Dakota (Ch 14)

I had never felt so warm before. It was like a tight hug from someone you really cared about. And they just didn't let go. I wanted to sleep. I wanted to keep sleeping. I didn't want to wake up. I didn't want that feeling to end. I felt that warmth so long that I didn't remember a time apart from it. I was lying under the sun in a field of grasses knee-high. The sun washed over me. The sun was the warmth that covered me. The light was brilliant. It would have been blinding, but in that place-there it only made everything seem more alive.

The sun fell behind a mountain with the sound of a million shattering light bulbs. The warmth disappeared. Suddenly, I was cold. I was very cold. Colder than I could imagine. The field was gone. I was on a slab of ice afloat in the frigid waters of some distant ocean. My body shivered, shuttered. I convulsed.

Then came the pain. It travelled through my body from the inside out. It radiated from within me. I couldn't handle this. It was too much. My arm was on fire and yet so cold at the same time. My side ached. My head throbbed. I didn't know what was going on. I only knew that I wished the sun would rise again. I wanted that warmth. I wanted that radiant light.

"Jake."

I began to hear a voice, clouded and muddled. The voice called out to me. I didn't see anyone. I was alone on this floating frozen vessel.

"Jake. Can you hear me?"

The voice spoke again. The light of the sun had completely vanished. I lay in complete darkness. Nothing before me but the black. An empty black space. The pain grew worse.

"Jake. Jake."

I tried to respond. I tried to answer back. Nothing. I opened my mouth. Spoke. But nothing came out. I screamed at the top of my lungs. Still the voice did not hear me.

"Jake. Can you hear me?"

A single point of light broke through the darkness. It fluttered around, first on my left. It hung in mid air. I wanted to touch it. It jumped to my right side. I spoke to the light.

"I see you. I see the light."

"Jake, you can see me?"

"Who are you? What are you?"

"What am I? Jake, take your time. Focus."

The light rushed toward me, expanding. It grew faster, larger. It collided with my broken body. An instant of intense warmth followed by the return of the extreme cold and the pain. Oh, the pain.

The flashlight hung before my face. I felt the cool cloth on my face. I saw concern in his eyes, the sweat on his brow.

"Jake. Jake."

"Lyle."

The word barely trickled off my tongue. The pain intensified. It was excruciating. My back arched involuntarily. My right side was warm and wet. The rest of my body felt like ice. I tried to speak again.

"What...hap, happened?"

"Jake. Oh, thank God! Stay with me Jake. Stay with me. I need you to keep your eyes open. I need you to just relax and stay awake."

I nodded my head. That was a mistake.

"OK."

I uttered. I'm sure it sounded lazy, but it involved more effort than lifting a car over my head. Those two syllables carried an inexplicable weight.

"Janie is alright. She's passed out again, but she is going to be OK. The ambulance is on its way Jake. They'll be here soon."

"Mmhm."

That was all I could muster. I wanted to stay awake. I wanted to pay attention. But I couldn't. The pain was overwhelming. It was too much. The dark returned. The cold came back. The ice surrounded me.

"Dammit. I lost him again."

/ / /

It wasn't until I was somewhere between the house on Elk River Lane and County Medical Center that I awoke again. The faces before me were strange and unfamiliar. The voices spoke of my condition. They discussed me like I was a number, an object.

"I'm right here. I'm human! I'm still alive"

I wanted to scream. But I couldn't. My mouth was covered by an oxygen mask. I felt the needle puncture my left arm. They placed the IV bag on a stand by my head. I watched life drip back into my body. I tried to move my arm. It was stiff. My right side was completely numb. The pain, the pain was still there.

The ride was bumpy and unappreciated. I wanted out. Damn South Dakota. Is there one square tire on this thing? Why hadn't I just let Janie sleep it off on the couch. Memories of that afternoon began to filter in. They were brief and out of order. I tried to mentally piece together what I could remember. Where was Janie? Where was she now?

The point of light returned. I felt my eye being held open. Blink. Then the other. Blink.

"He's awake. He's conscious."

"Good. What about the bleeding?"

"No. I can't stop it. It's bad. It just keeps soaking through the wrap."

"He lost a lot of blood. Try tying off his upper arm."

"I did."

"Tie it tighter."

I heard the voices discussing my condition. I was bleeding. Why was I bleeding? Where was I bleeding? How much was 'a lot'? The darkness and cold rushed back.

/ / /

"What's his condition."

"Well, to be honest Sheriff, he is extremely lucky. He should be waking up. You can see him in a minute. As you know, the initial broken forearm was a pretty standard break from what we can tell. When his arm got kicked into the wall his forearm fracture compounded. His fall down the stairs accentuated his condition. His back is badly bruised from hitting the banister. The force and momentum of his fall placed all his weight on his shattered arm. On impact, his wrist broke as well. The angle and force with which his arm hit the ground caused the bone to break the skin and effectively left the lower portion of his right arm dangling, attached only by the muscles, nerves, and skin tissue."

"That's fairly extreme. Can you repair his arm?"

"We've done our best. He has a steel rod now instead of a forearm. His wrist is a mess of pins melding the new arm to his hand. It'll be a while before it's fully healed. Months. Thankfully, the nerves and muscles were not damaged extensively. There will be a fair amount of scar tissue in the arm but he'll be alright in time. Never one hundred percent again in that arm, but fully functioning nonetheless."

"Anything else?"

"Apart from the arm? Yes. He clearly suffered a concussion from his head hitting the floor. The paramedics reported that he threw up on himself in transit. That is quite typical of a head injury. He is only now regaining consciousness post-op so I am unsure if there will be any loss of memory. More than likely, things will be fuzzy at best. But more importantly Sheriff, I said that the bone in his forearm punctured the skin when it fractured. The force of his fall actually impaled him. The paramedics said the bone was still wedged into his right abdomen when they arrived on scene."

"I didn't move the body. I didn't want to make anything worse. I stepped outside with his sister once they arrived. I had no idea."

"Well, it's a damn good thing you didn't move the body. Had you done so, he would have bled out. He lost a lot of blood as it was. Had that puncture wound been left open for a prolonged period, like you had to wait, we wouldn't be having this discussion."

"Oh, God. Did the bone do any damage?"

"It had the effect of being stabbed. An inch higher and it would have missed the thicker abdomen muscles and more than likely punctured his right kidney. He got lucky. Like I said. But I really think he's going to be fine. He just needs time."

"Good. Good. What about the sister?"

"Well, the sister is still being detoxified. She has a long road to a full recovery. Her body, her system is so messed up. Her liver is practically destroyed. The heavy use of narcotics has ravaged her nervous system. I don't know. It could go either way. I mean, she is going to walk out of here fine essentially, but she is going to have to make some big decisions, take big steps in the right direction if she wants to get better."

"Thanks Dr. Danvers."

He turned toward Jake's room. He wanted him to know he wasn't alone.

"Oh, Julie..."

He caught her sleeve as she was rounding the corner

"There was someone else brought in that night, not sure if you caught her. Um, a Rebekah something."

"Let me check."

She stepped behind the nurse's station and typed in the name. She tapped her thumb on the space bar, waiting. She raised her finger to the screen aand scanned.

"Um. Rebekah Dekolowitz. Um, it looks like she was brought in after a traffic accident. She collided with a tr--"

"I know that. What's her condition? Is she still here?"

"She was treated for some minor burns, cuts, and scrapes and smoke inhalation. Uh. OK, here. She also suffered a broken left leg and cracked 2 ribs in the accident. Her head hit the windshield in the crash, causing a concussion. Anything else? Oh, she's in room 104."

"Thanks. She's my next stop."

"This related to the Samuels' cases?"

"Jake's ex. She was leaving the house when she hit the tree. She delayed his ambulance, blocked the road."

"Sounds like it was an eventful day up there in Wessington."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not used to this. I'll catch up with you later Doc."

"Yeah. See ya."

Holt stepped to the door of room 327. He saw Jake's eyes blinking, the bright light overhead blinding him. He raised his hand to push open the door. His mind shifted. Where was Donny Kahle? He released the handle and the let door come back towards him. He grabbed his phone and dialed.

"Kahle? Where are you? I thought you were going to meet me at the hospital."

"Holt. I'm sorry. I got called out to Spink County. They wanted me on a case."

"Right now?"

"You know those idiots, Lyle. Waste of my time. I'm just getting back now. I can be there in fifteen."

"Alright. I'm checking on Jake. Then I'm headed to check on the ex-girlfriend. We need to run a background on her. She's out there, crazy. I need to know her story."

"Ex-girlfriend?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you about it when you get here."

"Sit tight. I'll hurry."

"10-4. Out."

"Out."