A Patient Boy, Page 4 of 8

"Got to get this thing off me,"he said.

"Soon as the ambulance gets here,"I told him.

"My legs?"

"They're going to be broken, I suspect."Broken, hell. They were gone. I didn't know where. In a groundhog hole, I thought. I prayed that's what it was.

"Guess I'll get crutches."

"Oh, yeah."

"Is Mom...?"

"Taking care of Teddy."

"He was scared. "And I heard quiet pride in his voice that he was not.

"He's still young,"I said. And I am older than the hills, older than God. .

I heard faint steps on the gravel at the side of the road. She was still in her slippers. "Dwight,"she called.

"I'm here."

"Is he ...?"

"He's fine. .. " A lie for the good of all. Because whoever said it's bad to lie has never had to live his life in this wretched world.

"Ma ..."

"Oh, Denny..."

She lost her footing in the ditch, coming toward the headlights. The two inside were starting to groan now, which confused her. She was looking up at the glaring willow shadows and the dust and flying insects, only now finding the faintness of my flashlight which I was shining, mercifully, on Denny's chest, to draw her eyes toward his face because that was the part that still dwelt in this world.

"I'm okay, Mom..."

"I know you are," she said.

"Dad's going to move it off when the ambulance comes ..."A bit of uncertainty; he wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it.

Now her eyes had adjusted. I saw her look at where Denny and the car came together. I saw her realize, saw the cry swallowed back into her stomach, saw it scramble, desperate to get out again.

"You called them?" I asked.

She nodded, hand over her mouth, eyes burning with nothing to do.

"Mom's going to tend to Teddy,"I said, soft as I could to still get through to her.

"Okay, Mom."He was all right with that, he understood, and added, "Teddy was scared."

Absolved, she backed out of the brush. I could hear her running across the lawn, moaning softly. God, where's that ambulance!