Written by: Best Selling Author, Christine Gilliam Hornback
If Oak Trees Could Talk what stories could they tell? If she were the old Oak tree in Henry William Tyler’s side yard she would tell humorous and heartwarming romantic stories, but unfortunately all stories told by the old Oak tree cannot always be humorous or romantic. When Helen, the love of Henry’s life winds up in a nursing home, Henry becomes heartbroken and lonely. Unfortunately, in order to deal with his emotions, he develops temporary amnesia and winds up in the same nursing home. The couple, determined to leave Glenview’s Residential Home for the Elderly will do anything to resume their passionate pursuit of love and reclaim their lives. Henry discovers a key to unlocking his memory bank by revisiting the old Oak tree in his mind, as well as a few other unexpected ways. Who better to help him find his way home than the old Oak who knew all there was to know about Henry?
I am so excited to have you join me for another video blog of my Romance/Suspense NovelIf Oak Trees Could Talk!I am excited to announce that because you have stuck in here with me that I am going to do something special for you! At the final Video Blog which should be in a couple of weeks or so, I will be giving you a free gift as a thank you gift for being who you are and coming along beside of me for all of these videos!
In other exciting news my brand New book released last week 5 Steps to Birthing Your Dream A Spiritual Midwife’s Manual It has been ranked #1 Best Seller in 3 Categories and #1 Hot New Seller! I want to thank you if you went in and got your copy! I am so thrilled because when you work hard and it pays off, it is worth all of the effort! Let me encourage you that if you have had dreams and haven’t seen them yet, don’t give up! Maybe you might have failed at doing something, don’t just give up on them, get back up and try a different approach but don’t let your dream die!
Okay, yes, it’s time to get on with the this week’s blog! We pick back up in
Chapter 22 The Ghost!
Soon there was a loud knock on Mr. Hodge’s door. Henry listened intently to hear every detail clearly
“It’s about time!” Mr. Hodges’ said. “Did anyone see you come up here?” He continued.
“What if they did? I am the Sheriff of this little one horse town. Who would stop me or with all of these old retards living here who would even know that I was here? Heck they don’t even know that they are here! Sheriff Eugene said as he laughed. “Oh, Maybe Mr. Henry Tyler would see me!” He said again as he continued to laugh. “That goofy man was sitting in a limb of a tree like a squirrel only he was naked! What do you think he is going to say?” Eugene asked as he continued laughing uncontrollably while he made fun of the residents of Glenview.
“Okay, you’ve made your point. Now let’s get down to business. Mr. Stapleton needs to go into a coma and then pass away in peaceful sleep!” Mr. Hodges stated plainly. “His wife just died, bless her heart, and he has no more relatives. We stand to get all of his life insurance which I might say is a substantial amount. Here is the syringe with what you will need to do it. Don’t come back until I call for you. Do I make myself clear?” Mr. Hodges ordered. “There will be a huge big fat bonus in this one for you, Sheriff.” He said with an evil smile.
“Mr. Stapleton will meet his maker ASAP.” Eugene promised as he went out the door. Mr. Hodges waited about twenty minutes until he see Eugene out in the parking lot. Mr. Hodges signaled him and thumbs up and then walked out of the office. Henry moved quickly to get back through the duct and back to the cafeteria. He made it back in record time. He rushed down the ladder and had just gotten in rolled back in front of the high pantry shelf which is where he got it when he heard a noise. He quickly dropped and went behind a counter. It was Nurse Warren getting her a soda pop out of a vending machine. She then turned and went back down to the nurse’s station. Henry rushed to put everything back just as though he hadn’t touched a thing. He pushed the cafeteria door open, ran back to the Stair door and pushed it open. He ran through the stairwell and quickly opened the door slightly to see if it was clear. Henry then ran and got back into his room just in time. All of a sudden there a soft knock at the door. He quickly got into bed, clothes and all. He covered up, closed his eyes and acted as though he were sound asleep when Nurse Warren peeked in. Everything seemed as it should have. The “Ghost” was in bed! Henry took in a deep breath as he tried to figure out what to do next.
He needed to contact someone with the information that he found out. But who could he contact? The sheriff was dirty and as Henry thought about what Sheriff Eugene had said about the residents of Glenview, and especially about him, he realized that the Sheriff was probably right. If he told what he knew, who would believe him? Who but Helen would even believe him, with the exception of maybe Amelia? He couldn’t sleep knowing that Mr. Stapleton was going to be murdered. Sheriff Eugene had already left. He may have already used the syringe on Mr. Stapleton. He had to do something even if people did think he was crazy.
He woke up Helen. “Helen, Sweetheart, wake up. I need you to wake up?”
Helen rolled over immediately to see why Henry was so upset.
“What is wrong, Henry? Why are you so upset?” Helen drilled.
“Quick I need for you to get up. I’ve got to tell you something and I need for you to believe me okay. I need you to know that I am not crazy and that I am perfectly sane in what I going to tell you.
Helen sat up and looked right into Henry’s eyes. “Okay, honey, what is it?”
“Mr. Hodges and Sheriff Eugene are going to murder someone. His name is Mr. Stapleton. They may have already done it. I heard them planning it. I heard Mr. Hodges tell the Sheriff that it needed to be done and how to do it. He gave him a syringe full of something and told him that it had to be done immediately. Sheriff said it would be done “ASAP.” What do we do Helen?”
“Let’s go to the nurse’s station and call Amelia right now. She will know what to do! We will have her to come and get us. What time is it?
“It is about Eight-thirty. I heard them talking about Eight o’clock this evening.” Henry explained.
“I’ll get dressed!” Helen said as she moved as quickly as she could.
“What if they just think I am crazy? Henry questioned.
“What if they do and this Mr. Stapleton dies. What if they believe you and he is saved from those mad men?” Helen said. “This will just have to do,” Helen said as she slicked down her shiny gray hair. “Come on let’s go.”
Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me! It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you! As always I would love to hear from you. I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs. Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.
If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here! Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order! When you Subscribe to my WordPress Blogs, I have a wonderful free gift for you as my thank you! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times. All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com
Have you ever had one of those rewarding moments where all of your hard work on a project is seemingly beginning to pay off? Well, Thank God, I am having one of those moments. I’ve gotten some great news about my latest book that I’ve been working on. The results of the rewards are not quite known yet as I have gotten an open invitation to do something that I’ve only dreamed to do, but my expectations are high! Honestly, I am so humbled by what the Lord is doing already with my new book, 5 Steps to Birthing a Dream A Spiritual Midwife’s Manual which will be available in a few weeks, that I am blown away!
I wanted to thank all of you who voted for my new cover! If you haven’t voted yet please CLICK HERE , and vote, as there is still a short amount of time. Your reward will be a FREE Download of my latest book on Kindle for helping me out! I must stress however, please fill out the information so that I know that you have voted. I have to your information so that I can notify you of the winning cover and when your book will be available! If you do not fill it out, then I can’t send it to you!
In the meantime, however,I want to get on with the Video Blog of book at hand, for If Oak Trees Could Talk! . This has been one of my dearest stories! Unconditional love is the key, my dear friends, to all long and endearing relationships! In this Romance/Suspense Novel If Oak Trees Could Talk!I hope that I have painted a picture with my words that displays this kind of love in Helen’s and Henry’s love for one another!
We will pick back up in Chapter 21 The Final Plans
Amelia left and immediately drove to see Mr. Howard, the lawyer of her parents. Mr. Howard had been a longtime friend to her family and had handled every legal issue that they ever had. She presented him with everything that had happened at Glenview. She told him everything that she suspected and what Mr. Hodges and Sheriff Eugene threatened her with if she didn’t bring her parents back. Amelia also handed him all of the paperwork that she had received when her parents were signed in and were admitted to Glenview. Lastly she handed him the new pills that Henry was given and told Mr. Howard that suddenly he had a diagnosis of having severe allergies on his chart. He looked Amelia straight in the eye as she gave him the pills. He then looked over the paperwork thoroughly that she handed to him.
“Well let me put your mind at ease Ms. Amelia, I have wonderful news. “Mr. Hodges at Glenview has nothing to stand on. Ms. Amelia, you acted as your parents’ power of attorney while they were ill which they gave you legal right to do. You freely signed them in and you can check them out anytime you desire to do so. Mr. Hodges knows this and he is facing terroristic threats in my professional opinion and that Sheriff want to be Eugene is using his office of authority illegally. There is not one thing Mr. Hodges can do about your parents legally, if you chose to walk your parents out this very second. Your dear parents have their medical insurance and Veterans’ health care benefits that Glenview recognizes so there shouldn’t be an issue with remaining or outstanding expenses. I think we need to get to the bottom of what’s really going on with Mr. Hodges at Glenview. I will do it very discretely of course, but I am going to make a few phone calls. Did you say that Mr. Henderson at the Times had some information about Mr. Hodges? I think I should have me a little conversation with Mr. Henderson first. I will get back to you. Will you be home this evening.
“Yes Sir, as a matter of fact, Mr. Henderson and Nurse Applegate are supposed to be at my house this evening. Why don’t you just join us, Mr. Howard?
“Well little lady, don’t mind if I do, kill two birds with one stone as they say”
“Thank you Mr. Howard, You’re welcome to come around seven thirty this evening then.” Amelia said as she breathed a deep breath and left Mr. Howard’s office.
After Amelia had left, Helen and Henry decided to take her up on her suggestion. “Let’s get out of this room!” Helen suggested. She was hoping to sway Henry from doing anything crazy. “They probably have some kind of activities going on in the activity center. We probably have a lot of friends down there that would be glad to see that we are doing so well!” Helen convinced. “It will help us past the time while we wait on Amelia to do what she needs to and we get out of this place!”
Henry nodded yes in agreement. He held the door for Helen as they headed down the hallway to find the activity room. They walked to the nurse’s station to ask for directions to the activity room when they turned around they ran right into Mr. Hodges.
“And where do you two think you are going?” He asked rather rudely.
“We just thought that we would go work a puzzle or do some kind of activity in the activity room!” Helen spoke up rather quickly. Henry just looked down at the floor, rung his hands and mumbled so low that he could barely be heard. He then mumbled a little louder and Helen and Mr. Hodges could hear the word Ghost.
“Very well, it’s right around the corner.” Mr. Hodges said as he looked at Henry in total disgust. “How are your severe allergies?” Mr. Hodges asked extremely loud so it gained the attention of all that were in the lobby.
Henry offered no response one way or the other as he wanted Mr. Hodges to think that he must still be very ill or drugged up because of the severe allergy medication! They moved on and soon found the room. When inside the residents that were able and that knew the Tyler’s stood up and cheered them! They admired them for escaping and trying to gain their lives back, for each of them wished they could do the same When Henry and Helen scoped the room they seen many of their friends and family that had fallen to sickness or just came to Glenview to live so they would have assistance and not be alone. It was hard to fathom for Henry and Helen that someone would actually choose to live in a place like this, however Henry could have compassion on them for he was alone without his Helen and knew how difficult loneliness was. Henry really wanted to socialize but to keep up the pretense that he was still not well, he couldn’t really be himself. Normally Henry and Helen were the social butterflies at any party. They brought their exuberant zeal for life wherever they went. It attracted people to them because they longed to have what they saw in the Tyler’s lives.
They found a place and fit right in with the others who were playing various games, crocheting, knitting, puzzles, piano playing! It was actually like a party and Helen and Henry were glad they came. They needed activity in their lives, for Helen could not sit in that room any longer regardless of how nice it was.
Because Henry couldn’t really be himself, he whispered to Helen “I will be right back!” He stepped out into the hall and went toward the cafeteria as he could see its big double doors in plain sight. Just for a second, Henry felt lost. He forgot why he stepped out of the room. As he walked toward the doors, he heard voices coming toward him. He panicked. He seen the red sign that read Stairs on the door, he quickly dove in. He listened outside the door as his heart pounded wildly. It was Sheriff Eugene and Mr. Hodges. “Come to my office around eight o’clock or eight-thirty tonight Mr. Hodges told Eugene. We have to end this one!” Mr. Hodges said in a hateful determined voice.
“Yes Sir, I’ll meet you there!” Sheriff Eugene said as if he were a little child taking orders.
“Henry whispered, “Okay, I understand now. He had perfect timing. This could be it! The Ghost will do his thing and be at the enemy’s camp to hear what they plan. This will be just like the missions that I have done in the service!”
When Mr. Hodges and Sheriff Eugene left the hallway, they continued to walk into the cafeteria. Henry rushed out of the stairwell door and practically ran to get back into the activity center so that if Mr. Hodges went by and peeked in, he would be none the wiser to what Henry was up to. Henry felt an exhilaration running through him. It was pure adrenalin. How was he going to calm himself until it was time for the Ghost to be loosed was the challenge.
Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me! It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you! As always I would love to hear from you. I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs. Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.
If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here! Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order! When you Subscribe to my WordPress Blogs, I have a wonderful free gift for you as my thank you! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times. All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com
I don’t know about you, but time seems to be marching way to fast on this end of the screen! Here we are in the middle of summer already! As always I am so grateful that you’re here, and with all of my heart I want to thank you again for either reading along with me or listening to my Video Blog of my Romance/Suspense novel If Oak Trees Could Talk each week. We will be winding the novel up in a few weeks, so my hope is that you will continue to stick in here with me until the end!
I am excited because I’ve been working on a brand new book entitled:
5 Steps to Birthing your Dream (A Spiritual Midwife’s Manual)! As an author, this for me is such a release of creativity and overwhelming joy! I pour my heart and soul into each of my books. The expectancy of them really touching the hearts of my readers is something that is difficult to explain! I once heard it said and I am sure I am not quoting it exactly, “Being a writer is both an egotistical and a humbling thing, it is an egotistical person who would think people would actually want to read what they write, but again, it is also a humbling experience to think of people actually wanting to read what I write!” I know I probably botched that quote, but my point is that I am truly humbled that many of you have followed my blogs every week. I honor you as my guest today and wish I could set across from you and sip on a tall glass of sweet tea or maybe a cup of coffee and simply visit with you. I would love to hear what you aspire to be, or what you’ve already achieved. Maybe as we shared with one another, we would realize that we both bring a lot to that table and can really help one another!
Today we pick up back up in Chapter 21 The Final Plan
Another knock at the door came on the heels of Mr. Hodges leaving. Amelia again answered it. This time it was Nurse Applegate.
“Hello, Nurse Applegate, Amelia said rather loudly so if perhaps Mr. Hodges was listening she did not want to let on that she knew Nurse Melba on a first name basis.
When Nurse Applegate was inside, Amelia shut the door. She immediately asked Nurse Melba if she could meet with her and Mr. Henderson at her house. Melba agreed.
“Oh, Mrs. Tyler, before I forget, therapy is looking for you. I did not want you to be alarmed when someone knocked on your door.” Nurse Applegate stated. “They went into your old room several times yesterday. I think they assumed that you had gotten released to go home since you have just a few more sessions to go.” Nurse Applegate explained. “It is okay Mrs. Tyler they are the same therapist that you’ve always had!”
“Momma and Daddy, I have some more errands I need to run before this evening. If you need me I will be home around Six o’clock. She then turned to Nurse Melba, if you’re off early, then who will take over for you?” Amelia said with concern.
“I will order their dinner and medication before I leave. Nurse Warren will be at the desk again, so if they need anything, all they will need to do is buzz her via their on-call button and she will assist them. Will you be okay with that Mr. and Mrs. Tyler?”
“Whew, finally Helen, some alone time if you know what I mean!” Henry said as he winked at his sweet Helen. What’s the sense in having our own room and double bed if we can’t use them?” He continued with that familiar grin.
Nurse Applegate just smiled. She thought that Henry was talking out of his head. She never knew anyone that still had relations after they were senior citizens.
Helen flashed Henry a gentle smile, however she was weary. She wanted this to come to an end. She, like Henry found something at home that she had lost. She was ready to reclaim it. She remembered back again when Henry was in the service. He was wounded as he rescued many men from his battalion. In return for his bravery, he received the Purple Heart for his service, but Helen didn’t want Henry to prove he was a hero again. He was her hero already. She just wanted both of them home where they could enjoy and really live the rest of their lives together. She never wanted to waste one more moment being in Glenview.
Amelia seen something in her mother’s face that she had never seen before. Not even when she first had her stroke and had to work so hard to regain her speech and mobility. No this was something else altogether.
“What is it Momma?” Amelia asked as she was very concerned. Go see the lawyer Amelia. I am ready to leave this place now! I’ve changed my mind about being in here. I don’t want to wait. We can do what we have to do on the outside.” Helen stated. When she was that direct, Amelia knew that her mother meant it, so she determined to see Mr. Howard, her parent’s lawyer on the way home.
Henry in the meantime thought it a wonderful thing that Nurse Applegate or no other nurse would be checking on them. He felt like tonight was the night that the Ghost did his thing! He had rehearsed what he was going to do. He mentally memorized all of the details down to even the black uniforms that were lying on the shelf in the cafeteria’s supply closet.
“I will see you later on in the evening Mr. and Mrs. Tyler to get your dinner orders! If you need anything before then, just buzz me!” Nurse Applegate said as she headed toward the hallway. “I will see you after while Amelia.” She whispered as she was now in the hallway.
“Daughter, please stay with your mother for just a little while longer. I need to go somewhere really quickly. I will be right back!” Henry ordered.
“Daddy, I don’t want you out where Mr. Hodges can see you. If you get into more trouble, I hate to think what he would do to you!” Amelia tried to convince. Listen, I know that you both feel like you’re in imprisoned, but why don’t you go to the activity center and visit with some of your friends. At least get out of this room and try to enjoy yourself a little.
“I’ll be right back, gals. It won’t take me but a second. Now stop treating me like I am a little boy Amelia!” Henry scolded.
“Henry, there is no sense in speaking to Amelia that way!” Helen said. “I don’t want you to go out there either! I know that you are the hard headed man that I love, not some little boy. We are concerned for you!” She continued as she softened up every harsh word.
Henry was determined to do what he felt needed to be done. He opened the door to look out. He spanned the hallway. He stepped outside and instead of taking a left to go toward the front desk he took a right in the opposite direction. Henry needed to find a way to get to the cafeteria without having to walk past Nurse Warren. He really didn’t want to run the risk of running into any of the staff. The staff, however knew that Henry was an amnesia patient and could be a wanderer. After all, he had just come back from a trip where he wandered all the way home. He walked down to the end of the long empty corridor. At the last door was a sign in bold red letters that read stairs. Henry opened the door and went inside. It was a stairwell to every hallway on that floor. When Henry followed it through to the end, he realized that the hallway actually ended a door down from the cafeteria. He needed, however, to check out where it ended if he went up a flight of steps to the next floor which is where Mr. Hodges’ office was located. While Henry was climbing the steps he realized just how noticeably out of shape he had gotten because he was breathing very heavily. He thought to himself when he got back home he would fix that problem. He would start working in the gardens or mowing lawn again. Henry would get back into shape not only physically but also mentally as he loved his gardens for they were good for his soul. When at the top of the steps there was an exit door to the second floor. Henry opened it slightly and looked out. This hallway was much busier. As he continued to watch he saw Mr. Hodges. He was standing at another nurse’s station. There wasn’t anyone down at the end of the hallway where Henry was so he opened the door just slightly more to get a better view. He noticed that this floor seemed to be busier than the floor he and Helen were on. As he continued watching he realized that this was the floor that the really sick residents lived. When he moved to the extreme left he could see a patient who was hooked to several machines that beeped. He watched Mr. Hodges until he moved from the nurse’s desk. He walked to the end of the hallway until he disappeared into a room to the right. Henry concluded that this was Mr. Hodges office. It was as he had estimated earlier on his trip with Nurse Applegate. Mr. Hodges’ office runs parallel with the cafeteria.
Henry quickly found his way back to his room after he was satisfied that he knew the layout of Glenview’s building and most importantly where Mr. Hodges’ office was located. He would move tonight as soon as the cafeteria closed. He too was ready to leave Glenview, but he wanted to leave knowing that he had done all that he could to help his friends and neighbors that had no choice but to stay at Glenview.
When Henry returned to his room Amelia was obviously upset that he took so long. “Now, Daddy, you are worrying me and Momma. Please forget about what you think you need to do. I will take care of everything, I promise.” Amelia pleaded, but she and Helen knew that it was a waste of good time and energy. When Henry set his mind to doing something, he was going to do it or die trying, no matter what he ran up against. Amelia just hushed and squeezed her Momma’s hand.
“Okay, now that you are both back together I am going to say good-bye. Do you need anything before I leave or do you need me to bring you back anything?” Amelia asked. I sure wish you were coming with me, she said in all sincerity.
“We will be home very soon dear!” Helen whispered. “We will!”
Henry shook his head in agreement as Amelia hugged them both. She looked at Henry, and ordered, “Daddy, please stay out of trouble.”
Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me! It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you! As always I would love to hear from you. I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs. Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.
If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here! Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order! When you Subscribe to my WordPress Blogs, I have a wonderful free gift for you as my thank you! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times. All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com
Welcome! I’m so glad that you have chosen to join me as I continue my Video Blogs of my Romance/Suspense novel If Oak Trees Could Talk!We only have a couple of chapters to finish. I cannot stress enough how grateful I am that many of you have stuck in here with me with each posting!
We continue to today in Chapter 21 The Final Plans
“So I see they brought in all of the things from the other room! It looks nice in here. I love the fact that both of you are together. It makes me feel a little better about things.” Amelia stated alluding to Mr. Hodges threats. “How do you like the room? “How do you like Nurse Applegate?” Amelia asked as she found her to be very sweet and attentive to her parents needs the day before.
“We like it. Of course it sure wasn’t like being home! It is a little confusing for your Daddy as it has the gardens out back. He sometimes thinks he might be home, but then he realizes that he’s not. Oh and Nurse Applegate seems to be really sweet. She’s not Nurse Wanda. Nurse Wanda knew us and we never had to ask for anything, or order anything. Nurse Wanda knew what we liked. We know that this new little nurse has big shoes to fill and she is trying. We feel good about her. She let Henry go with her last night to the cafeteria. He also went to his old room and found his old friend.” Helen answered.
“I like her to. I feel bad for her though. She has sadness in her eyes.” Henry commented.
“Is the enemy here?” Henry asked knowing that Amelia would know exactly who he was speaking of. I have to give you something Daughter.” Henry whispered. He was referring to the new medication that had been assigned to him. He wanted Amelia to take it and find out what it was. Neither Henry nor Helen was willing to take any new medications until they found out what they were for.
“Yes, He was in the lobby with some poor souls who doesn’t know how evil he is. He stared me down after I pushed Sheriff Eugene out of the entrance way to even get into the building. I don’t like that man or trust him. I don’t like this Glenview at all either! I want to know why you insist on staying here. We can go see a lawyer and deal with the legal issues of leaving. You have the right to leave this place. You are not prisoners for God’s sake. Will both of you just consider coming back home. Daddy you are so much better. I know that you will get completely well if you come home!” Amelia convinced. “I don’t like this place anymore. It is not safe.”
“Give me a little time Amelia. The Ghost is going to do his work and then I will be ready to leave.” Henry stated again with his impish grin.
“Daddy, are you okay?” Amelia asked because she honestly thought that Henry was talking out of his head again. She looked at her mother to see if she had anything to add as to why he was saying what he was saying. She then asked about their medications. “Has any new medications been subscribed to either of you?” Amelia whispered.
Helen answered, “Show her Henry. Hurry, before someone comes in!” Helen ordered.
“Henry pulled a little bag out of his pocket. On the inside was a small pill cup that had two white pills. He whispered, “I’ve never taken these before. I don’t know what they are or what they are for! I thought you could take them and get them checked. I pretended to take them. I am not going to take anything else. If I never needed it when I was really bad, surely I do not need them now!” Henry concluded.
“I agree Daddy, hurry give them to me!” Amelia ordered. “So Nurse Applegate has already been in this morning?” Amelia asked casually because she really wanted to speak with her about coming to her house to meet Mr. Henderson.
“Yes she was in this morning. She ordered our breakfast and gave us our medications. She said that normally she would take us outside and let us enjoy the gardens but it was written on our charts that Glenview has recently discovered that Mr. Tyler has horrible allergies and that he is being treated. Now who do you think wrote such lies on our charts? Everybody who knows us knows that we have beautiful gardens at home. If we were allergic to everything, would we have gardens?” Helen asked.
“Momma, it was Mr. Hodges, he said that you would not be able to go outside because he is afraid that you and Daddy would try to escape again. That is why I feel he has someone watching you guys. He may not, but it would surprise me if he didn’t. So Daddy, I ask that you please do not do anything with this ghost thing that you’re talking about. Okay, I don’t want us to spoil our visit by talking about Mr. Hodges all day. Tell me how you felt being at home!” Amelia said.
Helen and Henry told her how liberated they felt. They felt young again and knew that they gained back something that they could not find while being cooped up here at Glenview. Henry said that he knew he could not or would not stay at Glenview when Helen went home. When Mr. Hodges told Henry that he would not be able to go home for a long while, Henry then panicked and went home to visit his old friend.
“I know it sounds crazy Amelia, but when I look over there on the wall at my old friend. I know that I have everything I need to get better! I am coming out of here. In a few days or it might not be that long!” Henry stated plainly because he knew his plans for Mr. Hodges. He needed to tweak his plan just a little and then the Ghost was ready to move!
“Well, again I don’t like it Daddy, but I’ve never tried to force you guys into doing what I thought was best. Just know that I have a plan as well. We are going to get this guy!”
Just as the words came out of her mouth, there was a hard knock at the door. Amelia walked over to see who it could be. When she opened it, she was surprised to see Mr. Hodges.
“Yes, may I help you?” Amelia asked.
“Yes, I wanted to clear up our little misunderstanding from yesterday!” Mr. Hodges replied.
“Which misunderstanding are you referring to, Mr. Hodges? Amelia questioned as she saw evil in the face. She knew that he was up to something. She never trusted him.
“I hope that you realize that it is highly out of the ordinary that we let husband and wife stay in the same room. I was going to put your parents further away only because I did not want the other patients or their relatives to find out about them staying in the same room. If I show favor to one, than you must understand that others will want to stay together as well.” Mr. Hodges tried to convince.
“Very well, I guess I can understand your reasoning.” Amelia said to appease him. “I appreciate that they have this room now.”
“Yes, well, I just thought that we needed to bury the hatchet so to speak so that we can continue to provide your parents with the best care that Glenview has to offer. It was unfortunate that Nurse Smith had to be dismissed, but she was very negligent in her duties. How is Nurse Applegate working out for you?” Mr. Hodges continued to ask as though he really cared. He may have totally deceived Henry and Helen once, but it would never happen again.
“Nurse Applegate is doing a good job, she just doesn’t know my parents yet the way that Nurse Wanda did. But in time, I am sure that she will be wonderful.” Amelia said as to convince Mr. Hodges that she had not gotten to know Nurse Melba or that she was going to meet with her again as soon as possible to try to indict him. Amelia also led Mr. Hodges to believe that her parents were going to stay at Glenview for a while, but they weren’t. She actually decided to leave Glenview early and go see her parent’s lawyer before going back home. She needed to make for sure that she had everything in order just in case that Mr. Hodges or any other Director at Glenview would try to keep her parents legally bound to Glenview.
Mr. Hodges grinned and proceeded to tell the Tyler’s to have a nice day as he left their room. He was feeling pretty confident that Amelia and her parents bought his apology. He, however, was determined that Henry Tyler would pay for the embarrassment that he caused him and Glenview. He was feeling pretty smug.
Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me! It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you! As always I would love to hear from you. I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs. Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.
If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here! Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order! When you Subscribe to my WordPress Blogs, I have a wonderful free gift for you as my thank you! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times. All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com
Part 45 If Oak Trees Could Talk! Have you just had something to come up that prevented you from doing something even though you really wanted to do it! That was the past week when it came to doing…
Have you just had something to come up that prevented you from doing something even though you really wanted to do it! That was the past week when it came to doing my regular Video Blog of If Oak Trees Could Talk!Both my husband and I ended up catching a mean head cold or a series of allergy attacks. Needless to say I sounded like I was talking through my nose and was hoarse because my nose ran and I coughed so much. I was sure that you wouldn’t have wanted to hear me squeak through as I whispered through the Video blog of my book!
So even though I have coughed and sneezed, and blew my nose a hundred or more times, I’m here and am determined that I am going to deliver another Video Blog so that we can ease closer to the final dot and tittle of my Romance Suspense Novel If Oak Trees Could Talk! My sincerest gratitude goes out to all of you as you stick in here with me! Today we began in a new Chapter!
Chapter 21
The Final Plans
The morning came in bright and cheery as Amelia’s feet hit the floor. She paraded off to the shower to get her day started. When she came out of the bathroom, Robert was still lying in bed asleep. Amelia looked at him with such love. He was her rock. He supported her in everything that she had ever wanted to do. As she stood just staring at him, he opened his eyes to her tender smile. He yawned and stretched and smiled back.
“Good morning, was I drooling or something? What’s so funny that you were looking at me with that Henry Tyler grin of yours?” Robert asked as he chuckled a little.
Amelia walked over to the bed and climbed in. She sprawled him as she bent over and kissed him. Robert shivered as her long cold dripping hair touched his chest. She laughed out loud as Robert let out a yell. He then rolled her over onto her back and tickled her unmercifully until she begged him to stop. He tenderly kissed her. He rolled back off of her and lay beside her. They held hands as she told him of her plans for the day. She was going to go immediately to check on her parents. After that she was going to speak to Mr. Henderson about coming to their house. She was going to invite Nurse Melba Applegate to come to their house as well. Amelia wanted Melba to be able to share with Mr. Henderson about all that she knew about Mr. Hodges and the Scioto County Nursing Home in private.
“What time will you come home, then?” Robert asked. “I would like to be here to hear all that is said, so that I can help us figure out our next move!” He continued.
“I will try to be home when you get home from the Hardware store! How’s that! I need to make up a few appetizers for our company! I just do not want to set the meeting in town in case Mr. Hodges has more people like Sheriff Eugene working for him. I want this to be top secret until Mr. Henderson can present the evidence we have to the Attorney. I am just hoping that we will have enough on Mr. Hodges to go forward and that he is immediately arrested. If not, then my parents along with Nurse Melba’s father could be at great risk. Robert, I can’t believe this is going on right here in Mason Creek.” Amelia said with a sad sigh. “If I didn’t know it to be true, no one could have convinced me that this was happening. One thing I can say about Mr. Hodges is that he knows how to direct Glenview very efficiently as to not draw any unwanted attention to himself. He’s never presented Glenview as being anything other than a top of the line care facility which may be, until you cross him. I guess I just wonder why others have never came forward? Surely others suspected wrong doing at times. I mean if suddenly my father who has never slept all the time, started sleeping or was zoned out all the time, I would be finding out what was going on? I realize many of the older folks in there are really sick and weak. Maybe their loved ones can’t tell the difference between their sicknesses or a medicated state. It is a sad day in Mason Creek. The news of Glenview is going to rock our little peaceful community. You know we’ve just always have had such loving and caring folks here! Who would have imagined someone like Mr. Hodges living here under such pretense?
“Well Honey, unfortunately, I guess it is a sign of the times that we now live in. Things have changed so much since we were youngsters.” Robert stated.
“Speak for yourself Old Man Steele, but I am still a youngster!” Amelia teased.
“Your parents are still youngsters for sure! Heck, they’re younger than we are!” Robert said with a chuckle. “I need to learn some of your Daddy’s romantic tricks if you know what I mean!” Robert said as he gently stroked down Amelia’s wet hair and then her bare shoulder. He gently pressed against Amelia and kissed her passionately.
“Oh Baby, believe me, you have all of the tricks that you need! Amelia stated,” but I am so sorry dear, you won’t get a chance to use any of them this morning! I’ve got to get up out of this bed and get dressed. I’ve got to get the kids up for school and drive to Glenview early. Maybe you can think of some romantic tricks to use on me later! I’ll look forward to them! Amelia promised with another kiss as she sprung up out of the bed and ran to the bathroom.
“See, I obviously do not have the kind of Romantic tricks that your Daddy has. He is how old? He always has your Momma smiling!” Robert continued to tease.
Amelia came and stood in front of Robert at the foot of the bed. She then smiled ear to ear! She laughed out loud as she ran to the bathroom to dry her hair.
“I am determined that I will make that smile of yours real!” Robert promised.
Amelia didn’t style her hair. She just blew it dry and let it go natural. She rushed to get dressed so that she could drink at least one cup of coffee before waking the boys.
“Do you want anything for breakfast?” She asked as she was rushing toward the hallway. “I’m putting on coffee before I wake the boys!”
“Nope, thank you, coffee is fine. I have an early meeting at the Hardware Store with Joe Bentley from Bentley Farm Supply this morning around Nine o’clock. Thought I would bring in Elma’s Biscuits. Meet you down stairs in a few!” Robert answered.
Amelia loved being a wife and a mother. She also loved working at the Hardware store while her boys were at school. It gave her great joy to hear so many of their customers who were mostly neighbors and friends speak adoringly about her parents. She appreciated Mr. Thomas helping out while she was taking care of her parents. Closing the store was never an option with Amelia. She grew up in the hardware store. When she was little, her father had built a nice little cubby or nook for her. He built it right under the stairs. It was her little secret thinking place, or at least when she was small she thought of it as a secret. Amelia wanted to pass the Hardware store on to her children and grandchildren, but as Robert said times were changing so with the world, she only hoped that the boys would want the business when they were grown.
Amelia woke the boys up and pulled out some cereal from the cabinet. She placed the milk and some fresh fruit on the table and waited for the men in her life to come into the kitchen. In the meantime, she opened the kitchen window over the sink and listened to the glorious sounds of the birds singing. It was already quite warm outside. It was sure to be another scorcher today in Mason Creek. Amelia however, had no idea just how hot things were going to get until she went to Glenview.
When the boys came in, she kissed them all. She ran to her car, so that she could get ahead of all the elementary buses. When she got to the Glenview’s parking lot, low and behold who was there but Sheriff Eugene. The thoughts of having to deal with him made Amelia sick to her stomach. She however, refused to be intimidated by him. As she walked up the sidewalk to the entrance of Glenview, Eugene acted as if he would block the entrance. She looked him straight in the eye and continued to walk forward. He just barely moved out of the way, but not before blowing cigarette smoke in her face. Amelia’s face burned as she had never wanted to punch someone so hard in her life. She was furious, but held her tongue and pushed by him. She felt sorry for his parents. She wondered to herself if Eugene knew about all that Mr. Hodges has been doing and if he was party to it.
When she walked into the lobby of Glenview, immediately she saw Mr. Hodges as he was undoubtedly lying to some unsuspecting family about a precious loved one. She wanted to run to them and scream for God’s sake take them somewhere else. She totally refused to look into his evil eyes although she could feel his eyes glaring at her. Amelia walked around the corner to the hallway where her parents were. She knocked on the door to hear a sweet voice on the inside say, “come in please!”
“Good morning sweetheart. How are you this morning?” Helen asked as she held out her arms for Amelia to hug her. Both of her parents were sitting at their little quaint bistro table drinking coffee and eating breakfast.
Amelia walked to her parents and hugged them both! I am fine. What are you having for breakfast?” She asked, “Yummy, it smells like grapefruit and what else?”
“Oatmeal and toast for Henry, just the fruit and toast for me.” Helen answered.
“How are you Daddy? Did you sleep well?” Amelia asked as she noticed Henry was smiling at her.
“I’ve got something for you, Amelia!” Henry said, “But I can’t give it to you yet. The nurse is supposed to be back in here in a minute and I don’t want her to see anything.” Henry continued.
“Oh okay Daddy, Amelia said. She had no clue what he was speaking of. As she looked around she noticed Henry’s old friend was hanging on the wall. She also saw a special quilt that once belonged to her grandmother that was lying across the foot of their bed. The bed was all made up and her parents seemed to be alert and fairly well considering all of the changes that they had gone through in the past few days.
Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me! It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you! As always I would love to hear from you. I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs. Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.
If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here! Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order! When you Subscribe to my WordPress Blogs, I have a wonderful free gift for you as my thank you! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times. All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com
Hello Friends what an awesome week it has been so far! Thank you once again for checking in each week and either reading along or “tuning in” to my Video Blogs of If Oak Trees Could Talk! As stated before when I started doing videos on by book I had no idea how long it would take, but again so appreciate all of you for hanging in here with me. We only have three chapters to go after this video so we will come to the end of the story in just a few short weeks.
I also want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for going on to Amazon.com and downloading my free book Tell the Enemy to Scat! During the free promotion, I stayed around #2 in two categories which were awesome and even #13 in another one. However, if you didn’t get the chance to get my book free, you still can as I am giving it away as a free gift to you! So I again I am so grateful for you guys and gals for all of the follows and support.
Now on we go to the end of Chapter 20 Common Friends!
As the two women were laughing, the waiter brought them their pie and coffee.
“Oh, yummy, this looks delicious.” Melba announced. “Thank you. I have had a sweet tooth a lot lately. This pie should hit the spot!” She said with a little giggle.
“Do you want Ice cream on yours?” Amelia asked as she too was eager to dig into hers. I can have them to heat it up and top it with Ice cream and caramel sauce!” She said as she pretended to drool.
“Oh goodness, no I think I will just enjoy it without the frills.” Melba said as she plunged her fork in to get the first bite. “Oh my goodness, that is so delicious?” She continued.
“I’ve never had a better slice of pie anywhere! Now, my Momma is a wonderful cook, but even she can’t make pies like Ms. Maggie makes them!” Amelia said as she licked the back of her spoon to get some of the gooey filling off.
“So you say that you’ve not lived in Mason Creek very long?” Amelia asked, just to get to know Melba a little better.
“No, I’ve been here a little over six months. I moved when my father got transferred to Glenview. Unfortunately I have not made one friend since I’ve gotten here. It’s my own fault though. The people in Mason Creek seem friendly enough, but I work a lot of hours so that I can spend time with my father!” Melba answered.
“Well, I will be your friend!” Amelia suggested as she licked her spoon again. “I need someone that I can go hang out with! I need someone that will eat delicious fattening pie with me!” She continued with an impish smile that looked like her Dads.
“Well, you got it! I love pie! Melba agreed as she accepted Amelia’s invitation.
“So, how is your father doing today?” Amelia asked.
“Well, he is probably like your parents. He has his good days and bad. The important thing for my Dad is that he keeps looking ahead. He battles with depression because of my mother passing. Honestly, If I didn’t keep after him, he would probably rather give up then live. He’s all that I have. I do not have brothers or sisters. I have only one great aunt that lives in Savannah, but we do not have a close relationship. I sometimes feel like I’m being selfish, but I need him!” Melba said as she felt like she could be open with Amelia since they had so much in common.
“No, it is not selfish to want your parents to live and to be well and happy! Outside of my husband and boys, my parents are my life. I don’t have siblings either, so my parents doted over me!” Amelia shared. “That’s why I am so determined, that I will not let anyone hurt them!” Amelia stated as she alluded to the reason for her and Melba’s meeting.
“Well, that is why I work the way that I do. I guess I think if I am with my father that no one can get to him. They cannot get to him without going through me first!” Melba said with a stern look that appeared upon her face.
“I understand. I was blown away when I found out about the threats to my parents. I probably would not have believed any of it if I had not argued with Mr. Hodges myself!” Amelia said as she whispered his name. “I can’t tell you about all that he tried to get by with today. He must have thought I was stupid, but he has made the mistake of letting me see who he really is. He is an evil person and he’s going down! Even when my parents go home, I will not rest while knowing what he is doing to those poor precious people. Most of those people are friends and neighbors that I grew up knowing. They were honest, hardworking, souls who do not deserve to live their last days on earth tormented by some tyrant!” Amelia ranted as she realized the more she talked the louder she became. She then whispered again, “I have a lot of evidence already, but I need to know what you know! Right now, everything would be just my word against his word. He’s got so many people deceived into thinking that Glenview is a nice peaceful place, instead of what it truly is. It makes me sick to think of him living out his little egotistical fancy at the expense of our parents!”
The more that Amelia talked the angrier she became. Mr. Hodges would have to go through her as well if he thought that he would harm her parents in anyway. She was determined with or without Nurse Applegate’s help to see him go to jail and fired from Glenview.
“I totally agree. Count me in. I have a lot that I’ve seen and know is happening. I just prefer to find a safer place to tell about them. I do not want retaliation paid to my father because that tyrant is pissed at me! You understand, right?” Melba whispered, so as not to be heard.
“Okay, I have someone I want you to meet. He had already been investigating but he needs more people to come forward. I will let you know when. We can meet at my house if you want. I will buy one of Maggie’s pies!” Amelia bribed.
“That’s extortion!” Melba chuckled. “I will do what I can to help. I knew that I could not do this alone. I am so glad that we met. I promise I will keep an eye out on your parents. If I see anything suspicious at all I will let you know. I just have to do it in a way that it does not bring attention to me. I have to protect my father and cannot lose my job!” Melba said again at a whisper.
When the two ladies finished off their pie and coffee, it was getting late. Amelia wanted to get to Glenview early the next morning so as to see how her parents were. The fact that her Daddy suggested that he was going to try to be the “inside man” made Amelia feel very nervous. She knew her Daddy. Henry was like an ornery cat in that he was curious and poked his nose into things that he shouldn’t. She knew that he would not rest until Mr. Hodges was arrested. Amelia, however, did not want him to fall prey to Mr. Hodges until that happened.
Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me! It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you! As always I would love to hear from you. I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs. Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.
If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here! Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order! When you Subscribe to my WordPress Blogs, I have a wonderful free gift for you as my thank you! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times. All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com
Welcome back to my Video Blogs of If Oak Trees Could Talk! I hope that you are having a wonderful and productive week! My week has been awesomely blessed to be able to do what I do! When your passion and your profession meet there is such a wonderful coupling to walk in. I hope that as you read along with me or “tune in” that you are enjoying this story!
Today we pick back up in Chapter 19 Henry the Spy!
Nurse Applegate was startled. She had read Henry’s charts which read that he was diagnosed with amnesia. Henry’s amnesia was also classified as amnesia with functional causes which meant that his type of amnesia was psychological in nature. Henry’s type of amnesia occurred because his brain put up a defense mechanism to forget the painful and traumatic experience of Helen’s leaving him. The good thing about Henry’s type of amnesia however, is that his type could possibly mean a full recovery. Earlier today when Nurse Applegate had met and talked with the family Henry seemed much more alert. She considered his actions now to be caused by a lack of his medications.
“Mrs. Tyler, I will bring Mr. Tyler his medication back first, before going to the cafeteria, as it seems as though he may need them now.” Nurse Applegate stated.
Helen agreed with Nurse Applegate even though she didn’t really understand what Henry was up to. She was as surprised herself when Henry suggested that he go with Nurse Applegate. Helen didn’t like it. She never wanted Henry to leave her sight again for his safely, nor did she want to be alone without him for hers.
“I’ll go with you, Nurse, Henry stated. Henry rose up immediately from the bed. He walked around the side of the bed and was ready to go with Nurse Applegate to get his old friend which was his picture of course, that Amelia had gotten for him. Nurse Applegate did not know about his friend. Henry thought that it would still be in his old room. He wanted to go and get it to assure that it would not be lost. However, once he had gotten this reaction from Nurse Applegate, he decided to take full advantage of the opportunity to let the staff at Glenview continue to think that he was not at all well. Henry knew that he wasn’t completely well, but he was well enough to know exactly what he was doing now and what he needed to do to try to trap Mr. Hodges in his dirty dealings. It worked out exceptionally well since Nurse Applegate did not know him. She assumed he was talking out of his head, which played right into what Henry hoped would happen. He wasn’t going to reveal that he had gotten a lot of his memory back to her. He intended for Mr. Hodges to still think he was very ill.
As Nurse Applegate walked out of Henry and Helen’s room, Henry went in the opposite direction pretending to not know where he was. He then turned and followed along beside of her. Nurse Applegate tried to carry on a conversation with him but he let on that he never understood her. It was actually very difficult to act, for Henry knew that he was in a dark place like the one he was portraying for far too long. He was ready to talk, whether it was to a stranger or not. He longed to shout and let the world know that he was coming out of a dark tunnel into the marvelous light. Henry never enjoyed deceiving anybody, but he felt this gave him an advantage over Mr. Hodges. It let him roam and investigate without really drawing a lot of suspicion.
Soon he and his new nurse rounded the corner to a corridor of rooms where he and his sweet Helen had lived for what seemed an eternity. He ran into his old room ahead of Nurse Applegate to find his old friend hanging right where he left her! He grabbed the picture off of the wall and began laughing like a school boy. “There you are my old friend! I am so glad I got to go home and see you in person. You helped me so much!” Henry said as he was hugging the picture like it was a real live friend. Just as he was hugging the picture Nurse Applegate come in. Yes, again she concluded that he was definitely an amnesia patient or at the very least a mentally challenged patient. Henry wanted to explain to her that he wasn’t crazy, well not as she considered him to be crazy, but again it was best if he let her assume that he was.
“Want to go on with me to the cafeteria?” Nurse Applegate asked, “Or do you want to walk back to your room first?”
Henry just shook his head, as he thought he needed to investigate the cafeteria area to see if there was anything in there that he could possibly use or need to get into Mr. Hodges office. He walked along beside her and never said a word. Occasionally he would look up to the ceiling for no reason because he had seen other mentally challenged patients do it a lot in Glenview. Nurse Applegate pushed open a set of double doors and Henry followed. He judged from the distance they walked that the cafeteria was almost parallel to Mr. Hodges office. There was one long hallway of patient’s rooms that separated them. He looked up to the ceiling again, but this time it was to see if he could find any heating or air conditioning ducts running through the ceiling. Sure enough there was. Henry took note of where they were placed, how many of them there were. He also noticed that in the far wall there was a huge built in pantry shelf with a huge ladder to make the top shelves accessible. Perfect he thought. He could actually use that to do what he needed to do. He noticed the cafeteria staff. All of them that worked the line were wearing white. They were all women, however as he walked through the line with Nurse Applegate, he noticed the workers in the back who were wearing black and most of them were men. They were loading supplies from a back door into a back room that must have served as a supply closet. He could see what he thought was extra uniforms folded neatly on the shelf in the entry way of the supply closet. He felt like he had seen enough to at least formulate a plan to find out what Mr. Hodges was up to. Because he was looking around so intently he never drew any attention from Nurse Applegate. She knew that patients such as Henry were prone to look confused. His trip was very productive indeed, Henry thought!
“Are you ready to go Mr. Tyler?” Nurse Applegate asked as Henry walked forward but was still looking back. She had no clue that he was actually counting how many steps it took him to get to the door. Again she just assumed that it was the behavior of someone with his problem. Every step represented seconds. Henry calculated how many seconds it would take him to get from the door to the counter. He was spying out the land so to speak and without any suspicion. Of course Henry was still carrying the picture of his old friend with him and it somehow seemed perfectly natural to all of the staff at Glenview. He was grateful that he could remember what he learned when he was in the service. He was overwhelmed and grateful that he wasn’t just another patient at Glenview, but that he was going to help his neighbors and friends who had been placed in Glenview for various reasons. Henry thought it sad that their families probably were deceived by Mr. Hodges just as He and Helen were. He hoped that he could help get Mr. Hodges out of Glenview before anyone of them would ever have to find out how ruthless he was.
When Nurse Applegate left the cafeteria she then walked a little distance down the hallway to a closed room with windows to where you could see everything and everyone inside. This was the room where all of the medications were housed. She took keys out of her pocket. She turned to Henry.
“Mr. Tyler, you must stay out in the hallway. Do you understand? You cannot follow me in here.” Nurse Applegate tried to explain, but Henry did not let on as to whether he did or didn’t understand. He pretended as though he would go in with her, but had no plan to really follow her. Nurse Applegate put her hand out and placed it on Henry’s chest as he acted as though he would go in. She held him back and he obeyed her. He then waited patiently until she came out. He was becoming a little nervous as he did not want to be caught out in the hallway by Mr. Hodges. He had no clue what time Mr. Hodges left for the day. That was something he made a note of in his mind that he needed to follow up on. Nurse Applegate opened the door and she and Henry walked around the corner and down the hallway where he and Helen was now staying. As they had walked, Henry surveyed the front desk in proximity to their room, then to Mr. Hodges hallway, and then the distance to the cafeteria. He was formulating and calculating as he walked merrily along with Nurse Applegate. She was none the wiser and neither was anyone else. The “Ghost” roamed the hallways of Glenview!
Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me! It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you! As always I would love to hear from you. I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs. Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.
If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here! Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times. All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com
Welcome back to my video blog of my Romance/Suspense Novel If Oak Trees Could Talk! Today I am excited because I have just finished the first draft of a brand new book! I love it when your passion and your work can collide! I feel very fortunate to be able to do what I love. Thank you for being a part of my next dream! I am inspired by you and the different lives that all of you live! It is my desire to “Inspire One Dreamer at a Time, Spirit, Soul, and Body! We may all come from different walks of life, but we all have one thing in common and that is that we were born to communicate with one another! My blogs are one way I have found to do that!
If you have enjoyed my blogs and the reading of my book, I would love to give you as my free gift, one of my free Ebooks entitled “Tell the Enemy to Scat!” The paperback retails for $7.99 on Amazon, but I would love to simply bless you with a free download when you click here! Once again thank you!
Today we begin in a new chapter of If Oak Trees Could Talk!
Chapter 19
Henry the Spy
Henry had awakened to his sweet Helen lying next to him. He smiled at her and gently removed his arm from underneath her. He could see that it was beginning to get dark and wondered how long they had slept. Their room was strange to Henry and he became a little disoriented again. He hated the feeling of panic that overwhelmed him. He walked to the window and could see that it had been raining. He looked outside to the beautiful gardens and at first he thought that he could have been home, but nothing else seemed familiar. He needed his old friend to help him.
He sat down at the end of the small couch and pictured the old Oak tree in his mind. Immediately he was there under her branches, safe and carefree. Suddenly the flood of memories of the past few days came back to him. He smiled as he relived the beautiful time spent with Helen under the Oak tree and then in the sanctity of their home. He also thought of Amelia, Robert, and the grand boys as they were his heart. Suddenly as if a candle was lit in a dark room, Henry remembered Mr. Hodges and what he threatened to do and even attempted to do to them. He was angered and intended on doing something about it.
A plan, Henry thought, I have to come up with a plan. Henry tried to remember the time he spent in the service. His job was to be somewhat of a spy, in that he had to secretly locate the enemy’s location in order for his battalion of soldiers to plan their attacks. Henry was nicknamed “The Ghost” by his fellow comrades and friends in the service. He had gotten so good at his job that he could practically walk into the enemy’s camp and listen to what they were saying. Of course, he could not understand all of it because of the differences in the language that was spoken, however many times he understood enough to help his battalion win many battles. As he continued to think about what he had to do in the service he tried to apply the same knowledge to Glenview or Mr. Hodges to be more precise. Mr. Hodges was the enemy. Henry needed to scope out the perimeter without being caught and plan his attack!
Helen suddenly rose up in the bed. She was crying out Henry’s name!
“I am right here dear!” Henry said as he rushed to comfort her. “You were just having a bad dream!” He continued.
“Oh, no I wasn’t Henry. We need to get out of this place! We need to go home as soon as possible.” Helen cried.
“Now, now dear, everything is going to be alright. Look at how far we’ve both already come. We have not come this far to be stopped by some crazy maniac on a power trip! I will not allow him to harm you in any way my sweet Helen.” Henry promised.
“Henry I do not want you to go near Mr. Hodges. I seriously believe that he would love to kill you!” She explained as she trembled.
“Now, Helen, that may be so, but Mr. Hodges does not know that The Ghost is here.” Henry said with his little crooked smile.
Helen thought that Henry had reverted back in his mind. She had no idea what Henry specialized in when he was in the service. All she knew was that it was the longest years of her life being without him. Helen felt that being in Glenview without Henry being in his right mind felt almost the same as when he was in the service. The only exception was that she could touch him and see him every day whether he remembered it or not. “Henry are you doing okay?” Helen asked very gingerly as she did not want to upset him. “What or who is the Ghost? I don’t believe in ghost Henry.” Helen stated as she looked into Henry’s eyes to see if he was with her.
“Honey you may not believe in ghost, but you will dear, you will!” Henry said again with a crooked smile.
“Henry what are you up to? I recognize that look when you’re up to something! I don’t want you to go near Mr. Hodges. He is a dangerous man! Promise me Henry!” Helen ordered, but Henry just acted as though he did not hear her or understand.
“Henry, promise me!” Helen once again demanded.
“Okay, Henry promised. I will just let the Ghost handle it!”
Henry took Helen’s face into his hands and kissed her gently. I love you my Helen. There is no one that is going to steal anymore time from us. We will be home very soon. We’ve worked hard to get back what was lost to us. I refuse to lose it again!”
“Yes, Henry, you’ve had to come further than I think I have, but we are here aren’t we!” Helen said with a smile. Just as she had gotten those words out of her mouth there was a knock on the door. She looked at Henry with a frightened look and the color drained out of her face.
“Stay calm dear, do not let on that we suspect a thing!” Henry warned.
Before when someone knocked on the door it was always either Amelia or Nurse Wanda, or possibly Helen’s doctors or her therapist. Now she, like Henry was in very unfamiliar territory and realized how frightened he must have been the past months.
Henry ran and got into bed. He stared straight ahead as he did before when he wasn’t well. Helen didn’t like it but again the knock came at the door!
“Come in!” Helen answered. Soon the door opened and it was Nurse Applegate.
“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Tyler. Nurse Applegate said as she acted very friendly.
How was your rest? I peeked in on you earlier and you seemed to be resting very well. I didn’t want to disturb you. I just wanted to see if you wanted to order something from the cafeteria before it closed? It will close in the next half hour or so as it is just now Seven-thirty.” She informed.
“We had a good rest dear, thank you! Helen said sincerely. She then looked at Henry who was still staring forward as if he were in deep thought. He never answered or said anything to Nurse Applegate about what he wanted, so Helen did as she had been doing
. “Yes, Sweetie, could we get a couple of banana sandwiches please, one with peanut butter the other one with mayonnaise and maybe some lemon tea?” Helen asked as she placed both her and Henry’s order.
“Is Mr. Tyler okay?” Nurse Applegate asked. “I understand that he is doing better than what he was when he first come in? I would hold in there Mrs. Tyler, sometimes these things have a way of working themselves out.” Nurse Applegate encouraged.
“Yes, he is somewhat better. Helen answered. “We just want to be well and home. I needed to ask you for a favor dear. Could you make for sure that our things from our other rooms will be brought to us right away? There is a huge picture of an old Oak tree framed and hanging on the wall that Henry has to have immediately.” Helen said as she stressed the picture’s importance to Nurse Applegate.
“When I leave here, I will go immediately and check on your things. I will make for sure that the cleaning staff takes his picture from the wall and packs it with the rest of your things. Is there anything else I can do for you?” Nurse Applegate asked as she acted as if she was more than willing to serve Henry and Helen.
“No Sweetie that is all we need.” Helen answered.
“Well, I will return shortly with your meal and your medications. I know that you probably have not had any medications today unless you had some with you when you left yesterday. Did you have any with you?” Nurse Applegate asked.
“Yes, we had our medication, yesterday, before we went home, but none today.” Helen said. She was very hesitant to say anything, as she suspected what Mr. Hodges had been using medications for.
“May I get you anything else Mr. and Mrs. Tyler?
“No, Nurse Applegate, that is all, thank you.” Mrs. Tyler said, but all of a sudden Henry spoke up and said “Good morning, yes I want to go and see my old friend. Let’s go!”
Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me! It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you! As always I would love to hear from you. I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs. Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.
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