Eyes Wide Open
Something was wrong. Before Hope even opened her eyes, she was very aware that there was a pain in her head beyond anything she’d ever felt before, and as her eyes cracked open, and sunlight penetrated her pupils, she squinted against the sharp, pulsating pain that filled her entire skull.
Closing her eyes again, she let out a soft groan and moved her hand to her head. She couldn’t remember much of anything, nor could she place where she should be. It seemed like she was in her own room, in her own cabin, but that didn’t quite seem right.
“Hope? Are you awake?”
The voice also didn’t match her last recollection. It sounded like her mother, and then her father, calling her name, and rushing to her side. Knowing she’d have to open her eyes again to find out for sure, she braced herself and then slowly opened one eye and then the other.
The forms were fuzzy at first, especially since she was peering at them through her long eyelashes. But she would know her mama and daddy anywhere, and when she heard her mother gasp and say, “Thank you, sweet Jesus,” another wave of confusion washed over her. Clearly, something had happened, but for the life of her, Hope couldn’t figure out what it might be.
“Don’t try to move, now,” her father insisted, hovering over her. “You’ve had an awful blow to the head.”
“I’ll go fetch Doc Howard.” The sound of Mr. Canton’s voice across the room and then the scurry of footsteps was a fleeting thought before she returned her full attention to her parents.
“What... what happened?” Hope asked, her voice just a croak. “How are you here?”
Her mother sat down beside her on the edge of the bed. “We were sort of hoping you could tell us that first part, Hope. You’ve had an awful head injury, honey, and no one seems to know what happened. Mrs. Howard sent a telegram near a week ago, urging us to come at once.”
“A week ago?” Hope attempted to shoot up in bed but couldn’t, and her mother’s steady hands would’ve prevented it even if she’d had the strength. Still, the movement sent another pain through her head, this one even sharper than the last.
“Yes, honey. You’ve been laid up for almost a week without moving much at all or opening your eyes. Here, have some water.” Cordia carefully lifted a glass to her daughter’s lips, and Hope drank as much as she could without moving her head too much. The water helped, but she still felt woozy, and every time she moved her head at all, it felt like a railroad tie was being hammered through her skull.
“Do you remember anything at all about where you were or what you were doing?” her mother asked, setting the glass aside.
Hope tried to remember the last thing she’d done before she woke up in bed, but everything was sort of hazy. She could recall finding Ginny’s book right after school let out on Friday and wondering if the girl would come and get it, but after that, she couldn’t think of anything at all. “I... don’t know. How did Mrs. Howard know I’d been injured?”
Her parents exchanged glances, and Hope recognized the expressions on both of their faces. They knew more than they were letting on. Will spoke next, his words measured. “Hope, darling, does the name Judah Lawless mean anything to you?”
All of the oxygen left her lungs as Hope shot up in the bed. Her mother reached out and placed a hand on each shoulder. “Calm down, Hope, now. Be careful. The doctor said you had an awful bad crack in your skull.”
The movement was rewarded with a blinding ache that left her dazed, and Hope inhaled deeply several times before she dared to open her eyes again. When she did, she could see her parents were frightfully concerned for her. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, honey, just be cautious. We don’t wanna go makin’ it worse now,” her mother insisted.
“Right.” She took another deep breath. “Why did you ask about Judah?”
“You do know him, then?” Will asked, taking a step closer to the bed and folding his arms, his lips drawn in a tight line.
“I know him. His niece and nephew are students in my class. We’ve been sort of... friends, I guess you could say.” She examined their faces for a moment. “What does Judah have to do with my head?” She searched back through her memories, but as far as she could tell, the last time she’d seen Judah had been the night he’d told her what had happened to his wives, nearly a month ago.
“He was the one that brought you in to Doc Howard, Hope,” Cordia explained. “He said you’d been out at his place, taking a book to his niece, and you fell. That’s all he’d say.”
Hope did her best to try to reconcile what her mother had just told her with her last memories. It did make sense that she might’ve decided to take the book out to Ginny. She knew her best student would want to read it over the weekend, and it was possible something had happened while she was there, but what she couldn’t make sense of is why Judah wouldn’t say more. “Did he say how I fell? What I hit my head on?”
“No,” Will said quickly, shaking his head in aggravation. “He wouldn’t say anything else at all, and according to Mrs. Howard, when the sheriff come, he wouldn’t say a word to the lawman. The only thing the sheriff had to go on was what he’d told the doctor.”
Alarmed, Hope attempted to lean in slightly, but she still couldn’t move her head without it hurting, though it seemed to be dulling slightly now that she was upright and had learned to expect it a little more. “What do you mean the sheriff came?” she asked, each word measured.
Her parents looked at each other again before her mother said, “Hope, would that man have any reason to try to hurt you? Mrs. Howard says he’s a murderer, and it’s a wonder you’re alive at all.”
“What?” Hope exclaimed. She would’ve come out of the bed if her mother hadn’t held her down. Her head was no longer a concern, despite the fact that everything went black for a few seconds before her mother got her re-settled.
“None of that, now Hope.” Her father’s hands were on her, too, and Hope settled back against the headboard, taking more deep breaths. “I take it you either didn’t know that or disagree with the assessment.”
“No, I do know.” Hope tried to shake her head to clear it and realized that was a bad idea. She raised her hand to the side of her head and felt a thick bandage there. With a huff, she closed her eyes tightly, hoping to find a way to explain herself and calm down at the same time. “What I mean to say is, I know what other people think about Mr. Lawless, but it isn’t true. He’s not a murderer, Daddy, and he’d never do anything to hurt me. Whatever happened, it had to have been an accident.”
“You seem very sure of yourself, darlin’,” Cordia said, not letting go of her daughter. “And Mr. Canton seemed surprised as well. He’s been here most of every day since you were injured, and he said more than once he wished Judah’d say somethin’ to someone, because he didn’t think he’d hurt you either. But everyone else....”
“Everyone else is wrong.” She had no doubt in her mind that whatever had happened, Judah had not purposely hurt her. She’d be willing to bet everything she had on it. “Where is Judah?”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
