by Dale Mayer
“Hmm. I didn’t even realize it,” he said.
“That’s the thing. We become so complacent to what we’re doing that we don’t think about the things that we could be doing. And, if it seems like change is required, we talk ourselves out of it because we are comfortable with the status quo.”
“Everybody loves to be comfortable. Even if that feeling is not necessarily good for us, I guess, huh?”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, I’ll see you again tomorrow then,” Nash said. He turned and headed out the room.
“Don’t forget the picnic.”
“Well, maybe,” Nash said with a shrug. “I’m still not sure that it’s quite the right time or the right thing to do.”
“Won’t know until you try it,” Shane said cheerfully.
Definitely some truth was in that. As Nash headed back to his room, he watched and looked for any sign that Alicia had shown up today, but she hadn’t. He hadn’t seen her this morning; another nurse was in her place, dispensing medicine.
Hesitatingly, he walked to Dani’s office and asked, “Hey, did Alicia show up today?”
She shook her head. “She called in and said she was feeling a bit under the weather.”
“Huh,” he said. “Okay. I hope she is all right.”
“Did she give you her cell phone?”
“No, she didn’t,” he said with a frown. “But I didn’t ask for it either.”
“Well, I know when she called in, she was asking about you.”
He nodded and walked to his room, wishing he did have her cell number. Then he thought, well, maybe she’ll check her work phone. He didn’t know how that worked when they were not here, not on duty, but he did have a number to contact her on his tablet. His footsteps picked up the pace, and pretty quickly he was in his room, reaching for his tablet to check. And, sure enough, her number was there. He pulled out his phone and dialed it. When she answered the phone, he said, “Hey, I hear you’re not doing so good.”
“Nash,” she said with such bright joy in her voice that his heart warmed.
“Yes, it’s me,” he said. “When you didn’t show up, I talked to Dani, and she said you were a bit under the weather.”
“Yeah, I think yesterday’s revelations just exhausted me. I slept really well, but I woke up feeling like I had gained one hundred pounds.”
“You’re supposed to feel lighter, not heavier,” he teased.
“I think it’s just an initial reaction,” she said. “Anyway I decided that I could use the day off.”
“So take it, enjoy it,” he said. “You don’t get enough of them.”
“That’s not the truth. It seems like some days are good, and then the next day is like you lost everything you have gained. It’s right back to ground zero again.”
At that, he burst out laughing. “Wow,” he said. “It’s almost like you’re in here with us.”
She smiled. “Right, I shouldn’t even be complaining when you’ve had so much more of this than I have.”
“It’s not a contest,” he said lightly. “Just take care of yourself, okay?”
“Sure,” she said. “And thanks for calling, for checking up on me.”
“Not a problem,” he said, as he hung up.
As soon as he did, he wished he’d told her that she could call him—or at least, you know, maybe he’d call back later again. He felt foolish, even while refreshing the screen and looking at it. Just then a text message came through from her.
I appreciated the call, and, if I start feeling better, I’ll call later on.
He grinned, loving the fact that it’s as if she had read his mind. Later that afternoon, heading from the reception area back to his room, he stopped at the front desk because a huge bouquet of flowers sat there. “Wow,” he said. “Somebody loves you.”
The receptionist laughed and said, “Well, a patient was just released, and he is a very happy camper.”
“No wonder. You guys do a heck of a job here.”
“Well, thank you,” she said. “We’ll take all the compliments we can get.”
He grinned at that. “And yet, look at you guys,” he said. “You work all the time.”
“Not quite true,” she said. “Dani was out riding earlier. We’ve got all kinds of things that we do for fun. We live normal lives, have relationships, trials, struggles. Some of us have kids, you know? It is what it is.”
“Well, I, for one, appreciate it,” he said. He looked at the flowers and a thought came to mind. “Do you guys ever go into town and pick up supplies?”
“All the time,” she said. “Why?”
“I was just wondering about getting flowers for someone.”
At that, Dani stepped from her office. “Well,” she said, “I’m going in this afternoon. What would you like?”
He looked at the bouquet and said, “Honestly this is beautiful. I don’t know what all these flowers are or where it came from. Of course I don’t want to duplicate it, but I’d like a flower arrangement of this size. Would that be possible?”
She nodded, her lips stretching into smile, as she said, “I think it would be a lovely gesture. Do you want to put a note with it?”
“Yeah,” he said. “When you bring it back, I’ll write something. I don’t know what yet. Thank you for picking that up for me.”
He headed back to his room. Flowers were almost trite in a way, but he was hoping that maybe Alicia would remember it was one of the things that he’d always done for her in the past. Not that the reminders of the past were necessarily a good thing. But it was nice to think that maybe it was something from their past that they could bring forward and still enjoy now. He put it out of his mind until Dani arrived early that evening with a huge bouquet of flowers.
She came and put it on his bedside table and asked, “What about this?”
“Wow,” he said. “They are beautiful.”
“Good,” she said. “Are they for anybody special or did you just want flowers to brighten your room?” Her grin was teasing, and her eyes twinkled.
“You know perfectly well who they are for,” he said. “I just have to keep them in good shape till tomorrow morning.”
“Yep,” she said. “Do you want them here?”
“Yes,” he said. “Thanks.”
She nodded and disappeared.
He sat here, looking at them, loving the artful beauty and the aroma, then wondering what he should do. He took a picture of the flowers and stared at it. Should he send the picture to her? No, that would be kind of foolish. She hadn’t been in today, yet, by the end of the day, he missed her. Not a feeling he was used to dealing with.
By the time he had dinner and walked back to his room, he was surprised to see Alicia in the office with Dani. He frowned at that but didn’t want to disturb them.
When a knock on his door came an hour later, he felt that sense of expectation as he called out, “Hello?”
“May I come in?” Alicia asked from the hallway.
“Absolutely.”
She pushed her head around the door and smiled when she walked in. She took one look at the flowers and gasped. “Oh my, those are huge.”
“They are, aren’t they?” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to Dani.”
“Problem?”
“No, not at all,” she said. “I guess it seems odd to see me off schedule.”
“Well, I just want to make sure that nothing is wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she confirmed. But her gaze wouldn’t leave the flowers. She turned to him and asked, “Do you have a secret admirer?”
“None that I know of,” he said curiously. “Why?”
She pointed at the flowers.
He looked at her and laughed. “Oh, they are not for me.”
She looked at him in shock. “What do you mean?”
“They are for you,” he said with a smile. “I was standing at the front, in the reception area, and I saw the
bouquet of flowers a patient had sent. They were sitting at the front desk, and they reminded me of all the times that I used to buy you flowers.”
“Oh, you did, all the time,” she said, walking forward and smelling the huge roses in the center. “You were the best for that.”
“Well, I’m not exactly capable of getting out and around as much as I could, plus I don’t have wheels, and it seems silly to have them delivered,” he said. “So, I asked Dani, if anybody was going into town, if maybe they could pick me up a big bundle.”
“Wow,” she said. “Dani did, I gather?”
“Absolutely she did,” he said. “And she seemed to be okay doing it.”
“I imagine she was,” she said. “Dani is all heart.”
“She’s also a bit of a romantic,” he said in a dry tone.
She looked up at him, flushed, and said, “I think all women are.”
“Well, that doesn’t mean just women,” he said. “A lot of men are too.”
“Is that you?” she said in a teasing voice.
He laughed and said, “Maybe I think flowers are a nice gift. They seem kind of romantic, but you and me …” With that, he shrugged, not sure what else to say.
“Well, thank you,” she said. “They are beautiful.” She looked at him and said, “Can I leave them here at work, so I can enjoy them during the day?”
“Of course,” he said. “They are for you. You can take them home or leave them here.”
“Well, it’s hard to choose,” she said. “Because, if I take them home, I don’t get to see and smell them for the rest of the time I’m here. But, if I leave them here, I get to enjoy them all day, but I can’t take them home tonight.”
“We can split them in half,” he said. “Then you can enjoy them both at home and here.”
She smiled. “You know what? That’s not a bad idea. I am on my way home …” She reached into the vase and plucked out one single red rose. “I’ll take this one home.”
“Just that one?”
“Yeah, just that one.”
“Why?”
She looked at him and said, “Because red roses are for love.”
He smiled, the gentlest of smiles he could have managed. “And you already know I love you,” he said. “I’m not sure I ever stopped.”
She stared at him, tears in her eyes, and whispered, “I was thinking the same thing. It’s like we weren’t ready all those years ago, and now we are given a second chance—different people, different bodies, different insides and outsides but still connected.”
“Yes,” he said with a loving smile. “Some things never change, and we are still very much the same people inside.”
“Just better,” she whispered. She took a step toward him, and he opened his arms and tucked her a little bit closer.
“I was so afraid that nobody would want me this way,” he muttered, holding her close.
“Anyone should be honored to be with you,” she said. “You are a decent man. We need a lot more of those out there.”
“Somehow that doesn’t seem terribly complimenting.”
She burst out laughing and looked up to see his big grin. “And you know that I didn’t mean it in any other way.”
I know,” he said. “I can say the same for you, and I’m really sorry about your brother. But I know you did everything you could.”
She nodded. “I think I’m finally at peace with that too.”
“Perfect,” he said. “There is not a whole lot more in life we can do, except the best job that we’ve got to give, and then, when we’ve done it, to walk away and to know that it’s over.”
“And yet I didn’t really ever think that you and I were over,” she said. “It just seemed like it slipped into the background. Then my life was changed in such a permanent way, so fast and so intense, yet I still thought of you. I felt we would meet again—that, if I saw you again, this would happen.”
“I’m not sure if you saw me again, while you were still caring for your brother, that you would even see me as your focus was on him,” he said seriously. “Obviously we would have recognized each other, but would we have recognized what we really meant to each other?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I, for one, am grateful to be right here where we are, right now.”
“I can agree with that,” he whispered. “It’s been a very long journey, but it almost feels like we are coming home.”
“Both of us,” she whispered. “That long journey wasn’t just yours. We might have been too young before, but I’m happy to say that I think we are the perfect age right now.”
“That we are.”
Chapter 14
Nash still held Alicia in his arms. She looked up at him. “I was wondering, when I was talking to Dani earlier, whether I should be moving in here. I’m really torn over the idea.”
“I suggest you stay where you are,” he said, holding her close. “I won’t be here all that much longer, and we’ll get a place in town.”
“A place in town?” She looked at him and blinked.
“I mean, you’ll have to make an honest man out of me first, of course,” he said with a hopeful grin.
Her eyes widened, as she stared at him in shock. “Are you serious?”
“Of course I’m serious,” he said. “You think I buy roses for anybody?”
She stared at the roses, the one in her hand still, and then threw her arms around his neck and held him close.
“So does that mean yes?”
“I’m not sure that I heard a question,” she said, her eyes hopeful, as she stared up at him.
“Beautiful Alicia, the woman of my heart, the woman I recognized a long time ago as being the person for me—and yet somehow we both took divergent paths and now have come together again—will you marry me? Will you be the mother to my children? Will you be there through all the years, through the good, the bad, and everything in between?”
“Wow,” she said. “All of that?”
“All of that,” he said with an emphatic nod. “At least to the best of our ability.”
She smiled, tears in her eyes, and said, “I had never thought to ever get such a beautiful proposal in my life. How can I possibly refuse?”
“You still haven’t said yes,” he said, tapping her gently on her nose.
“The answer is yes, yes, yes,” she said, as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. When a cheer came from the doorway, she realized Shane, Dani, and several others stood there.
“Oh,” Shane said with a grin. “If this was private, you should have closed the door.”
“Apparently,” she said, flustered.
But Nash didn’t appear to be too embarrassed to talk. “And clearly I’m sure you are all more than happy to know she has agreed to become my wife.” And, at that, cheers erupted all around them, and he pulled her close and just held her tight. “Our time will come too,” he whispered.
“No,” she said, reaching up, patting his cheek ever-so-gently. “Our time has come.”
Nash looked down, kissed her on the tip of her nose, and said, “Now and forever.”
“Agreed,” Alicia answered.
Once again, the crowd cheered. And she’d never been happier.
Epilogue
Owen Powell checked his email on his phone, wondering what that last ding was. Then he realized it wasn’t an email; it was a text message. He stopped and stared.
Hey, Owen, this is for real.
He clicked on the image. The only reason he would have was because he recognized the sender’s phone number. Owen saw the picture of Nash, standing tall and straight, in shorts, with a bare chest, showing his scars, but obviously in a lot better shape than Owen had seen him the last time, and Nash had his arms around a beautiful woman. Owen stared at the couple in shock. When the phone rang in his hand, he wasn’t much surprised to see it was Nash himself.
“Did you see the picture I sent?”
“Dude, okay, so first off
, whose body are you in, and, second off, does it come with a girl?”
Nash laughed and laughed. “No, the girl came with my broken body,” he said. “But thankfully I am now sporting that body.”
“Is that really you?” he asked. He couldn’t look back at the phone and keep talking, so he pulled the phone from his ear and stared down at the image on his phone and shook his head. He hit Speaker. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “You look unbelievably good.”
“Well, I still have a couple more weeks of fine-tuning,” he said, “but I also got accepted into the local college to become an arborist. And you need to congratulate me because I’m getting married.”
The shocks just kept going through him. Owen said, “I remember, not all that long ago, having you in the bed beside me, absolutely devastated because your trip to Hathaway House had been pushed back.”
“Now you know why I was so devastated,” he said. “I knew, I just knew I had to come to Hathaway House. I was hopeful that I would have some great results, but I didn’t expect to have these kind of results. And I never expected to have Alicia back in my arms again.”
“Again?”
“Yeah, she is the ex-girlfriend I talked to you about. We went out a long time ago, and she’s been through quite some things in her life, and, of course, I have too. So now we’ve come together in a way that I hadn’t even thought was possible.”
“I still wouldn’t think it was possible, if I wasn’t seeing it for myself,” Owen said.
“An empty bed is coming up here.”
“Sure, but also a huge waiting list too.”
“Well, I’ll put in a good word for you, but you have to get your application in now.”
“I don’t want to take anybody else off that waiting list. I know what it’s like when somebody else preempts you.”
“Well, I put you on the waiting list a long time ago,” he said. “So that’s something you need to consider.”
“You did what?”
“Hey, Owen,” Nash said, “I know that you were there with me, sharing a VA room, but I know you can be a whole different man. You can be the man you want to be, if you only get here. I can lead you to water, but it’s up to you to drink it.”