It made her smile to think she might be able to grow things again—even if only a few herbs and tomatoes. There was nothing like fresh tomatoes from a garden.
By then they had entered another huge room, the cafeteria space, a line of people along the right side opposite masses of tables. The kitchen must be behind the doors on the right side too.
“Well,” she said.
Then he leaned forward and said, “You’ll have to talk loud up here.”
She realized the din of the place was the second effect that really surprised her. “A lot of people are here,” she said. And that, in itself, was almost intimidating.
“There are,” he said. “You want to go out on the deck and take a look first or get in line?”
She looked at the line and shrugged. “That doesn’t look like it’ll go anywhere quickly, so let’s go out on the deck.”
He headed her wheelchair through the tables until they got to an open-air deck with great big sliding glass doors that separated most of the deck, but they were wide open right now. And he said, “You can sit out here in the sun or in the shade.”
She was amazed at the space. But then her gaze caught the green hills before her on the other side of the deck. “Can you take me over there?”
He pushed her forward to where she could see over the edge of the railing. When she saw the horses running across the field, she cried out, “Horses!”
“I thought you were Dani’s friend?”
“Well, Dani and I were always horse crazy back then,” Melissa said, shaking her head, “but I had no idea horses were here.”
“Did she not tell you about the animals?”
“She did, it’s just hard to envision without being here.” She tilted her head at him. “Is there much more?”
“There absolutely is more,” he said. “A whole vet clinic is downstairs. They work on injured animals and do basic care for all animals, plus they run a lot of fosters through there. We have therapy animals from downstairs that visit the human patients up here, and several dogs, cats, and horses are permanent residents here too. Of course, out there is Lovely, the llama. We have a little filly out there too. Midnight is Dani’s horse.” He pointed out Midnight, who stood at a fence, leaning over and accepting long grass from somebody in a wheelchair.
“Wow,” she whispered. “That’s huge.”
“Are you an animal lover?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “Especially dogs.” Then she pointed. “Who’s that one?”
“That’s Helga,” he said with a chuckle. “She’s one of the therapy dogs who doesn’t know she has only three legs. Couldn’t care less either.”
“She’s huge,” she said.
“She’s a Newfoundlander, and, as far as she’s concerned, her size makes no difference. She thinks you still should be cuddling her twenty-four hours a day.”
At that, Melissa chuckled. “Oh, wow,” she said. “Dani really created something here, hasn’t she?”
“She has, indeed. And now you know why she wanted you to come.”
“Yes,” she said, “and she knew that I was a big animal lover to boot.”
“Good,” he said. “The line is going down, so let’s go back and get you some food.”
“Can I bring it out here?”
“You sure can,” he said. “It’s all part and parcel of the whole deal.”
“Good,” she said. “I would like to spend as much time outside as I can.”
“Vitamin D is very important,” he said. “You need about four hours a day in order to get what you need.”
“I thought it was only like twenty minutes,” she said jokingly.
“Well, it certainly isn’t four hours. I was making sure you were listening to me,” he said with a laugh. “But you can get quite a bit of time outdoors. Once we get you into the pool, that will help too.”
“And a pool?” she said, twisting gingerly and slowly to look at him a minute. “Is that for us or for the staff?”
“For everyone,” he said, nodding. “We’ll start some of your physiotherapy there, once we have an idea of where you’re at for mobility. You swim?”
“I was navy,” she said. “I swim.”
“Good,” he said. “That makes it a little easier.”
“It must be hard to have somebody who doesn’t swim.”
“On the other hand,” he said cheerfully, “it’s a great time for them to learn to swim.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the pool. When can I get in there?”
“Not for a while,” he said. “We have days of testing.”
“That does not appeal,” she said in a grumbling voice.
“Maybe not, but it’s very necessary.”
Just then they pulled up through the crowded cafeteria, and the din was once again overwhelming. “Everybody’s so loud.”
He bent closer to her ear. “But it’s a happy loud,” he said. “If you listen to it, you’ll hear that it’s just people being people.”
She tilted her head, as she assessed some of the chatter around her. But he was right. It wasn’t upsetting. It wasn’t cries. It wasn’t anger. It was conversation. It was Good morning and How are you? and How was your night?—that type thing.
And, before she realized it, he had her in a line, and they headed alongside the buffet offerings. He grabbed a tray for her and kept pushing it forward.
She looked at it and said, “I could walk, you know.”
“Not right now,” he said. As they came up to one of the glass counters, he called out, “Dennis.”
A huge man came to the front counter, leaned across the top, and smiled down at her. “Now that’s a new face I haven’t seen before.”
She smiled up at him. “I’m Melissa,” she said. “I just got here last night.”
“Uh-huh,” he said. “So I see they wouldn’t let you skip breakfast, huh?”
She shook her head. “No, Shane was pretty much against that.”
“We’re all against that,” he said. “You need your food.”
She smiled up at him. “But
