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Mark, looking at Barbara’s face, felt a cold chill spread from his stomach throughout every part of his body – she had lost all grip on reality, believing that he was supposed to be courting her and not Annie. She truly believed that Annie had stolen him from her and she was going to defend what she felt was hers, no matter the harm she did.
Annie quickly came to the same conclusion as she looked at Barbara’s face. Deciding she could help defuse Barbara’s rapidly escalating level of agitation, she moved rapidly to the side of the porch, swinging under the finely carved railing and hitting the ground. Too late – Barbara had lumbered over to where she had landed on the soft grass. Barbara began madly swinging her tree branch and aiming at her head. Annie turned and, seeing the stick moving toward her, jumped backward out of the path of the stick. As it made contact with her upper leg, she felt an agonizing, grinding pain in her thigh.
Squeezing her eyes shut and screaming, she felt the palms of her hands landing in the soft grass as she fell. Wanting to curl up in a ball to avoid the stick, she realized she was unable to move her left leg. “Mark! Help me!”
Several voices all converged into one loud cacophony of sound as Annie tried not to cry or move – “Get her before she hits Annie again!” Mark shouted. Annie trembled, hearing Mark’s parents shouting at Barbara – “What is wrong with you? Get away from her! Abram, get that stick! I have one arm! Ya, denki, grab the other arm and get her away from this child!” said Hannah Stoltzfus, panting as she forced Barbara away from Annie, who now began writhing on the ground.
Annie opened her brown eyes, now gone dark with pain. She saw Mark kneeling at her side, looking frightened. She reached for his hand and squeezed it, trying to reassure him. “Mark, it’s my leg – that’s all.” Moving her gaze to a spot that still felt perilously close, Mark’s parents were standing, one on each side of Barbara, holding her arms as a neighbor wrenched the large branch out of her hands. Another farmer ran up to Barbara and motioned toward Annie, allowing Hannah to run to her.
“Mamm, she says it’s her leg,” Mark said.
“Ya, I heard the bone breaking – Mr. Lapp just called for an ambulance. It should be here shortly. I think it should take Barbara to the hospital. We can get a private car and take Annie to the hospital ourselves,” decided Hannah Stoltzfus.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? HE IS MINE, NOT HERS!” screamed an out-of-control Barbara. Rendered stronger by her madness, she was pulling Mr. Lapp and Abram back and forth as she tried to break loose. Another neighbor, seeing her jerking the two big men around, motioned to yet another neighbor and they added their efforts to those of Mr. Lapp and Abram, barely managing to hold Barbara Kurtz under physical control.
“Annie, I am going to check your leg to see where the break is. You need to lie still for me,” instructed Hannah quietly. “Mark, put her head and shoulders on your lap, please. Annie, I’ll be as gentle as I can.” Sliding her hands under Annie’s long, blue skirt, she ran them from Annie’s left knee and up her thigh. Watching Annie’s face closely, she removed her hands when she reached the area of broken bone. “Ach, I have found it. As soon as the ambulance takes her to the hospital, we will be taking you as well. An Englischer friend will take us.”
“Ya. Denki, Mrs. Stoltzfus,” whispered Annie through her pain-constricted throat.
Five minutes later, the ambulance pulled into the Stoltzfus yard, siren wail dying down. Several strong EMTs captured Barbara’s wrists and ankles, lifting her forcefully onto the ambulance gurney, then strapping her down for everyone’s safety. She was still screaming that Annie had “stolen” Mark from her. As the back doors of the ambulance slammed shut, the neighbor pulled up in his SUV, positioning it as close to Annie as he could.
“Annie, we are going to lift you and put you in the back seat. I know it will hurt, and I’m sorry. I’ll be in the front seat,” promised Mark.
Annie nodded quickly. “I can handle the pain, Mark.”
Mark, his father and two other neighbors gently lifted Annie, raising her to the height of the back seat. As they began moving toward the vehicle, Mark’s mother clambered into the back seat, ready to grip Annie’s underarms and help pull her inside.
Once inside, Annie propped herself up so her legs would stay straight. Perspiration rolled down her face as she struggled with the pain in her leg.
“Annie, we will let your parents know what has happened to you. They will be at the hospital, too,” Mrs. Stoltzfus said.
Annie nodded her thanks as Mark climbed into the front of the vehicle.
At the hospital, she waited in an emergency room cubicle, as she was taken for an x-ray of her leg. Her parents arrived just as the doctor and a nurse came in to set her leg and place a temporary cast on it.
“Because of the swelling, she’ll wear a temporary plaster cast. Once the swelling has gone down in a few days, she’ll need to come back so we can put on the cast that she’ll wear for the next month-and-a-half” said the doctor. The nurse ushered Mark and Annie’s parents out so Annie’s leg could be set. Annie shivered as she heard Barbara’s far-off screams coming from another area of the emergency room.
“Ach, I hate that noise!” she said to the nurse.
“Is she the one that did this?” asked the doctor. “You can file a criminal complaint, you know. I know that you prefer to work things out among yourselves, but she needs help. She’s more likely to get it if the judge sees that she committed a criminal act stemming from any possible mental condition she might have.”
“I will talk to our ministers. I want to make sure that we follow Ordnung. She can’t help her condition,” Annie said.
“Okay. If you do decide to file charges, let the police know we have a record of your injuries here, if they want them,” the doctor said.
“Denki, doctor.” Five minutes later, Annie nearly dozed off as the morphine the nurse had given her began to work on the pain in her leg. After several minutes, she wore a large, bulky plaster cast extending from her upper thigh to her foot. Mark and her parents came in, waiting for her to wake up.
“Mr. and Mrs. Fisher, she has an uncomplicated break, meaning there are no bone fragments. We’ve set her leg so the bone will grow back together straight. I’ll be sending her home with some pain medication, which she will need to take every four to six hours. She should stay in bed for at least the next forty-eight hours and I’ll write a prescription so you can rent a wheelchair for her. She’ll need that to get around until she’s ready to use crutches. I’ll need to see her in my office in about two weeks so I can assess her progress,” said the doctor.
“Denki, doctor. We will make sure she rests and takes her medication,” said John Fisher as he accepted the small pill bottle and prescription slips.
“I have a wheelchair coming for her so you can get her home – do you have a ride?”
“Ya, doctor. An Englischer neighbor is waiting to take us home,” said Annie’s mother. The wheelchair was pulled in backwards as the nurse pushed the door with her back.
Mary roused Annie as John and Mark lifted her from the bed and transferred her gently to the wheelchair.
“I gave her only a small dose of morphine because it can cause some real stomach upset. She’ll need a pail pill as soon as you get home – she should take these with food in her stomach, because they are strong,” the nurse advised.
“Denki. I’ll make sure she eats a sandwich before she takes one,” promised Mary.
At home, John and Mark carefully carried Annie inside.
“I’ll make a bed downstairs for you, Annie,” said Mary as she dropped her purse on the table. Rushing to the linen cabinet, she pulled out sheets and blankets to cover a soft, long sofa for Annie. Once this had been done, the men transferred Annie to it.
Annie, feeling the pain returning in her thigh, winced.
“Ach, That sandwich, then a pain pill,” muttered Mary. Five minutes later, she was back with a thick sandwich made of roast beef, tomato, lettuce and mustard. A glass of milk accompanied it.
Annie ate the food and took a pain pill with the milk.
“Denki, mamm. I am so . . . so tired,” she said, her voice trailing off.
“I will get you your nightgown and help you change,” Mary said.
With that, John ushered Mark to the front door. “She’s going to sleep all night long – I pray. Come back tomorrow when you can. Let’s go outside for a minute,” John said, glancing quickly to Annie.
“Mark, I expect a visit from Mrs. Kurtz tomorrow. I will be staying here at the house while Mary is at school. Annie doesn’t need any more excitement or threats – from anyone, and I believe Barbara is just as . . . insane . . . as her mother.” He turned as Mary opened the door.
“John, I am not going to school tomorrow. Annie needs us both. Mark, if you would stop at the Lapp’s and ask Mrs. Lapp to take my place, I would be very grateful,” Mary said quietly.
“Ya, Mrs. Fisher, I will. I will stop by every time I can, so I can see for myself that she’s getting better,” Mark said.
“You are beginning to . . . care for her, aren’t you?” John asked.
“Ya, very much,” Mark said. “Please, let me know if you have trouble. I will be happy to stay here and help you protect her.”
“We will. I can stay home here and protect her if anything happens. I’ll send Mary in the buggy to you. Since you have a phone in your shop, she can call authorities.”
“Ya, this is good. Good night. I had better get to sleep – it’s been a very . . . eventful day,” Mark said. He couldn’t smile. He was too tired and too worried.