anyone interested in murdering people should stay after the meeting? Along with everyone else, she filed out of the room, disappointed that she hadn’t learned much more about the Patriots, their true agenda, or their potential for criminal activity.
However, she had learned she could get into one of their meetings without being recognized. Her best plan was to haunt the shooting range and make sure she knew of upcoming meetings. Maybe once she’d attended often enough someone would invite her to less public meetings.
Meanwhile, she wanted to do a follow-up on Dawn Redbird. The original story had garnered some praise from her college adviser, as well as commentary in letters to the editor from not only the students but also many townspeople. Alex hadn’t realized the paper was that widely distributed.
With her funds dwindling, she called the local newspaper and TV station and proposed a follow-up story for pay. The newspaper was interested and offered her a couple hundred dollars for her story, more if her photos were usable. It was a start.
Alex located Dawn at a rehab center in Casa Grande, after trying her at her parents’ house. Dawn was learning to use the prosthesis for her leg, and would be there for several weeks for physical therapy after she mastered the device. On the day Alex visited, Dawn had taken her first unassisted steps.
“Alex! Look!” Dawn cried, when Alex appeared at her doorway. She attempted to stand, and immediately fell back into her chair.
“Dawn, be careful!”
“It’s okay. They’ve told me not to try to jump to my feet like I used to,” Dawn said. The big grin on her face gave away her good spirits, and Alex was glad to see it.
“Let’s see, then, but take it slower.”
Dawn used both hands to push herself up from the chair, took a moment to be sure of her balance and then turned another brilliant smile on Alex. “Here goes!” She swung the artificial leg forward, planted it carefully and then brought the other even. “They say when I learn to bend the knee no one will be able to tell this leg isn’t all mine.” After a few more shaky steps, she reached the bed and sat down.
Alex clapped her hands. “Hey, it is all yours! You bought and paid for it, didn’t you?”
Dawn made a face. “Technically, the tribe did. Insurance. But you’re right. If I want to be normal, I have to think of it as part of me. It’s good to see you, Alex. What have you been up to?”
Alex didn’t think it was a good idea to answer that question truthfully, so she left out the part about hunting for and finding the Patriots. Instead, she told Dawn about her broken weekend with her boyfriend. Dawn made a face.
“That’s too bad, Alex. So, what are you going to do? Stay here and finish your degree, or make up with him?” Dawn shifted her position and pulled herself up onto the bed, leaning against the headboard and pillows. “Have a seat.”
Alex hadn’t really thought about her situation with Dylan, and she didn’t want to think about it now. As she sat in the chair Dawn had vacated, she gave a half-hearted chuckle and said, “Oh, I’m sure we’ll work it out. I need to transfer…I’m already a semester late. Anyway, I came here to talk about you. Tell me about your prosthesis. It sounds state-of-the-art.”
Alex put Dylan firmly out of her mind as Dawn waxed enthusiastic about her new leg and all its capabilities. It even had different feet for different purposes, she said. Alex took notes for the story and saw it taking shape in her mind.
She was still asking questions when a nurse came in to get Dawn for her afternoon physical therapy. Sensing a second story, Alex asked to tag along and Dawn agreed. Alex spent another hour gaining an appreciation for Dawn’s courage and strength. Some of those exercises looked painful.
At last, the PT session was done and Dawn confessed to being tired. She invited Alex to come back again whenever she could, and signed the release allowing her to print her story. The story almost wrote itself. Alex had to admit to a bit of a girl-crush on Dawn. She’d faced danger and near death herself, but her injuries were more psychological than physical and she wondered if she would have had Dawn’s courage if she had to endure weeks or months of pain to recover.
That line of self-reflection brought her up