Love's Time

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Book excerpt

Chapter One

“Miss, Miss are you alright?” The policeman leaned over the young woman. Someone had reported seeing a body under a bush in the park. When Officer Michaels arrived at the park, he heard the body give a low groan. He leaned over and touched the woman on the shoulder. She groaned again and rolled over.

Angelica blinked up at the officer and then around at her surroundings. She had no idea where she was or how she had arrived there.

The officer looked at the woman. She had a large bump on her head and her face and head had blood on  them. She tried to get up and fell back on the ground with another groan. “Just lie still. You have a nasty cut on your head and it looks like you have lost a lot of blood,” he said as he observed the blood on the ground around her. “There’s an ambulance on its way. Just relax until it gets here.”

The siren on the ambulance could be heard coming closer. Angelica closed her eyes and winced as if the noise was hurting her head.

Officer Michaels waved the paramedics over when they stopped.

“What do we have here?” asked one of the paramedics.

“It looks like a mugging,” answered the officer.

The paramedics checked her blood pressure and looked into her eyes. Then they put her on the gurney to transport her to the hospital.

“Is she going to be alright?” asked Officer Michaels.

“It looks like she may have a concussion and blood loss. I think she’ll be alright. They can give you more information at the hospital. You want to follow us in?” responded the paramedic.

“Yeah, let me call it in and I’ll be right behind you.”

They each headed for their vehicles and  drove towards the hospital. The paramedics called ahead to the hospital and there were attendants waiting at the door when they arrived. They rushed the gurney into a room where they transferred the patient to the bed. The paramedics were leaving as Dr. Steel entered the room.

“What have we here?” Dr. Steel asked.

“She was found in the park. The officer said she was a possible mugging victim. She has a head injury and a possible concussion,” one of the paramedics replied before leaving.

Dr. Steel went to the patient and  shone his small flashlight in her eyes. She winced as if the light hurt her eyes. He turned the light to the side and began examining her head wound. “Clean this up and put a liquid bandage on it,” he instructed the nurse.

“Yes, doctor,” the nurse responded before starting to work on cleaning the head wound.

“I don’t think it needs stitches,” he mused to himself. “She definitely has a concussion. She will have to be watched and awakened often to be checked on. Do we have an ID on her?”

“According to her  driver’s license in her pocket, her name is Angelica Black,” responded the nurse.

Dr. Steel stopped and stared off into space for a minute. He shook his head and stared back down at the patient. She had the appearance of Native American ancestry, with black hair and a shape to her face that was indicative of those particular genes he knew so well. Just then Angelica opened her eyes and stared at Dr. Steel.

“Who are you? Where am I?” she was starting to get agitated.

“It’s all right,” Dr. Steel said calmly. “You are in the hospital. You have a head injury and a concussion. You appear to have had an accident in the park. Can you tell me your name?”

“Angelica Black,” she replied.

“Do you remember getting hurt?” Dr. Steel probed.

“Yes, I was in the park with a friend. He wanted me to invest in a business for him. When I told him I would have to check it out first, he got mad and shoved me. I fell and hit my head on the seat as I fell. I don’t remember too clearly what happened after I fell. I vaguely remember he seemed afraid as he ran off. I managed to get up, but I was disoriented and I stumbled around when I was close to the bushes, I fell again and passed out. I don’t remember anything else until I heard the policeman calling me.”

“What was your friend’s name” asked Dr. Steel.

“Laughing Elk,” responded Angelica.

Dr. Steel looked up surprised. He knew Laughing Elk. He didn’t know him very well, but he had seen him around and about the reservation. Laughing Elk was a good twenty years older than him

“You’re sure it was Laughing Elk?” he asked.

Angelica looked surprised. “Yes, I’ve known him all of my life. It was definitely him.”

Dr. Steel looked at Angelica’s driver’s license. He stared at her address. “This is where you live, at 2309 Stone Hollow? It is inside the reservation.”

“Yes, it is. My mother, Shining Star, received the land from her parents. She and my father decided to build their home there. It was a very happy place until they were killed by a drunk driver when they were in town. They left the place to me, along with a trust fund set up by my father’s dad.”

Dr. Steel looked at Angelica hard. “I know the place. I also know that it has been deserted for the last twenty years, after the daughter, Angelica disappeared. There is no way you could be Angelica Black. She would be forty-five years old now. You can’t be more than twenty-five.”

Angelica stared at Dr. Steel in shock. “What are you saying?” she whispered. “What is the date?”

Dr. Steel looked at her enquiringly. “What date do you think it is?”

“When I went into the park, it was May 17, 1995,” she replied.

“Today’s date is May 18, 2015.”

Angelica looked at him in shock. “That’s not possible.”

There was a knock at the door and Moon Walking came in from where she had been standing, listening at the door. She looked at Angelica and smiled.

“Grandmother, what are you doing here?” asked Dr. Steel.

“I came to welcome Little Flower home,” she replied.

Angelica gave a pleased cry at seeing someone she knew. “Moon Walking?” Her voice was slightly hesitant, but excited. She knew this woman, but she was much older than Angelica remembered. What the doctor said was true. “It is so good to see a friendly face. How did you know I was here?”

“The spirits told me to come, that it was time for your return. I always knew you would be back. You were in the wrong time. The universe has put you where you belong.” She came over to the bed and, leaning over, gave a big hug to Angelica. “Welcome home, Little Flower.”

Angelica sniffed back tears. “I haven’t been called Little Flower since my mom died,” she said tearfully.

“Hello,” Officer Michaels stuck his head in the door. He came into the room and over to Angelica. “I have been waiting to find out what happened to you. Can you tell me how you got hurt?”

Still in shock, and with no small amount of disbelief, she made a quick decision and answered. “I’m still not to clear on what happened, Officer.” That was putting it mildly. “I know I was in the park sitting on the bench. I got up to leave and somehow my feet got twisted and I stumbled over something. When I was falling, I hit my head on the edge of the bench. I think I must have knocked myself out for a few minutes. When I got up, I was still woozy and disoriented. I stumbled around and I must have passed out again by the bushes. I don’t remember anything else until I heard you calling to me, trying to wake me up. I want to thank you so much for helping me. I’m very grateful.” She shot a look at the doctor, silently asking him not to contradict her story.

“So, there was no one else involved,” probed Officer Michaels.

“No, just my clumsy self,” Angelica replied.

“Could I get your name and address for my report?”

“Of course. My name is Angelica Black and I live at 2309 Stone Hollow.”

Officer Michaels wrote down the information and took his leave.

Angelica saw Dr. Steel and Moon Walking watching her for an explanation, and she sighed. “It was an accident, and it happened a long time ago. Besides,  it is not like anyone outside the reservation would believe me if I told them the full truth, and the reservation has always policed their own,” Angelica observed, answering their unasked question.

Moon Walking smiled at her and patted her arm. “Yes, we do,” she said. “Laughing Elk will go before the tribal elders to explain why he did not try to help you. He may not have meant to hurt you, but running away is not an acceptable reaction.”

“No, it is not acceptable. You could have been much more seriously hurt. The exposure did not help. Laughing Elk has some explaining to do,” Dr. Steel stated, forcefully.

“When will Little Flower be able to go home?” asked Moon Walking.

“Not until tomorrow. I am keeping her over night to keep an eye on her concussion. Besides, nobody has lived in her house in a long time,” Dr. Steel observed.

Moon Walking smiled at Little Flower. “Your house is fine. The ladies have kept it aired and cleaned. Some of the boys have kept the yard work done. I knew you would be back and I wanted you to stay where you belong, with your mother’s people.”

Angelica felt tears forming in her eyes. She blinked to hold them back. “Thank you,” she said simply.

“We are transferring Angelica to a room, Grandmother. Do you want to say good night and let her get some rest?” asked Dr, Steel.

“No, Running Wolf, I will accompany her to her room and stay the night. I do not want Little Flower to wake alone,” Moon Walking said in a firm voice. Everyone knew when she used her firm voice, she wasn’t budging.

Dr. Steel gave in gracefully.  He allowed Moon Walking to follow as Angelica was moved to a room and they settled in for the night.  Moon Walking leaned back and closed her eyes so Angelica could fall asleep without feeling guilty.