“Okay.” I came back out into the room and he put me back in the bed and sat on a chair beside me while I picked at the food.

The next morning we got on an airplane and flew back home. We flew to Nashville and got the car and drove the rest of the way. “I want to go by the house on Finley Island on our way into town,” Daddy said, when we were almost to Dunleith. “Uncle James drove up from Mobile. He’s going to stay out there until we’re sure you’re all right. He said you might need some penicillin and he wants to be here to give it to you if you do.”

“Sure. That’s fine. Let’s go. He’s going to stay out there?”

“Just act like everything’s normal. Nobody’s going to know anything and nobody needs to. They’re having a picnic out there today for the family so we’ll just slip in and tell them we had a good time driving to the mines. Just keep your mouth shut and say we had a nice trip.”

“I’m glad he’s here. I’m glad he came. I pulled that wad of gauze out of me, Daddy. When we stopped at that filling station to get some gas. I meant to tell you about it . . .”

“Well, tell Uncle James about it. He’ll know what to do.” Daddy turned off the highway and onto the asphalt road leading to the old summer house he had bought on the Tennessee River at a place called Finley Island. The yard was full of cars. All my cousins from Aberdeen were there and people from Dunleith. They were having a party. We drove up in the yard and parked the car and got out and started walking toward the house. My father’s younger brother James came down through the crowd and took my arm. “Let’s walk down to the river, Rhoda,” he said. “I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“I’m fine. I’m perfectly all right.”

“Well, just come walk with me and tell me about it.” He pulled me along a little path that led down through the woods to the river. He had his hand on my arm. I loved my Uncle James. I loved his hands, which were always unbelievably clean and white.

“Tell me about it,” he said.

“There’s nothing to tell. They put me up on an examining table and gave me some pills and then they did it. I had a wad of gauze inside me but it came out. I’ve got a Kotex on now. I’m bleeding but not too much, I think.”

“How much?”

“Not too much. I’ve had this Kotex on for about an hour and I guess it’s still okay. You want me to go look?”

“No. That’s all right. You aren’t hemorrhaging?”