Hope In Every Raindrop (16 page)

* * *

When Katie woke for the second time, Doc was gone. She was in an empty room filled with the orange hue of a setting sun.

She pulled the blanket off and sat up on the couch. Her head was no longer throbbing, but the pain that shot up her left side caused her to wince. She tried to stretch her left arm, but realized she couldn't. It was in a sling, which she didn't recall putting on. Instinctively, she reached over with her right hand and ran it over the top of her left arm. Her shoulder hurt to touch, but the rest of the arm felt fine.

As she went to stand up she almost toppled over as the blood rushed back into her legs and feet.

How long have I been asleep?

She scanned the living room for a clock, but found nothing but the numbers on the microwave, the square green analog digits too blurry to make out.

As she reached the kitchen she heard the clang of something metal. The front door slowly eased open and Doc stepped inside.

His hands were covered in dirt and there was a ring of sweat around the collar of his shirt. There was no smile on his face, and Katie knew the words he had whispered to her earlier were a lie.

"Where is Kyle?" she asked frantically.

"Kyle is fine."

"That's not what I asked."

Doc motioned towards the back of the house. "He’s still sleeping. You can go in if you'd like, but he still needs to rest. His legs are bruised badly and he took a pretty good blow to the head, as well."

Katie still wasn't satisfied with the answer. She wanted to see for herself. But as she approached the bedroom door, she suddenly stopped.

Like a detective piecing together clues to a mystery, the gears in her head began to turn. 

Why are Doc's hands dirty? If everything is okay, why doesn't he look like his usual self? What am I missing?

She turned around, and looked at Doc. But it was the object behind him that caught her eye. Just past the screen door, she saw a shovel leaning against the house. She could only mouth the name as she settled on the answer.
King.

A single tear streamed down her cheek.

Doc still stood at the door, vainly wiping the dirt from his hands down the front of his jeans.

When their eyes met he could do nothing but nod, and the pain in Katie's shoulder felt like nothing compared to the pain in her heart as she fell to her knees.

She closed out the world as she brought both hands over her eyes and buried her face between her knees. Katie winced as pain shot through her shoulder and she quickly dropped her arm back into the sling, the physical pain only making things worse.

When she finally looked up, Doc was sitting next to her on the floor, his knees bent in front of him and his back against the wall.

"How?" she asked.

"As much as he didn't look it, he was an old dog. It was just too much stress on his heart."

"But I don't understand. I don't remember anything but the fire."

"Miss Price, I wish I had the answers, but I just don't know. I was on my way back from the Johnston’s. Cal had cut his hand pretty deep with a circular saw. By the time I arrived, the rain had just about put out the fire, but there was still a giant stack of smoke that stretched nearly to the clouds. I got to the barn as fast as I could. 

"I found you first. You were on top of the sled, lying on your back. Your left arm was bent underneath you," Doc continued as he pointed towards her sling. "You just about dislocated your shoulder.”

"What about King?"

He closed his eyes, seemingly fighting tears.

"I carried you to the house and went back for Kyle. That's when I first saw King. He was lying on his side still tethered to the sled, not moving. I felt for a pulse, but as I placed my hand on his chest I realized he wasn't breathing. I tried to revive him, but it was no use. And I still didn’t know where Kyle was…I had to leave King.

"Near the center of the barn I found Kyle. One of the main timber columns had snapped in several pieces over his legs. I had to get my truck to drag the timbers off him. Once his legs were free, it took me a while to get him inside. I had lost track of time at that point. I don't know if an hour passed or ten minutes. But after I knew you and Kyle were okay, I went back for King.

"I was just too late. Even if I had started with King, it wouldn't have mattered. I believe he passed long before I got there." Doc paused and rubbed the wrinkles on his forehead with both hands. "It didn't make sense at first. King wouldn't have left Kyle's side, unless..."

"Unless what?" Katie asked.

He paused. "Unless he was asked to."

"But why was he tied to the sled?" Katie said, realizing the answer almost immediately.

"Because it was the only way to save you."

"It's my fault," Katie said as she stood up. The realization shook her. "It's my fault. After we let all the dogs out, I couldn’t find Kyle. I searched the main floor of the barn, but didn’t see him. That’s when I went up to the loft. I knew I had made a mistake the minute I was up there. I was scared; I wasn’t thinking.”

“I probably would have done the same thing,” Doc said, trying to console her.

Katie looked at Doc, searching for the right words. Only six kept repeating in her head.

King is dead because of me.

Chapter 29

Doc stood in front of the sink after he had showered and dressed. He had scrubbed his hands until they hurt, but he still couldn’t get all the dirt off them. The dirt that he used to bury King was stuck under his nails, and in the creases of his hands, like an unwanted memory.

He ran his hands under the warm water one last time, and splashed some over his face.

He looked back in the mirror and almost didn’t recognize the man staring back at him. He pressed his hands into the deep wrinkles of his forehead. Was this the same man that fell in love with Hannah all those years ago?

It wasn’t. He didn’t want to admit it but it was true. Without her life had weighed heavier on him, and he wished more than anything she was still here.

Hannah would know what to do better than him, he thought. She always did. As he walked down the hall he could see Katie clutching a small pillow to her chest as she watched Kyle sleep. She sat with her knees curled up to her chest, running her hand over the fringe where some of the stitching had come undone.

Doc leaned against the doorway, the aged wood creaking softly under his weight. He looked over at Katie. "He'll be fine, Miss Price."

Katie clenched her jaw, flaring the small muscles just below her ears. 

"I have some dinner on the stove. Why don't you come have a bite to eat?"

She looked down at her feet as they touched the floor and she sat forward. For a moment she just sat there, and Doc thought he may have to help her out of the room. But she managed to finally stand.

At that very moment, Kyle lifted his left hand. Katie's eyes flashed to his, but they were still closed.

"Doc," Katie called, even though he was still standing in the doorway.

"His hand. What is he doing?" Katie said, pointing towards the bed.

Kyle's eyes were still shut, but his hand was slightly raised above the bed. His fingers opened and then closed, almost as if he were slowly waving.

Doc looked back at Katie with eyes full of sorrow.

"He’s just dreaming." Doc said. 

He knew Katie could tell he was lying.

"Come. Let's get you something to eat."

Katie walked past Doc as he lightly touched her back, guiding her out of the room. He looked at Kyle once more, knowing full well what Kyle was really doing.

He was calling for King.

* * *

Katie sat down at the table, where Doc had already set two plates and some silverware. A black iron crock pot simmered on the stove. Doc went into the kitchen, lifted the clear glass top, and looked inside. “Perfect timing.”

He looked over at Katie. “I hope you like chicken and dumplings.” He grabbed two bowls and filled them to the brim, carefully walking them back to the table.

Doc didn’t even wait for it to cool before he took a bite. Katie just sat there and watched as her food let off wave after wave of steam.

“You do like chicken and dumplings, right?” he asked.

She forced a smile. “I do. I was just thinking.” Doc took another bite and followed it with a big gulp of water. “What’s Kyle’s story?” she asked.

“You mean with the dogs?”

“No, he told me about the origin of the dogs.”

Doc raised an eyebrow.

“It just doesn’t add up though. I mean, I get it, he loves those dogs and loves training, and that’s why he stays. But…” Katie trailed off.

“But…?”

Katie paused for a moment, thinking about the best way to ask the question. “Every character has a plot, a reason for being. Kyle’s plot, you could say, is training the dogs. But what’s underneath all that? What’s his motivation to see that plot through to the end?” She hated the analogy even as she said it.

Doc set the water down and looked down at his plate. She could sense the apprehension in his response. But to her surprise, he began to answer.

“It all started fourteen years ago. Kyle was just nine at the time. It was summer; I used to watch the boy for my sister – Kyle’s mom – once school let out. The late-afternoon rain was falling furiously from the sky—that boy loved watching it rain. Didn’t matter what time of the day, if it was raining, Kyle was on the porch watching.

“I can still remember the look in his eyes when I walked out of the house—it was as if he knew somehow. But, he didn’t understand when I told him his parents wouldn’t be coming to get him. I told him about their car going off the road, and it was like he didn’t even hear me. Like nothing made sense.” He paused, breathing in deeply.

“Day after day, he’d wait on the porch for them to pick him up, but they never came. He kept asking me when they’d be here. Eventually, I didn’t know what to say anymore.

“One day when we were sitting on the porch, he turned to me and said something that no nine-year-old should ever think to say. He told me he had no hope left.”

Katie wiped away several small tears from the corner of her eye.

“I grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to the bottom of the porch steps. I pointed towards the south, where the sky was dark and sheets of rain filled the space between the sky and the ground. Then I looked at him and said, ‘There is hope all around us—in every breath, in every raindrop.’”

Chapter 30

Katie laid down on the couch after dinner. She was feeling better, but she didn’t want to walk back to the cottage. Not without knowing Kyle was okay.

The space between each couch cushion made it difficult to get comfortable. She tried turning onto her side, and then her stomach, but no matter which way she laid Doc’s last words replayed over and over in her mind.

There is hope all around us—in every breath, in every raindrop.

She had never heard anyone use those words, but her father.

When she finally woke again it was still dark outside. It had been over a day since the fire and, surprisingly, the pain in her arm was already subsiding. Or maybe that was just the painkillers that Doc had given her. Either way, as she took the sling off and stretched her arm, it felt better.

The house was silent as she sat up on the couch. She scanned the living room and kitchen, half expecting to find Doc making breakfast or just sitting there looking over her. He was nowhere to be found.

She wiped the sleep from her eyes and walked down the hall to Kyle's room, but when she opened the door, the bed was empty. He was gone, too.

Katie didn't know if this was good or bad. Her mind began to race. Was he okay and gone of his own volition, or had he gotten worse in the night? What if Doc had to rush him to the nearest hospital?

In the back of her mind, she heard Kyle’s voice.

Calm.

Instead of rushing out of the house, she realized in the worst-case scenario she couldn’t do anything. Kyle was sure to be fairly close—Doc wouldn’t just let him wander off if he was in any real danger. Still, she wanted to find him.

She only made it to the top of the first step before the screen door closed behind her and she heard a welcome voice. “Well, good morning.” Doc was seated casually in his rocking chair with a cup of coffee between both hands.

“Kyle is gone?” Katie asked.

"This is true," Doc nodded as he sipped his coffee.

"Is he okay?"

"I suspect not."

“Do you know where he is?”

“I do not.”

“Dr. Anderson, I’m doing my best to remain calm, but your answers aren’t exactly helping.”

"I'm sorry,” Doc said, looking down at the steam rising from the hot liquid. “I’m just not sure there’s anything we can do right now. At least, nothing
I
can do.”

“I’m a writer. You’re a doctor. If there is anyone between the two of us who can help him, my money’s on you.”

"Unfortunately, I have no remedy for a broken heart," Doc replied solemnly.

Katie's shoulders sank when she heard his words. She leaned back against the top rail of the steps.

"He knows about King?"

"He does."

"What did he say when you told him?"

"I didn't tell him."

"I don't understand. Then how did he find out?"

Doc just sat there staring into the distance, slowly rocking, the curved legs of the chair easing over warped floorboards.

"Doc?"

He set his coffee down on the small table next to him and clasped his hands together on his lap. "I wish I had all the answers right now—I really do. But, I don’t,” he said, looking away. “You should try and get some more rest, it's still early."

"I don't need any more rest. You've been telling me nothing but to rest for almost two days. I need to know that Kyle is okay."

"Kyle will be fine. In time."

"How can you be so calm about all of this?"

Doc stood up and started to walk back inside. "Join me for an early breakfast, then?" he asked.