying to wake up her painfully tingling limbs.
Limping back to her chair, she moved it closer to the hospital bed and sat, watching the captain sleep, wondering how everything could change so completely in just an instant.
She looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. Time to start the morning baking. But there was no way she could leave the captain. Miss Harriet’s would have to stay closed for now, as would the Harborside.
And then, what would she do later on, when the captain went home? Katherine knew he would need some care. Other than Serena, far away across the world, she was all he had. She would help him get around while his leg healed—but what about the shops? Her head spun and she felt her aching muscles tighten as she tried to figure out how to manage both shops and care for the captain.
Once she was certain the captain was sleeping soundly, she slipped out into the hallway to stretch her cramped legs. The nurses at the nearby station looked up briefly, then went back to their conversation as if she didn’t exist. Katherine had never felt so alone. A wave of emotion threatened to engulf her there and then, but she took a breath and kept pacing to wake up her legs.
Standing in the doorway so she could keep an eye on the captain, she pulled out her phone to check for messages. A flicker of relief—Serena was coming. And Sally would arrive in the afternoon—she could help keep Miss Harriet’s limping along.
