ch. 11 cont.
Harry opened
the door and reached inside and found the light switch that turned on the front
porch light and beside it was the switch for the living room lights. A light
was shining directly down the hall and Harry could tell it as a bathroom as he
could see the partially open door and the toilet beyond . Harry motioned for Ann
and Lee to be seated , they had already moved in that direction as Harry
spoke.
“Lee and Ann
take a seat, the Sheriff and I will
look at the bathroom. “
The
sheriff and Harry continued on down the hall and a conversation could be heard at
times , then the Sheriff returned to the living room and asked Lee
where he was standing when he heard the thump and his Dad'scall for help. Lee went to the
kitchen and stood in front of the sink and the Sheriff yelled for the lawyer to
make a noise of stomping his feet. And Sheriff
Blake standing beside Lee could clearly hear the
noise. Then he asked Harry to call out
for Lee in a normal voice and Lee could hear him as well as the Sheriff.
With that he
asked Lee to accompany him to the bathroom and describe what he saw and done
immediately after he heard his Dads calls for help.
Lee said, “I
rushed to the bathroom, I rounded the corner and saw dad on his back, and his
leg stuck through the walker reaching up as though he needed help up. He was
naked from the waist down as he tripped in his pajama bottoms after taking a pee.
Probably forgot he had them on.” Pee though dried was staining the tile floor
as well one could see a hunk of skin with hair on a door knob on the sink. This
looked to obvious that this matched Carl’s injury. It was on the back of his head where
the contusion and laceration occurred and that was consistent with the marks on
Carl’s head. Width wise it was perfect. The Sheriff and Harry were looking all over
the bathroom for anything amiss. Harry remained quiet for the most part. Finally
the sheriff remarked.
“Harry
it looks as though he did as Lee says he did , I saw the wound on Carl before leaving
the hospital and it looks like that knob width. My report will go to the
coroner if he passes, but as far as I am concerned Lee doesn't have anything to
worry about. But one thing is bothering me and I need to check real quick . And
that is if Lee could answer a question for me. Miss Reed heard Carl say you hit him with a two by
four upside the head. Did you do that Lee?”
Lee laughed ,
and the Sheriff looked puzzled, and then Lee said “When we were kids his dad said that to them anytime
they were not paying attention , he was delusional , just got hit in the head
with a medicine cabinet and you are worrying about a little old two by four.
Give me a break. If I hit him with a two by four, would I call 911 or just bury him out there
someplace and take my chances. It was probably the only line he remembered at
the time. Come on Sheriff. “
“Yes had to
ask you though. “
“Can I see
my dad?”
“It may take
till tomorrow morning but I don’t see any reason why not. Emily will just have
to accept it. Give me call at this number in the morning and I will let you
know. “ With that the Sheriff produced a business card with his cell number on
it.
“Can I use the house, and clean? “Asked Lee.
“No problem,
just need to take pictures of everything, with Harry's help. You must understand That Miss Emily was
only trying to do good, don’t think bad of her.” Sheriff Blake said justifying their
actions.
Lee says” I
understand and it is so easy to misconstrue what is going on when dealing with
dementia. There is no understanding and it is just the way it is. They say
stuff they don’t mean and often repeat phrases that they themselves used before on
occasion. Little Miss Emily will learn in time. Not everyone is abused. “
“Well before
you clean anything let me take pictures of where you were standing and where
your father fell and struck his head. And I will be out of your way.” Harry watched
as the Sheriff produced a small digital camera and took pictures of both areas
and a few shots looking towards each other , made some notes in his notebook
Harry
added.” Remember Sheriff my client has been willing to assist. Just that what
you were charging him with potentially forced us to take the
actions we did. “
The Sheriff
nodded, and left out the front door into the cold night. Ann who remained quiet
for the most part and was sitting on the couch said finally ,“Well I am going
out and recover the rest of my Chinese dinner and then Lee I will give you a
hand cleaning up in here. Would you like to share some Chinese Harry?”
Harry said, “No thank you and I will be
going soon also. Let me walk you to your car Ann. The walk is slippery. Well must
be going Lee. Let me know if anything else comes up.”
Lee returned with, "Well I don’t know what I
am going to do with the farm. May need
to sell as dad is on life support and racking up hospital bills, Medicare won’t
pay till he divests everything including the land and all possessions. Just don’t
seem right a farmer feeds people all their life but when he needs help, how soon
everyone forgets. Anyhow may need to sell and need you to handle that part
also. “
“Well give me a call and let me know what
you are going to do. Those bills aren't yours Lee don’t worry about them. Take care
of yourself and hopefully your Dad will pull through. You have a lot on your
mind. Later.” He yelled as he was headed out the door helping Ann to her car,
and soon his taillights could be seen receding in the distance as Ann came back
in the house with her and Lee’s cold dinner.
Ann said. “What a
bunch of crap!”
Lee agreed, “Yes for sure, who knew
something so simple as a fall could cause so much crap. Oh well no worse for the
wear, and could you imagine Dad saying I hit him with a two by four. Don’t know how many times he used that line
on me and you could have hit me with a two by four and still I would have stood
there dumbfounded when I heard what he said. Just hope those aren't his dying
words. “
"He didn't
seem to be hurt and was conscious afterwards at least long enough to talk to Miss
Emily. Maybe he will be alright. Let’s get things cleaned up , your chores done
and get some sleep. Long day tomorrow the way it is shaping up." Ann said feeling the strain of what happened starting to weigh her down. she couldn't imagine how Lee felt accused of wrong doing.
They did as
they said , finally making it to bed and it was in the middle of the night Lee got the call he dreaded
since this thing started. His Dad was going in for surgery to relieve the
swelling on the brain. They needed to install tubes to relieve the pressure and
hopefully end the coma. His sister had called him from the hospital and was going
to keep him informed as to what was going on. An hour later she called and said their dad was suffering from a stroke and
that Lee needed to get there as soon as possible. Ann and Lee rushed back to
the hospital but his Dad had died on the operating table, while he was headed there.
Lee comforted his sister and and drove her to her house in the morning as she
was alone at the hospital. He spoke with his brother in-law and helped his
sister into her house . Then returned
home himself and went back to bed with Ann in his arms.
He laid silently
with Ann in his arms sleeping quietly
and just thought about his life and what he was going to do now. He couldn't sleep.
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