Twenty Six

Long before she was ready to go home, the doctor told her it was time to face the world.  Kara had pleaded, threatened and cried, but Dr. Smithson was adamant.  In the end she had to go home in the wheelchair. 

She had wanted to be able to walk before she set foot on her ranch again, but the physiotherapist insisted that she was expecting too much at once.  She feared that she would lose more men if she showed up in a wheelchair.  What would she do if more men left?  She could not pick up the slack in her condition at this point and she had no intention of losing the ranch. 

Kara was nervous on the day that she was supposed to go home, but Dr. Smithson insisted that he had done all the necessary planning and that her ride home would soon be there.  Kara had packed her own bag and was restlessly rolling the wheelchair around the room, impatient and worried at the same time.

Suddenly, she saw a movement out of the corner of