He stared at her wordlessly and collapsed against the bed. “I haven’t eaten all day,” he said, “so I should, but honestly, it seems like it’s an awfully long way to go.”
Frowning, she said, “It’s your first day, so, if you’d like me to pick up something, I can do that too.”
He really liked that option, but the thought of asking her to do even more went against the grain.
“The other option is,” she said, “I can take you down there, you can pick out something, and we can bring it back here for you.”
“Well, that’s a compromise,” he said. “Maybe that one?”
“Done,” she said. She brought the wheelchair to the head of the bed and then moved something forward from under the bed. A set of steps for him. “I presume you’ll need these for a few days.”
With a wince, he said, “Yeah, I think so.” He straightened up, gasping, as he worked muscles that hadn’t worked in a very long time. She immediately stepped up, moved the wheelchair into a better position, then reached out for his arm. He didn’t even think about it before grabbing hers for support. Very slowly, like a crippled old man, he made his way down the steps and into the wheelchair. He shook in place for a moment, while she grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around his legs.
“Come on. Let’s go pick you up some dinner. We’ll get you some hot tea, since yours is gone already. Then we’ll get you back to bed.”
He didn’t argue, since he knew he needed to eat. Left to his own devices, his stomach would set off a chain reaction that would keep him awake all night if he didn’t get a chance to eat. But, at the same time, it was hard and went against the grain to let other people do things for him. He’d been doing so much better at the last place, and now it’s like he’d taken a complete step back.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” she said. “This is temporary.”
He twisted ever-so-slightly. “What is temporary?”
“When most people arrive, they find that they’re set back a bit from their travels. They always assume it’ll be a quick and easy adjustment, but it’s actually worse than anything.”
“If you say so.”
“I do,” she said with a laugh.
He vaguely recognized some of the trip back to where he thought the cafeteria was.
“It’s a little bit early, so that’s good. Still the rush will be coming soon enough though.” At that, she pushed him forward and stopped at the edge of the counter, grabbing a tray for him. She placed it on his lap and said, “Okay, we can carry it back that way.” Then she picked it up and put it back on the counter and pushed it and him along the front of the buffet line, where a huge male oversaw the food. “Dennis, we have a new arrival.”
Dennis poked his head over the top, then grinned and said, “Hi, I’m Dennis. The kitchen is mine. What can I get you?”
Lance hated the shakiness he felt inside and said in the heartiest voice he could muster, “Something hot that will go down easy.”
“Well, I’ve got fish stew, fried chicken, and some skewers of meat and veggies here.”
“How about the stew?” he said. “Maybe with a slab of bread on the side.”
“You got it,” he said. “How big of a bowl do you want?”
Immediately Lance shook his head. “Not too much,” he said. “I haven’t eaten all day, and my stomach will revolt as it is.” At that, Dennis frowned but served up a medium-size bowl, added a couple thick slabs of French bread buttered on the side, and asked, “How about some food for your room? You want to take a muffin or a sandwich back, in case you need more later?”
“I don’t really want to,” he said, and then he started to shiver. Jessica immediately checked his temperature. “Let’s get you headed back to bed,” she said. “Dennis, maybe send somebody to check on him in a couple hours, just to make sure he doesn’t need more to eat? We’ll get this hot food down. I’ll just pick him up some hot tea and get him back to bed.”
Dennis watched them with a frown on his face.
She gave him a reassuring smile and said, “He should be fine, once he gets rested up.”
“I’m counting on you to make sure he is,” Dennis said. “I haven’t lost one yet.”
She chuckled at that. “It’s okay, Lance. We’re heading back to your room now,” she said. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized you were feeling that bad.”
“I don’t know if it’s that bad or not,” he said. “All of a sudden I just felt pretty shaky.” They were back in his room within minutes. He looked at his bed with relief, as she picked up the tray, put it on a small table, backed the wheelchair up, and put down the locks to help him to his feet.
“Bathroom first?”
He groaned and said, “Yeah.”
She walked over and asked, “Can you use crutches?”
“Yeah, I can probably make those few steps,” he said, and, using the crutches, she watched as he made his way to the bathroom. When the door closed, she stood and waited.
It took a few minutes for him to come back out. Sweat was on his forehead, and he looked even worse. She immediately walked over, gave him a shoulder for support, then helped him into bed. “Do you have pajamas?”
“Yeah, we put them away,” he gasped out.
She came back with a folded pair of blue checked pajamas, and, before he realized it, she already had his shirt off, the pajama top on, his socks and jeans off, and had him into the pajama bottoms. Before he could even say anything, she had him tucked under and relaxed in the bed with
