--1--

It was ten minutes to midnight when Daniel saw the headlights of Amanda’s green, 1976 Ford Fiesta pull into the driveway.  To this day, she still hated the car, but it wasn’t his fault even though he picked it out for her.  When they had gone to look at vehicles, her indifference had been unnerving so he did his damnedest to find something with a cheery name that came in a putrid color, hoping she would say, “No.”  Instead, she acquiesced to his choice and could be seen out and about running errands with her pasty pallor and flaming hair contrasting beautifully with the car’s split pea soup complexion.

He opened the door and rested against the frame with his hands tucked in the pockets of his khaki trousers.  The night air was sharp as it entered his lungs while he waited for Amanda to park.  His car was by the curb, close to the mailbox because of her call earlier in the afternoon.  In truth, he thought she had come home sometime after he had dozed off in his chair and hadn’t bothered to wake him before going upstairs to bed.

Amanda killed the engine and got out.  The dull thud of the slammed car door held an ominous note.  “It’s cold tonight.”

“I poured you a brandy.  It’s on the coffee table by your chair.”  As Amanda approached him, he drew her into his embrace.  Her lips were cold, almost unyielding, and froze his insides more than the night air despite her arms around his neck.  "I love you, Mand."

He searched her eyes, trying to see if he could penetrate her stony glare.  "I love you too, Daniel." 

Amanda sank in her chair and took a sip from the snifter of Hennesy Daniel gave her. The brandy tasted good as it burned the back of her throat and warmed her stomach.  The chill that had been following her around for most of the day relinquished its hold as she downed the rest of the amber fluid in one gulp.  Daniel’s eyebrow rose as he refilled her glass.  “One of the patients got a hold of a pair of scissors,” she blurted.

Daniel sat down on the hassock in front of her.  “How did that happen?”

Amanda covered her face with her hands.  “I don’t know.”

His hands were soft, yet firm as he put them around her wrists and pulled them down so he could see her eyes.  Her gaze was one of complete loss in not knowing what to do.  “Talk to me, Amanda.”

She looked at him squarely.  Her words broke through with the force of a river destroying a dam.  In minute detail she explained how the patient had been found the night before cutting her hair while singing Rock a Bye Baby.  “You should see her, Daniel.  She’s a mess!  I looked at her records and read through Dr. Thompson’s notes more than once while he was seeing her.  He was seeing progress none of the rest of us did.  For the last six months, she has been assigned to Dr. Wilson who has nothing to say other than she’s unresponsive and reticent.  I don’t understand why she would do what she did and I am furious with the neglectful sonofabitch who left them out.  She never should have been able to acquire them.”

Daniel handed Amanda her glass.  She paused long enough to drain half of it and continued.  His eyes widened in surprise as she gave him Pamela’s report of how she had seen the patient circling her crotch with the point of the scissors.  “My God, Amanda.  What if she would have penetrated herself?”

“This isn’t good, Daniel.  Something like this never would have happened if Dr. Thompson was still there.”

“Stop it, Mand,” he ordered firmly.  “You are more than competent to be the medical director at Sanford.” 

“What do I do?”

‘Besides go on vacation?’ He thought ironically.  He took his time processing what Amanda had told him while pacing back and forth across the living room.  His stream of questions lasted over an hour before he answered.  “What I think, is maybe something inappropriate is taking place and the patient should be evaluated by someone else.”

Amanda nodded.  “She’s not a combative patient.  She’s just in a lethargic state, bordering catatonic, and roams the hall.”

Daniel shook his head.  He agreed with his wife the patient had to have been triggered.  “Maybe you should be the one talking to her.”

Amanda was taken aback.  “Why me?”

Daniel studied her.  “You’re the medical director.  Maybe that’s why she was progressing with Dr. Thompson before he retired.”

She drank the rest of her brandy and refilled her glass.  She mulled over her husband’s suggestion while chewing on her lower lip.  “I’ll give it some thought.”

--2--

The alarm sent a sickening wave of butterflies through Amanda’s stomach.  She covered her mouth as the invisible wings flapped against her insides and made way for the roller coaster ride of peristalsis racing across her abdomen.  “I’m going to be sick.”

Daniel sat up in time to see Amanda run to the bathroom with her hand clamped firmly over her mouth to muffle her gags.  The retching echoed back to him as she gave the toilet a profuse offering.  “All hail the porcelain god,” Daniel muttered.  He got up and shut the door so he wouldn’t have to hear and wind up joining her.

Amanda rarely vomited after she drank, nor did she drink enough before they went to bed to cause it.  When she came back into the room he asked if she was alright.  She hesitated, her ashen face was clammy.  “No,” she admitted.  “I’m going to meet with Pastor Richmond around 9:00 then go over to the hospital later.”

“Why don’t you come by the clinic after you meet with Richmond,” he suggested.  “It’s been a while since you’ve joined me for lunch.”  Amanda nodded and then went downstairs to make breakfast.

Daniel’s plate was on the table when he entered the kitchen.  Amanda was sipping coffee and looking at the paper, her bowl of cereal barely touched.  She caught a whiff of his aftershave as he placed his hands on her shoulders and bent over to kiss her cheek.  “Thank you, Mand.”

She nodded and rose.  “If you’ll excuse me, Daniel.  I need to get ready.”

            Before he sat down, Daniel picked up Amanda’s bowl and poured it down the sink so he wouldn’t have to be in the company of soggy bran flakes swimming in a pool of milk.  He turned on the cold water and ran the disposal.  The sound of the whirring blades was almost hypnotic as they shredded through the remains with ease.  Daniel turned it off along with the water and went back to the table.  He picked up the paper Amanda had left and read between bites of the pancakes she left at his place.

            Daniel was gone when Amanda came downstairs.  Her wet hair was pulled back in its usual hasty knot and her face was untouched by cosmetics.  She looked around the kitchen before she headed out and was thankful to see Daniel had washed the dishes before he left.  She went to the freezer, pulled out two steaks, and put them in the refrigerator to thaw for dinner the next night.  Today, Daniel would have to find something if he wanted to eat because she had a feeling once she got to Sanford, her day would just be starting.

--3--

Pastor Richmond was going over notes for Sunday’s sermon when Amanda knocked on his door.  “Come in.”

            Amanda turned the handle and entered.  Unlike most women he knew, she did not carry a purse.  When he had asked her about it, she had shrugged and said she did not need a bag to carry what could fit in her pockets.  “Hello, Pastor Richmond.”

            He motioned to one of the comfortable chairs in front of his desk, upholstered in a floral design on a backdrop the color of new wine.  “Amanda.  Have a seat.”

            “I was at the library last Saturday,” she began, “And Adam showed me a few books which seemed easy enough to follow.  I figure – “

            “Coffee,” Pastor Richmond asked.

            “Coffee,” Amanda repeated.

            The pastor smiled.  “Yes.  I was asking if you would like some.”

            Amanda shook her head.  “Now, what I was thinking – “

            David interrupted her again.  “Slow down, Amanda.”

            Amanda was puzzled.  “What?”

            “Let’s go for a walk,” he suggested.  “The fresh air will do us good.”

            He didn’t know how to express his concern for a woman he didn’t know very well, except for what he heard from the gossip.  It made him wonder if what he heard was true and if she had been asked to be Sanford’s medical director so she would be forced to step down.  If that happened, she would be considered a failure in the profession, and someone who was more like her husband could take over.

 He led her out a side door into a well-tended yard with a stone path.  Amanda followed the pastor and wondered if it ended at the property line or continued into the woods.  “The weather is turning,” he said, buttoning his sweater.  “I wonder if we will have an early snow this year.”

            Amanda gave it some thought then shrugged as if to say, “Who cares?”

            David smiled.  “Do you like winter?”

            She shuddered.  “Not in particular.  Now, about the garden.  What I was thinking – “

            “Have you thought about a vacation,” David asked.  “Maybe someplace warm?”

            Amanda blinked, not comprehending.  “Pardon me?”

            “If I were Daniel, I would think you need a breather,” he mused.

            Amanda felt confused, almost defensive.  “Of what concern is it of yours?”

            David heard the note of accusation in her voice and continued walking.  “Just hearing the tension in your voice and using the garden as a focus to relieve some of the pressure you’re surely under says much.”

            Amanda frowned as the pastor bent over and pulled up a couple of weeds the lawnmower had missed  The last thing she expected was to be talked to about what was going on in her life and although she enjoyed his company at a rare gathering or dinner, he was practically a stranger.  This last thought stunned her.  The realization slid down her back like a thick cube of ice and left her cold.  She did not know anyone outside of Daniel on an intimate level.  Her fellow peers at the hospital could hardly be considered colleagues.  “Why do you even care?”

            Pastor Richmond straightened up and brushed the dirt off his palms.  They made a half-hearted clapping sound that filled the not-so-awkward silence.  He could feel Amanda’s searching gaze as she studied him and for a brief moment wondered how Daniel faired in a sterile hospital atmosphere.  Was it why he chose to become a doctor?  David smiled.  “It’s my duty to care, Amanda.  An oath I made when the world at one point made sense.”

            “I don’t understand.”

            “Nor do I expect you to.  Let’s just say, if we are going to work together on getting this garden to grow, you and I are going to have to build some kind of rapport.”

            Amanda shoved her hands in her pockets and studied the path.  “I get along better with books than people,” she muttered.

            David chortled.  “I’m sure you do.  Now then, what have you found out?”

            The following two hours passed quickly.  The pastor was impressed with the details of her overall research which she had put into a notebook for him to review.  The names of the books she used along with the Dewey decimal reference numbers were listed on the first page so he could look at them if he wanted to.  Amanda had lowered her eyes when he looked at her dumbfounded.  “In case you find something I missed, those are the ones I went through.”

            No wonder Daniel aced his classes.  If only she knew how her name buzzed through the congregation after Sunday morning service, even though he had only seen her sitting in a pew maybe a dozen times over the last ten years because of Daniel's request.  “There’s a lot here, Amanda.”

            “I was thinking about digging a trench around the area where we can plant the garden in the spring and burn everything in it before it snows.”

            “Ah.  You want to swidden the land,” he smiled.  “Only without the hacking down part of the process.”

            Amanda tilted her head.  It was a term she had never heard of.  “What is swidden?”

            “It is the process the Ytuwa Tribe used to clear their land which involves burning and slashing of vegetation.”

            “Oh.”

            Pastor Richmond looked at his watch and was surprised to see it was past 11:30.  “It’s getting late.  I have things to do, and as I recall, you are meeting Daniel for lunch.”

            Amanda stayed seated with piqued interest.  “What is the Ytuwa Tribe?”

            “Another day, Amanda.  It’s time for you to go.”

David escorted Amanda to the door and shut it behind her.  He rested his head against the dark wood with his eyes closed and wondered what would make him say anything about the Ytuwa Tribe.  “It must be Katie,” he mumbled.  He thought about her daily and even though he knew she was with a group of people with the same goal in hopes of helping them, he was concerned about her safety.