“I need to be a little straighter,” he said.
She handed him a remote. “Try this.”
Ever-so-slowly, he managed to get it to work. He sighed. “I’m so tired,” he said, “but I need food.” He picked up a spoon, took a bite, and then sank back against the bed. “Wow,” he said. “This is really good.”
“It is,” she said, “and you need to take full advantage of it. I’ll go get you some hot tea and some water and will be right back.” With that, she bolted again to the kitchen. She didn’t want him to know how worried she was about him. She hadn’t seen anybody arrive with the shakes like that. As soon as she got him some drinks, she would talk to the doctor and make sure somebody came and checked up on him tonight.
Dennis saw her as she came back in. “Is he okay?”
She shook her head. “Exhausted, shaky, and maybe in a little bit of shock,” she said. “I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but I’ll mention it to his doctor.” She picked up tea and a bottle of water and a bottle of juice. “I’m not sure if he has any blood sugar issues either,” she says, “but I’ll take him a juice just in case.” She flashed Dennis a smile and sped back out again and headed for Lance’s room. When she got there, his bowl of stew was almost empty, and he had some color in his face. She put the drinks down for him. “You’re looking better already.”
“Yeah, I think it was just the whole travel-and-arrival thing,” he said, leaning back. “I really want another bowl of stew, but I don’t think I can get any more down.”
“How about another bowl in an hour or so?”
“How does that work?” he said with a laugh. “I’m sure they have better things to do than cater to me.”
“Look. Like I said earlier, I haven’t been here that long myself, but one thing was made very clear to me when I started work here,” she said with quiet emphasis. “Nobody has anything better to do than to look after you and the other patients here. Obviously taking you down there and back wasn’t the best decision. I should have realized how tired you were and should have just gone and collected you some food.”
“But you probably wouldn’t have chosen stew for me,” he said, a smile at the corner of his lips. He looked down at the empty bowl and said, “I think I would like a second bowl. But I feel guilty.”
“Don’t,” she said, as she snagged up the bowl. “I brought you tea, juice, and water. Is there anything else you would like?”
He shook his head. “Maybe just seconds on stew.” There was such a hopeful look on his face that she had to laugh.
“I don’t have a problem doing that,” she said. “So hang on. I’ll be right back.” She headed down the hallway with the empty dish. When she walked back into the cafeteria, she showed it to Dennis, and a big smile broke out across his face.
“Now that I like to see,” he said.
“Even better,” she said, “please, sir, he’d like some more.”
He chuckled at the Oliver Twist reference and took the dirty bowl from her and filled up a clean one. “Here. Take this one to him.”
Rather than carry it on a tray, she grabbed the bowl and another spoon. “Thank you, Dennis. I’ll be back in a bit for my own dinner.”
“Yeah, and maybe get somebody to check on that guy,” he said. “Hate to see anybody suffer.”
“I think he’s done a lot of suffering and for a long time,” she said.
“That was before,” Dennis said. “Now he’s here, and it’s a whole different story.”
Chapter 2
It was unusual for Jessica to be as affected by a patient as she was by Lance. But something was just so frail about this big man who had been brought to these sad circumstances, and she found her heart melting for him. She checked up on him on a regular basis over the next few days, making sure he had food, water, and other drinks. Even between her rounds she found herself with excuses to go down that hallway to see him. Three days later, when she stopped in to check on him in the morning, he looked up and gave her a sleepy smile.
“Wow,” she said. “With a smile like that, I bet you had girls dropping all over you.”
“Maybe before the accident,” he murmured, “but it sure hasn’t happened since.”
She chuckled. “That’s because it was girls,” she said. “Women are a completely different sort.”
“What’s the difference?” he asked curiously, as he obediently held out his arm for her to check his blood pressure.
“Girls are affected more by the prettiness on the outside,” she said, “and women, at least women who have grown up and seen a lot of life, they know that the true measure of a man can only be taken from the inside,” she said. “In a place like this, what we see all the time is that inner measure of a man.”
He smiled. “I think I like that,” he said.
“Good,” she replied.
“But I don’t have any illusions about finding a partner after this.”
“Well, it’s perfectly possible, and, from what I understand, it happens a lot around here.”
“Happens a lot,” he said slowly. “I know what happened with my friend Iain,” he said, “but I assumed that was an oddity.”
“Not only was it not an oddity but Hathaway House is getting a name for matchmaking.” And she laughed.
“Hard to believe,” he said, wondering if he’d made a mistake coming here.
“People here are not quite so shallow to just seek a quick relationship only. We see so much of what you guys go through,” she said, “that, for
