Maire's Story

Chapter 3 and 4

C H A P T E R  T H R E E

At first, everything seemed strange, unfamiliar and out of focus. So Maire blinked a few times and tried again. This time she could see better, but now her head hurt. So she tried to sit up, only to find it was barely possible. Every muscle in her arms seemed to be in pain and she fell back onto the bed.

"Ohhhh..." she groaned and that brought a nurse to her side. The woman spoke a few words in French to a doctor, who said something in the same language to Maire and pulled out a pocket flashlight. He intended to check her eyes, but Maire — who was taking French at school and had a rough understanding of the language — simply couldn't figure out what was being said.

So after a moment of futile effort, the doctor spoke to the nurse and she left the room, returning a moment later with Gram and Gramp.

"Hello, Mrs. Adam. Hi, Mr. Adam," said Maire weakly. "My head is sore."

"I'm not surprised, dearie; you took quite a bump, along with a few cuts and bruises," Gram explained tenderly.

"Where am I?"

"Yer back in the hospital," answered Gramp.

"Why?"

There was a pause as Gram looked at Gramp for a moment. Then...

"Well, there was an accident. Your parents' car went off the road. Do you recall that?"

Maire started to shake her head, then stopped when the pounding worsened.

"Where am I?"

"You're still in the hospital," said Gram. "Don't you remember asking that?"

"No. There was an accident?"

Gram nodded. "You were on your way to supper with the Fitzpatricks when your parents' car hit some ice. It...it left the road and went into some trees near the Jackarty."

"Where are Mom and Dad?"

"They're...not here," was all Gram could think of to say.

Maire was silent for a moment. She had questions and worries, but couldn't seem to organize them well enough to put into words. Finally...

"My head hurts."

"We're knowin' that," Gramp assured her. Then he left the room and asked the doctor, in his best fractured French, about Maire's memory lapses. They were a symptom of someone who'd suffered a concussion, the doctor slowly explained. But it didn't appear to be severe, so if all the tests and procedures still to be done turned out okay, she could likely go home after a night's observation.

Gramp thanked him and returned to the room. Maire had fallen asleep and Gram was watching her. When she turned, he saw tears in her eyes.

"How are we going to tell her?" she whispered sadly, burying herself in his arms. "I can barely stand the pain of it myself."

"It's a turrible thing," Gramp agreed. He led her outside to a chair in a secluded corner of a lounge so he could explain Maire's condition.

The news was good enough for Gram to momentarily cheer up and flash a smile. Then she went to a telephone and contacted Coleen who, bless her heart, had taken care of letting the Fitzpatricks know what had happened. Now Coleen was trying to reach Monique.

"I've had no luck so far, Mrs. A. She's in Halifax, attending an exhibition of her paintings, so I've left urgent messages with her manager. She's doing her best to find Monique, too, so we should be successful before long. How's Maire?"