Gabriel's Stand Read Free

nightmares were lighting up the dark cracks.
    Her first post-assault memory was of the bright lights in the ER, blurred voices, a sense of being moved. Later she awakened in a room, having just opened her good eye, finding herself in a hospital bed, propped up slightly. When she had tried to move, she felt the pressure of the head bandage, the dressing over her right eye, and became aware of the pain in the right half of her face. Still puzzled and disoriented, she noticed the oxygen tubes in her nostrils and the drip line leading from her wrist to the IV tree beside the bed.
    Later, after her right eye had recovered, she would look into as mirror and marvel at the persistent, deep bruises. On the boat in Puget Sound, her reverie broken, Alice glanced at her image in a tiny wall mirror. Unconsciously, she touched the area over her right eye; then she blinked. Not a bruise or blemish. Just memories .
    The trawler rocked slightly. “Alice, you okay down there?” It was Gabriel’s voice from the deck. “I’ll be out in a minute!” she shouted. “Don’t spear a whale without me!”
    Alice stepped out of the galley facing the stairs to the deck; then she hesitated. Damn . Her reverie wasn’t quite done with her. She sat on a small storage chest.
    Gabriel. A noise outside her hospital room had pierced her foggy mind. The doorway to her room was open. A bandaged man was sitting just outside. With a start she recognized her husband, Gabriel, in a wheelchair. His head was wrapped in bandages, and his left shoulder was in a sling. Her daughter was standing next to Gabriel in a purple sweatshirt and jeans. The girl’s long, raven hair framed those arresting gray eyes from which nothing seemed to escape.
    Then Alice had glimpsed John Owen, their old friend from Seattle. John was standing behind Gabriel and Snowfeather, gripping her husband’s wheelchair. The three crowded in the doorway to Alice’s room, pausing for a seeming eternity. The image of the three of them, inexplicable and poignant, would forever be engraved in Alice’s mind.
    Snowfeather broke the spell, holding the door open while John pushed Gabriel just inside the doorway. “Hey, Mom, you’re awake!”
    Dr. Owen immediately walked to Alice’s bedside and studied the vital signs monitor. She could feel him gently check her wrist. “Do you know where you are?” Suddenly puzzled, Alice gave him a panicked stare. “This is a hospital, Alice. You and Gabriel were injured by a robber. You’ve been in and out of it for several hours. You do know who I am, right?”
    â€œJohn,” she had whispered.
    Dr. Owen leaned over. “Alice, you have some guests,” he said gently. He motioned back at Gabriel who was still in just inside the doorway. “Do you recognize this motley pair?” Gabriel’s face was stricken with worry. Snowfeather was grinning. Alice managed a smile and raised one hand in greeting.
    â€œYou can come in guys,” John said. “She won’t break.”
    It took Alice several minutes to connect all the dots and even longer to see the picture they made.
    John began speaking. “Alice, two nights ago, when you and Gabriel were going out to dinner, four muggers attacked you in front of an ATM. Gabriel had been waiting in the car. He jumped out, got into a fight with them, pulled two of them off you, disabled one, then…” John paused. “One of them shot him.”
    â€œMy God, Gabriel,” Alice whispered, “how badly…”
    John held up a gentle hand to Gabriel, mouthing, “Let me tell this…” Gabriel nodded. “Your husband is a tough old Injun, Alice, and a damn lucky man. He took two shots. The shoulder wound wasn’t serious: the bullet just missed his collar bone, a clean in and out.” Then John shook his head in wonder. “And there was a miracle. Gabriel survived a grazing head wound. The