The PIECES of SUMMER Read Online Free PDF Page B

harder it was going to be, and Laurie kept
     promising she would say something soon.
    What is she waiting for?
Meredith wondered.
It will be a lot worse if our folks hear the news from someone else
.
    “Why don’t we go outside and enjoy the sunshine for a bit?” Alma asked, joining Meredith
     at the screen door and interrupting her thoughts.
    “I really should be at the sewing machine right now,” Meredith replied, “but I guess
     I can do that after we’ve enjoyed the warmth of the sun for a while.”

Philadelphia
    As Susan made her rounds in ICU that morning, she felt a keen sense of disappointment.
     Eddie, her John Doe patient, had been moved to rehab two weeks ago, and she missed
     seeing him every day. As luck would have it, though, her sister, Anne, had been assigned
     as Eddie’s physical therapist, so she saw him several times a week and always gave
     Susan a full report on how he was progressing. During supper last night, she’d told
     Susan that she’d been working with Eddie to regain the strength in his legs. He’d
     been confined to his bed for so many months, and even though they’d exercised his
     legs when he was in a coma, he’d been left unable to walk on his own.
    Another therapist worked with Eddie vocally. Serious damage to his vocal cords had
     left him unable to speak for a time, but he was now talking again—although his voice
     sounded gravelly and hoarse and would probably always be that way. He was also receiving
     memory-training therapy, but so far Eddie’s mind remained a blank.
    I think I’ll stop by the rehab center when I get off work today
, Susan told herself.
I’d like to see for myself how Eddie is doing and let him know that I’m still praying
     for him
.

    Eddie groaned and clicked the button to change the channel on the TV above his bed.
     One of the nurses had shown him how to work the remote, because he’d had a hard time
     trying to figure it out. The programs seemed strange to him, too—like he’d never seen
     them before.
Maybe I didn’t have a TV
, he thought.
Or is that just another thing I’ve forgotten about?
    Susan, the nurse he’d had before they moved him for therapy, had said he’d been found
     in the bathroom of the bus depot in Philadelphia, wearing nothing but a pair of dirty
     blue jeans and a holeyT-shirt. She’d also told him that he’d been beaten up pretty
     badly and might have died if he hadn’t been found in time.
    Eddie. The nurses all call me that, but they say it’s not my real name. Who am I,
     really, and how did I end up in the hospital in such bad condition?
    Eddie didn’t remember anything at all about his life before waking up in the hospital.
     It was frustrating to have so many unanswered questions swimming around in his head,
     as if he’d just been born, knowing nothing at all.
    What was I doing in the bus station? Was I traveling somewhere?
he wondered.
Who beat me up, and why?
There was so much to figure out, and he didn’t know how to piece any of it together.
     His head hurt when he tried to think.
If I could just remember who I am and what my life was like before coming here. Did
     I have a job in the city? If so, what did I do for a living? Was I married? Did I
     have children? Or was I some poor man on the street with no home or family of my own?
    “I’m hungry,” Eddie murmured, breaking free from his troubling thoughts. He pushed
     his call button, but no one responded. He waited awhile and pushed it again. Still
     no reply.
    He frowned.
Guess I’ll get up and head down to the nurses’ station
.
    Holding on to the side rail, Eddie crawled out of bed. As soon as his feet hit the
     floor, a wave of dizziness and nausea washed over him. He’d been told that due to
     the severe head injury he’d sustained, he might have trouble with headaches and wooziness
     for quite some time. He stood still until his head quit swimming then took a step
     forward. The room started spinning again, and everything visible