Chương 12: Chapter 12

Time to go home. Leigh grinned all the way to the desk to make her phone call to Jim.

"Hello," Carol said, "How are you doing? We've been rooting for you."

"I know, Jim's been telling me how supportive you've all been. Is he there? Can I talk to him?"

"He's out on the road. Hold on a moment, let me see if I can get a call through to him." Leigh waited impatiently until Carol came back on the line.

"He's calling the hospital now."

The phone that Leigh was holding rang and she jumped and dropped the phone. It took a second to pick it up and push the right button.

"Hi, sweetheart," Jim said, "Carol said you called."

"Dr. Hallace said I could come home!" Leigh said.

"That's wonderful." Jim's voice crackled in the phone. "I think Marie is in Thompson visiting her fiancé, I could call and see if she could pick you up. Otherwise I'll come as soon as my shift finishes.

"If Marie doesn't mind," Leigh said, "I want to get out of here. This is no place for a sane person."

Jim laughed. "I'll call her and get her to call you, or call you back myself."

A few minutes later the phone rang again - Marie promising to pick Leigh up within the hour.

"Here's your appointment for next month. Dr. Hallace handed her a card and a pamphlet. "There's an emergency number on the card that will connect you to the mental health team. It's twenty-four hour, seven days a week. There's also a psychiatric nurse who travels to Spruce Bay about once a month. You can schedule time with her through the clinic." He handed her another piece of paper. "I've sent the prescription downstairs to the pharmacy in the hospital. They will have your meds done up in bubble packs for you. It's much easier to maintain the routine. They'll give you a month at a time."

"Thank you, Dr. Hallace," Leigh she restrained an impulse to hug him. "You are every bit as good as Dr. Heath said you would be."

"You take care of yourself." Dr. Hallace smiled widely. "It doesn't matter who the doctor is, if you don't manage your own health, but thank you. It is good to know that I've helped."

It didn't take Leigh long to put the little bit of stuff she had in the bag that Jim had brought her. She went downstairs to wait for Marie.

Marie looked different in her civilian clothes. She handed Leigh a coffee, then put the bag in the back seat.

"Thanks, Marie." Leigh buckled her seatbelt. "I didn't want to stay there any longer than I had to.

"No problem, Leigh, it will be good to have you home taking care of Jim. He's been like a puppy missing his owner." She laughed and put the car in gear. "Frank's been educating me about mental health," Marie said as they left town. "I thought it had to do with people being weak, but he said it was mostly a chemical imbalance. It's mental, but it has physical causes. I never knew."

"Most people don't." Leigh cradled her coffee. "I didn't. I had to learn the hard way, but I still have to work at staying healthy. I have to manage stress and eat right and all the stuff that the doctors always tell us we have to do."

Marie laughed again.

"Jim told me you've closed the case on Jack."

"Yeah, we've probably come as close to knowing what happened as we are going to get. With both the victim and the perpetrator dead, there's nowhere to go with it."

"So it's certain that poor boy killed Jack?"

"That poor boy was aiming to become a major criminal. He was dangerous."

"So I guess I just go back to teaching and try to forget all this ever happened."

"You won't be able to forget, even if you wanted to. People will want to talk about it, and tell you their own pet theories, but you don't want to obsess about it. Being a teacher is a very important job in our town."

"It doesn't feel like that most days."

"The important jobs don't, but if anyone is going to convince the kids to make something of themselves, it will be the teachers.

"I guess so."

The ground was white with snow as they pulled into Leigh's driveway. Leigh thanked Marie and gave her a hug, then unlocked the door and let herself into the trailer. Jim wouldn't be home for another couple of hours. Leigh was amazed at how this trailer felt like home.

She put her clothes in the laundry and emptied the laundry hamper to get the wash started. The fridge was close to empty, but there were casseroles in the freezer. Leigh picked one at random and put it in the oven to heat.

She turned the lights on and smiled. It was good to be home.

Her office was exactly as she had left it. Leigh turned her computer on and checked her emails. Most of the hundreds of messages, she could just delete. There were some from Mr. Henry who'd being teaching her class while she was gone. He'd sent her notes of what he had covered and where the children were. Reading his updates, she could believe he was a very good social worker.

The emails from Mr. Ryckle were a very different matter.

When you get back to town, call me and we will talk about whether you will be able to return to class. I have continued concerns about your ability to teach in this school.

Leigh thought of the envelope of papers that sat on the kitchen table. It held a return to work letter from Dr. Hallace. Mr. Ryckle should be satisfied with that, as much as he seemed to be satisfied with anything she did. She put Mr. Ryckle out of her head and started planning how she was going to get back into the classroom. Dr. Hallace had recommended a gradual return to work, so she wrote up a possible schedule and emailed it to Mr. Henry. If he didn't mind working mornings for one more week, she'd be able to be back to a full schedule in short order.

When she sent that email another one arrived from Mr. Ryckle.

Since you're back in Spruce Bay. Call me and I will decide if you can go back to work.

Leigh gritted her teeth and replied.

I will be in your office at 8:30 am tomorrow.

She thought for a moment, then CC'd Mr. Dramowski on her reply. She was still reading through the contract about sick time and return to work when Jim arrived.

"Hi," he shouted from the door. Leigh ran to him and hugged him tight, then kissed him for good measure.

"Mmmm," he said, "I'd love to welcome you home properly, but I don't want dinner to burn."

"It's on low heat," Leigh said, "It's fine." She kissed him hard and let her hands wander. "I, on the other hand, am definitely ready." Jim picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

They ate dinner in their bathrobes.

"I was worried it would be a little dry," Jim said as he ate, "but it's just fine."

"You, on the other hand, were much more than 'fine'," Leigh said, "It's good to be home."

"I've missed you."

"I heard you were moping like a puppy."

"Ah, you've been talking to Marie." Jim panted at her.

"That gives me an idea," Leigh said and dragged a laughing Jim back to the bedroom.

The next morning Leigh reluctantly let Jim go to work. She took her coffee to her office and checked her emails.

Mr. Dramowski had sent her a brief note.

Glad you're back, I'll see you tomorrow at 8:30.

Mr. Ryckle's was even briefer.

Don't be late.

Leigh finished her coffee while she re-read parts of the teacher's contract. She headed to the school to be in plenty of time for her meeting. She chatted with the secretaries and waved at Macky. Everyone in the school would know she was back by the time the bell rang. Leigh smiled.

"I'm glad to see you looking so happy to be back," Mr. Dramowksi came in and slapped the snow off his coat.

"Come in," Mr Ryckle said. He glowered at Mr. Dramowski, but didn't protest when the trustee followed her into the office.

"Dr. Hallace sent a back to work letter," Leigh said, "He's suggested that I start with afternoons for a week before returning to full days."

"Hmmph," Mr. Ryckle said, "I think you are getting ahead of yourself. I first want to determine whether you are fit to return to teaching."

"Dr. Hallace's note is very clear." Leigh said.

"I need to be convinced," Mr. Ryckle said.

"Then I suggest you call him," Leigh said, "He'll be starting rounds in a few minutes, but I'm sure he'd be glad to answer any questions you might have. His direct number is on the letter."

Mr. Ryckle scowled at her, but Mr. Dramowksi pointed at the phone.

"Make it quick, Allan," he said, "I haven't got all day."

Mr. Ryckle picked up the phone and dialed.

"Dr. Hallace," he said, "Yes, this is Mr. Ryckle at Spruce Bay Community School. I have some concerns about Mrs. Dalrymple returning to work..... Yes, I read the note.... How can I be sure that she's not a danger to the children?"

Leigh was sure that everybody on the psych ward was listening to Dr. Hallace's side of the conversation. She could hear every word clearly from where she sat.

"What are your credentials in psychiatric medicine?" Dr. Hallace roared through the phone. "Never mind, you don't have any or you wouldn't be making such damned foolish remarks. Mental illness is an illness. It is treatable. When treated, it is under control. Mrs. Dalrymple is safe to return to work, because I say she is. I do have a considerable list of credentials. They are printed beside my name on that return to work letter you are holding in your hand. She needs support and encouragement, not an environment of ignorance and bigotry. I suggest you get on with your job, and let me get on with mine."

Leigh was working very hard to control the grin that wanted to splash across her face. Mr. Dramowski wasn't even trying.

"Well, that answers any questions, I might have had." He stood up. "Make the arrangements, exactly as stated in the letter. I would like a copy sent to the Board for our records. Good day, and glad to have you back Mrs. Dalrymple.

"I will see you this afternoon," Leigh said to Mr. Ryckle as she got up.

"I will be watching you," Mr. Ryckle said.

"As long as it isn't deemed excessive supervision or becomes a detriment to the morale of my class," Leigh quoted a section from the contract. "Your job is to administrate the school and supervise the teachers, not to get in the way of them doing their job." She left before Mr. Ryckle could respond.

She desperately wanted to be teaching her class, and she had no intention of letting Mr. Ryckle disrupt her teaching as much as he had in September.

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