brother!" she shouted at me.
I backed away, watched her for a few more
moments, and then ran into the house. For a long
moment I just stood in the entryway, catching my
breath. Then I went upstairs, fetched the ice pack, and
did what she had told me to do. Noble didn't wake up
for hours, and when he did, he was very
uncomfortable and very unhappy.
"Where's Mommy?" he asked. "I want
Mommy."
"She's outside cutting down the tree just
because you fell out of it," I said. and because you
said you felt someone push you."
"Cutting down the tree?"
"Listen. You can hear the chain saw." "I don't want her to cut my tree."
"You can thank yourself for that. Noble." Finally, the sound of the chain saw stopped.
Noble started to squirm, and I stopped him.
"Mommy said you shouldn't move, and
especially not your broken leg."
"But I have to pee," he said.
It didn't occur to me until that moment that his
going to the bathroom was going to be a big problem.
What would we do?
"I have to pee!" he said again.
"I'll go tell Mommy. Please don't move, or
she'll blame me, Noble. Please." I pleaded and hurried
out and down the stairs.
Mommy was standing beside the fallen tree, the
chain saw still in her hand. Her hair was wild, and she
had chips and sawdust stuck to her face.