CHRISTMAS DREAMS (cont'd)

after she finished dressing, she called to dude and he came immediately.  she told him she was ready to go.  he helped her out of the room, through the cabin, and down the few steps to his front porch.  he had a very old, dilapidated ford truck parked in front of the steps. this is what she would be riding in it appeared.  it was a painful venture, but dude managed to get her into the truck.  he then asked her if she wanted to go straight to the hospital or home.  she felt she really needed to have proper medical care, so asked if he minded taking her to the hospital first. 

they drove along a long winding rough road out of the woods.  none of it looked familiar to her.  they came out on a small paved road that was also unfamiliar to her.  where the heck were they?  he then drove her to town, which, much to her relief, she did recognize.  they had come in from a direction she had never been. 

once in the emergency room, they sat down and she filled out paperwork and they waited.  while they waited, dude went to the vending machine and got both of them a cup of hot coffee.  though not her own coffee, it still tasted good.........and warmed her up more.  there had been no heat in the truck. 

after an hour, they called her name and dude helped her into the room.  the doctor spoke to dude as if he were her husband, and he laughed shyly and said no, he was just a new friend.  he told the doctor he would wait outside and exited the room.

after x-rays and consultation, someone came in and put a cast on her leg, and told her she was very lucky that someone had splinted it in the manner they had, or she would have had to have surgery on the leg with possibly a pin or metal bar placed there.

she was wheeled out to the waiting area with a pair of crutches in her lap, and dude came over and asked her how it was.  she told him what they had said, and again, he laughed shyly.  said he only did what his instincts told him.

dude helped her out of the wheelchair and back into the truck.  he then asked if she were hungry, and she said she was.  they went to a local diner where he helped her inside and they were seated.  they ate a hearty breakfast, though it was actually lunchtime.  it tasted really good to them both after the ordeal they had experienced the last couple of days.

they talked about the kitten, and how she had gone to look for what was mewing when she fell into the well.  dude apologized for the kittens mischief and told her he would be glad to pay her medical bills if she would allow.  she explained she had medical insurance, so that wouldn't be necessary, but she appreciated the offer.

after the meal, they got back into the truck and dude took her home.  they were talking during the trip, so she did not realize that dude seemed to know just where she lived.  he helped her into the house and asked if there was anything he could do for her before he went back to his cabin.  she assured him she would be fine now that she had the crutches for assistance. he told her he would check on her later that evening.  she thanked him and he left.

after dude left, she sat there in the kitchen chair, tired, wanting to go to bed, but her mind was racing. she knew sleep would evade her for some time, so she ambled over to the refrigerator and got out some milk and poured her a glass.  she went over to the table and sat again, drinking her milk and thinking about the events of the last couple of days.  what an ordeal!  but in the midst of it all, she met a neighbor, a really nice neighbor, she didn't even know existed.  good always seemed to come out of bad.  but at least now she knew why she had dreamed those horrible dreams that night.  it was a foreboding.  if only she could have interpreted her dreams before she fell into that well.

it would be Christmas soon.  of course, she would be alone with her kitties, she was sure.  dude probably had family somewhere and would spend it with them.  alone, injured, and depressed for Christmas..........