Mute

Nurse Sam

        He felt a cool damp rag brush across his face, he scrunched his eyebrows before forcing his eyes open. He could see a little clearer but the light made a haze around the person kneeling over him, not the old man, this must be the daughter. She turned to rewet the rag and revealed the long black braid hanging down her back. He reached out and snagged it with his fingers, she stopped and looked back at him in silence.

        Her wide blue eyes, he couldn’t tear his stare from them. A deep jewel like blue ringed the outer edges, cold as ice blue, back to the darker blue fading into the black iris’. White streaks shot through the colors like frozen comets. They had a bottomless feel to them that he sure wasn’t going to try and keep from falling into.

        “You obviously are not a boy.” He let the braid go, out of old habit he brought the fingers that had held the braid to his nose to smell leather and lavender. “So you are Sam.”

        She nodded, finishing to clean his face. She sat everything aside and helped him sit forward and placed a rolled blanket behind his back. She brought a bowl to her lap next to him and slowly fed him a spoonful of soup at a time. The whole time, not a word came from her mouth, the only time her lips even moved she would bite her lower lip as she concentrated to keep from dribbling soup on his chest.

        “That’s enough.” He motioned to stop, the soup was good but he was afraid to eat much more, he sighed. She was watching his every move, especially his hands. “I appreciate the help from you and your dad.”

        She nodded. She smiled a tight little smile, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her left ear. Again she was watching his every move like she were waiting for a command.

        “You don’t say much do you?” She jumped up and gathered her things and left. “What did I say?” He sighed, he grabbed hold of the rolled up blanket behind his back and fought to finally get it pulled out. He hit his back with a hard thump and groaned in pain, damn.

        “How are you feeling young man?” the old man was standing at his feet again, his voice jerking him awake. He had lay there after the girl ran off, staring straight up, warning the chicken not to come any closer to him. He just knew that damned thing was going to make its way over and s**t on him.

        “Like hammered hell.” He shifted around, trying to get comfortable, he gave up with a dissatisfied sigh. “I want to move around, I feel like I could piss myself actually. I get as far as thinking about it, when I try to move anything but my arms I hurt so bad I pass out.”

        “Sounds about right.” He knelt down and checked the bandages. “Sam said you were talking, must be getting better.”

        “Did I say something to upset her?” He glanced around, no dark haired beauty around that he could tell.

        “Oh. You didn’t aim to, but you did.”

        “What was it?”

        “Sam is mute. She can’t make a sound.” The man gave him side eye as he checked his ribs.

        “s**t. I am sorry.” He winced when the man seemed to gouge the most sensitive spot. He didn’t realize his back had arched in pain until he let out a pent up breath and relaxed back into the hay.

        “She hasn’t said a word since her mother died when she was three years old.” He finished with the bandage and shook his head, “selective mutisum they call it.”

        “I am sorry.”

        “You think you can make it to the house with my help? Bed would be better than this. Besides, I need to bring in my mare.” The old man shook his head, signaling the discussion was closed. Jace nodded.

        “So. Sam, can she communicate at all?” He took hold of both of the man’s worn hands as he asked, not really sure the old war horse could get him up without help. Time to find out if he still had control of his body or not.

        The old man laughed as Jace cursed his way to his feet, the kid’s bloody arm hanging on his shoulders. Jace tested his feet, and finally he was on the move. They stumbled across the back yard and up the porch to the kitchen door. As they fumbled through the door Jace’s world began to spin again.