Sitting at the make-shift desk in what was going to be the lobby of the hospital once the dust settled, Jonah felt like a school-boy as he fidgeted over the ledger he was filling out, listing the supplies that they had already received and were now stacked in the lobby and exam rooms. Occasionally, he glanced at Leah, admiring her...well, her. She was special, there was no doubting that, and her father's concerns about his 'intentions' were well-founded. Had he been a man of honor and integrity, he would ask her if he could court her, but she deserved someone who could take care of her, and who didn't have a past that was lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike.
Finally, he set down his pen and cleared his throat. "Leah...I was called to Evergreen last night...your father had a spell." There it was, and he felt better with just that revelation. "He's fine," he quickly added, "at least for the time."
"And what is it you mean by a spell?" Leah asked as she turned from what she was doing to face Jonah. "Fine? At least for the time? What is it you aren't telling me?" She wanted to know, "This is no time for us to start keeping secrets, or minimizing a disaster, if there is one. We have to be honest with one another, not that I'm saying you're not honest because I believe you are, at least with me."
"If he is dying I need to know, my mother needs to know. And if not, we are entitled to the truth about his condition, good or bad." She was not happy, but she was calming down. "Look, what you don't know is, should he die, and there are more times than not that I wish he would, then the ranch falls to us, my mother, brothers, and I. And Jonah, those four boys can be as unpleasant as Ellias ever was, if not worse. But then you do know about Case." She exhaled and smiled softly, "Sorry, it is a sore subject with me. Very sore."
"Leah, please, slow down." Jonah held his hands out as he stood, maybe unknowingly about to learn the hard lesson that that wasn't necessarily a good thing to say to an agitated woman. "He had some chest pains, his man, Ling, gave him some medicine that likely saved his life."
Relaxing, he sat back in the chair. "I suspect he has a touch of heart failure and I gave him medication for that. It's hard to say how long anyone will live, but I don't think he's in any imminent danger of dying, and he should be his normal, cheerful self in a few days."
He paused, hoping that she didn't try to smack him, then added, "He asked that it not be common knowledge, he doesn't want people to know he might be weak...and Ling mentioned something about a conflict with Lost Lake."
There it was, no secrets...
"Leah, please, slow down." Jonah held his hands out as he stood, maybe unknowingly about to learn the hard lesson that that wasn't necessarily a good thing to say to an agitated woman. "He had some chest pains, his man, Ling, gave him some medicine that likely saved his life."
Ling? Who in God's name is Ling?" She demanded, "Chest pains? Now you're telling me?" And suddenly it dawned on her, her mother, his wife, he didn't want to say anything more in front of her.
Relaxing, he sat back in the chair. "I suspect he has a touch of heart failure and I gave him medication for that. It's hard to say how long anyone will live, but I don't think he's in any imminent danger of dying, and he should be his normal, cheerful self in a few days."
"Cheerful self? You saw someone else. Elias Steelgrave has no cheerful self unless he's been drinking, and then that evaporates faster than you can say, Jack Robinson!" She stated, from personal experience. "Imminent danger of dying, that would be such a blessing! Oh God why not?""
He paused, hoping that she didn't try to smack him, then added, "He asked that it not be common knowledge, he doesn't want people to know he might be weak...and Ling mentioned something about a conflict with Lost Lake."
"Weak? That'll be the day! He's never had a weak moment in his entire life! The uh, uh, oooh!" Then she fought to control a temper that she thought she had controlled and contained. But there it was, on full display, and in the twinkling of an eye she was in tears. Uncontrolled anger did not look good on her, nor did it help matters, here he was trying to be honest with her, and she was losing control. Then the words Lost Lake hit her.
"Lost Lake? Has he not given up on that? It's been better than fifteen years since my brother Cal was killed by Shade Thornton. My God, you'd think he'd let it go by now." She said shaking her head.
Crying women...every man's ultimate nightmare, and Jonah wasn't sure how to deal with that.
"I don't know that anyone ever gets over losing a loved one." They just dealt with it differently, and judging by what he knew of Elias Steelegrave, he'd never set something like that aside, probably more from ego more than anything else.
"As for cheerful, I was being facetious." Sighing, Jonah stood and went over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He might be mentally strong, but his heart may only be able to take so much. Too much stress, and..."
Well, maybe just another spell, and maybe he'd be called in to try to save the old man's life, and then what?
"I'm sorry, Leah, I just...I just knew you should know."
Leah looked at him, "It's not you, it's him! There's never anything good that comes out of that ranch. Never!" She said, "Not so long as he's alive anyway!" Tears that welled up were not tears for any other reason but frustration with her father, a frustration that had taken hold quite a while back. It was time she said something to Jonah about it, because she had said, no secrets.
Wiping her eyes and adjusting herself she spoke in a clear even voice, "Jonah, there is something you should know. Something that might turn you away from me and from the hospital." She paused to collect herself, then looked him in the eyes. "When I was young, when I was seventeen, my father," She paused, "My own father raped me."
"It's not you, it's him! There's never anything good that comes out of that ranch. Never!" She said, "Not so long as he's alive anyway!"
"You came out of that," Jonah muttered quietly, not sure that he heard. But whatever evil Elias Steelegrave had done, Leah was an amazing gift to the world, and to him...
"Jonah, there is something you should know. Something that might turn you away from me and from the hospital."
He couldn't imagine what that might be, especially considering his own secrets. "Leah..."
She paused to collect herself, then looked him in the eyes. "When I was young, when I was seventeen, my father," She paused, "My own father raped me."
That caught him off-guard! And he really wasn't sure what to say. After the initial shock, though, anger boiled in him and he wished he could go back a day and mete out the punishment that Elias deserved, even if it meant his own demise.
But that wasn't what Leah needed right now, his anger would have to wait. Kneeling in front of her, he took her hands in his and looked up into her face. "That wasn't your fault, and it doesn't change anything," he assured her. "You are strong and passionate and smart. Nothing will stop you, ever..."
Now, if he could only bring himself to tell her how he felt, but this revelation only made him more convinced that she deserved better, and that he would never be worthy of such an amazing woman!
"That wasn't your fault, and it doesn't change anything," he assured her. "You are strong and passionate and smart. Nothing will stop you, ever..."
"No, it was not. I was able to deal with that some time ago because I had to, living in that house with him." She responded, the anger evident in her voice and her mannerisms. "It is a hard thing to live with, Jonah, something no woman should have to experience, and then deal with the rest of her life. And do I wish him dead? Oh yes! And in a most painfully slow way, not some quick demise like heart failure. But I do all I can to not dwell on that, or I would do something rash, which is the very last thing I want to do."
She was calming down, it was out now with a man she cared about, unlike when she spoke of this to McVay. That had been good for her at the time, and this revelation to Jonah eased that burden, but what effect would it have on him, especially if he was called out to the Evergreen again? Had she done more harm than good sharing that with him?
"I can't even begin to know what you've been though." The very thought made Jonah uncomfortable but he didn't want to show that, it was something he'd have to mull over in private. "And there's no need to do anything rash." He squeezed her hands lightly. "You've already gotten your revenge by growing into such a strong, amazing woman. I think he hates that. He wants you to be meek and submissive, to cower to him."
It was odd, for him at least, that the words came so naturally, since this was just the sort of thing that Jonah tried to avoid. But, he supposed, they were true, sincere..."
"Continue as you are, make the hospital a reality...show him he just made you stronger."
"Revenge," She murmured, "The last thing I want to do is anything rash, that is when it concerns my father. And yes, what he wants is not what he'll get any time soon, I promise you that, Jonah." She had inherited one of Elias' traits, a ramrod-stiff backbone.
"The hospital will survive and be the success we know it can be. I have no doubts and certainly no intention of not following through with its completion. If they burned it to the ground, we'll build it again. I won't give him the satisfaction, but it won't be me that kills him, that's the last thing I want is a quick, painless death for the bastard! Excuse my language please, he has a way of doing that to me."