by Dale Mayer
As he stood in the reception area, trembling but vertical, he could see one of the orderlies motioning to somebody just out of his view. Next thing Gregory knew, a wheelchair backed up to him. The orderly leaned down and said, “Sit.” Gregory recognized the order inherent in that soft word. Shaky and needing a hand, he managed to sit in the wheelchair, desperately trying not to show how relieved he was to get off his foot and relieving the stress off his back and arm.
A woman stepped from an office nearby and smiled at him. “Welcome to Hathaway House,” she said. “I’m Dani, owner and manager.”
He smiled and shook her hand. “I’m glad to be here,” he said honestly. “I was pretty surprised when I was accepted.”
“We accept a lot of people from all walks of life and with all kinds of injuries.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything.
She motioned to the orderly beside him and said, “Gregory’s assigned to 242.”
The orderly nodded, and together the three of them proceeded down one of the many hallways off the main reception area, while Dani explained the workings of Hathaway House. It looked pretty normal to Gregory, a hallway with lots of doors, people in wheelchairs and people on crutches. Nothing special at all.
She pointed to a door up ahead and said, “This one’s yours.” She opened it wide, and he went in.
Pleasantly surprised, he realized he had a private room with a window and almost like a balcony, if he could get out there to enjoy it. A bed and a bath. He nodded and said, “Well, this is nice.”
She chuckled. “How to damn with faint praise.”
He flushed at that. “Sorry,” he said. “I was just thinking that, as I came down the hallway, it seemed very much like every other center I’ve been in.”
The orderly behind him laughed. “There’s nothing ordinary about this place,” he said. “Yes, it looks like bedroom upon bedroom, and yes, you’ll see an awful lot of similar-looking patients. But that’s where the resemblance ends.”
Dani dropped a stack of paperwork and a tablet on his bed. “Most of that is self-explanatory,” she said. “But, because of what you just said, let’s take a quick walk around, and you can see what you get to look forward to.”
They wheeled him back out into the hallway and down a few more doors and turned a corner, and then everything opened up. He was surprised—again—when they kept on going into a big entertainment section. Even though it was midafternoon or so, people were gathered here, noisily playing pool and various other board games, like checkers and chess, along with maybe poker at one table and other card games at a couple more. He had to smirk when he saw a jigsaw puzzle spread nearby across a bigger table, and already a couple men were seated there, quietly immersed in the activity, ignoring the hoots and hollers from the tables next to them.
But what called to Gregory more was an outdoor deck area, with its railing providing a panoramic view of probably three sides of this property. When they got closer to another glass double-wide doorway, the entrance opened up to a large cafeteria. All the while, the orderly kept on rambling about different things, such as when mealtimes were, … food always available anytime he was hungry, day or night, so he was to come and get something. … Coffee always fresh, … juices and fruits, … water.
Gregory didn’t pay much attention to it. He was keenly taking in the layout with interest. When Dani led him to the railing side so he could look down and see the horses in the fields and the pool beneath him, Gregory found himself truly smiling for the very first time since he had gotten here. “Now this is more like it,” he said.
She looked at him. “You like horses?”
“Yep, used to rodeo when I was a kid.”
She chuckled, making Gregory’s smile widen. “Well,” she said, “I do have a couple horses that we use for riding sometimes. So anytime you want to or think you’re strong enough to get on the back of one again, those requests go through me. But we’ll also need your therapist’s and doctor’s permissions. Still, it’s definitely something you can look forward to,” she concluded.
“Thank you. I’d like that,” he said sincerely.
“But no rodeoing,” she added as if on second thought. “However, I’m happy to take you on a quarter horse and go out in the pastures for an hour or two, as soon as you’re strong enough.”
“Great. What about the pool?”
“As soon as you’re cleared, you get pool time.”
“Well then, I’d like to get through the therapists, the doctors and the testing as soon as possible,” he said, “because I’m half fish, and I’ve really, really missed the water.”
“Spoken like a true Navy SEAL.” The woman had a gentle smile on her lips as she spoke. It made her seem even warmer and more welcoming than before.
Gregory was watching her motion with her left hand as she kept on speaking until she stopped and walked up to a big barreled-chested man, sitting comfortably in a wheelchair—or as comfortable as one could sit with stumps where his legs should be. Both of them were bandaged, and he held something in his beefy arms so small that Gregory couldn’t see what it was from where he sat. Dani reached down and scooped it up, then, coming back to him, she resumed talking.
“We have a veterinary clinic below us. They perform the normal functions of an animal clinic. However, they serve a double duty for us as we also run a lot of shelter animals through here, and we have multiple therapy animals in-house too.”
At this point, Gregory realized what the man had been holding. It was the tiniest little dog he had ever seen, and Dani held it out to him.
“This is Chickie. Don’t ever feed him because he’s missing most of his stomach and doesn’t digest food very well. But he’s got a huge fan following in the place.”
Gregory reached out and gently cuddled the tiniest, most broken-looking Chihuahua he’d ever seen in his life. He drew him up to his face to give him a kiss. It’s huge eyes and little tongue licked at Gregory’s mouth and chin and broke his heart.
“Wow, how many therapy animals are here?” Just then a very large Maine coon cat hopped up into his lap and purred, batting at his hand. He was so surprised to have the cat and Chickie in his arms that he stared in amazement, but his free hand immediately stroked the beautiful gray cat.
“That’s Thomas,” she said. “Helga’s around here too. She’s a Newfoundlander dog with three legs. You’ll see Thomas there is missing a back leg too.”
“Doesn’t seem to affect his jumping though,” Gregory noted.
“No, if anything, he uses it to get more food and cuddles out of everybody,” she said in a dry tone. “A baby llama is over there”—Dani pointed out to a nearby field—“Her name is Lovely. The horse at her side—they’re a bonded pair—is called Appie. They were both removed from their owner for abuse. Appie’s hooves were almost curled over they were so long, and he was starved. Lovely was in the same condition, but thankfully both of them have recovered quite nicely. We have a filly here too. We also have my horses, which are my own personal mounts, and my home is adjacent to the center.” She pointed again as she spoke. “We have more dogs, and we have a goat.” She laughed. “If you like animals, you’re in the right place.”
“I love animals,” Gregory said. Chickie, as if understanding, curled up ever-so-slightly into the crook of his elbow and looked to be going to sleep while Thomas curled up on his lap, prepared to stay there. He stared at them in amazement. “Seriously, I love all animals. So can they go back to my room too?”
“They can go with you back to your room, but you have to leave your door open, so they can come and go at will,” she answered him. “Independence and freedom for our people and our animals is paramount here. Thomas has litter boxes throughout our center, and Chickie, while carried about mostly, has a special bed up at the front reception area. Racer, another of our therapy animals, has a set of wheels that come off and on, but they allow him to race around the hallways. So leave your door open if you have any animals, so
they’re never forcibly kept in your room. As soon as that happens, it’s a strike against you, and you won’t be allowed to keep the animals at all.”
“Freedom,” he said, “it’s so important to everyone.”
“So is independence,” Dani responded with a smile. “And they have that here in spades. Don’t feed any of the animals. Most of them are on special diets. We do have a full-time vet downstairs. You’ll meet him soon enough,” she said. “And, if you ever want to visit some of the animals downstairs, we have an elevator that can get you down there. There are also stairs and a ramp, depending on what skill level you’re currently at. You’re welcome to go down there at any time. They often have animals that just need some love. From foster animals to rescue animals that are in for surgery from all kinds of incidents, you’re welcome to visit.”
He could feel his heart expanding with joy just even holding little Chickie against his heart. “Wow,” he whispered, lifting the little guy up again and kissing the top of his head. “These guys have got to be one of the biggest blessings to your place.”
“Oh? But not the pool?” Dani laughed.
“Well, that’s a big help too,” Gregory said with a smile. “So, how do I get started?”
“Well, it’s four p.m., so you get to start today by going over the paperwork. We have some signatures required.” She led the way back to his room. “The tablet has your schedule keyed in, and it also has a list of your medical team members. You’ve been assigned a primary doctor and three secondary doctors, plus a primary care nurse, a therapist, and half a dozen other people in your team,” she said with a wave of her hand. “All of their bios are listed, so you can see who they are and what they specialize in. They each will interview you. Once they are done with that, they will get together and create a special treatment program for you here.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“No problem. You won’t see two of the doctors right now though. I believe one is in town doing surgery, but he’ll be back later tonight. So you could have people from your team stopping by your room up to eight p.m. tonight. We do try to prevent people from going to your room after eight on any given night. … That is, except for the night-shift nurses.”
“Right. I think my medical records made it here already, didn’t they?”
“They did, indeed.” They were already back in his room. “You’ll find a robe and some towels, so you can shower whenever you are ready. Your personal belongings are here too.” She pointed to his bag. “We don’t unpack for our residents. We feel that helps you acclimate quicker if you know where your personal effects are. However, if at any time you need help, please don’t hesitate to ask. We especially don’t want to overtax you or stress you further after your travels to get here to us today. And dinnertime is around an hour from now.”
“But I can eat even though I haven’t met the rest of the team?” he asked hopefully.
“Yes, that’s correct. Just the more of your team you can see today and tomorrow, the better. Your rehab program can’t really start until you’ve met everybody on your team. So make yourself available as much as you can.”
“May I bring food back to my room?” he asked, wondering just how strict the rules here were.
“You are welcome to eat in your room, but I’d suggest doing that in about an hour or so, whether here or in the cafeteria. Now that you’ve arrived, a notice has gone out to everybody on your team, so you’re likely to get inundated by them in the next hour,” she replied. “Therefore, I suggest you wait until at least five-thirty p.m. to visit the cafeteria. I’ll input a note, saying that you’re heading in for food after that time.”
“Okay, good.”
Dani handed him the paperwork and the tablet and showed him that he had a call button to contact her or the nurses in case of any issues.
And then she was gone.
Chapter 2
Meredith hated the fact that she was nervous. Yet she gave herself some kudos for doing as well as she was, given her seven-hour notice to deal with a pretty major surprise in her life. Shaking that thought off, she set aside her personal issues and donned her professional hat, so to speak. She knew she needed to see Gregory. She was his primary care nurse, she kept reminding herself. She’d stopped by once, but one of his doctors had already been in there with Gregory. She’d immediately taken that as an excuse to walk on by.
But she couldn’t put it off for long, regardless of how many other people were on his team. They all needed to see Gregory to do their jobs properly. And, with Gregory’s current extensive physical problems, they all had to meet with him immediately to get his rehab started. She sighed. She’d see him, doing her best to be there for him, but she’d rather do it before dinner and get that initial meet-and-greet behind her. Then maybe she could relax some. Put some of her fears aside. She quickly snagged her files and the tablet and walked toward his room. She could feel her heart shaking and her fingers sweating. She hated that. Absolutely hated that.
Dani’s words echoed in her mind. Don’t show him pity.
Meredith definitely wouldn’t do that, but she was already having trouble dealing with his battered body because she knew how broken he was; his medical file had been quite comprehensive. When she compared that to how he’d been before and how much pain he’d been through in the interim, her heart broke every time she thought about it because she should have been there with him. There for him. But he hadn’t let her.
No, that’s not true. They hadn’t even given themselves the chance to take that step. They hadn’t given themselves the chance to even have that kind of an opportunity, to see if they could have had a real relationship. Once he’d said he was going back, she got angry, and that had been it.
She knocked on his door. It was open a couple inches, but she wasn’t sure if he was alone.
“Come in.”
Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and walked in as if nothing was different. She smiled up at him and said, “Hi, welcome to Hathaway House.” She had to stop herself from instinctively hugging Gregory.
Gregory looked at her and muttered, “Hi,” but he didn’t show any signs of recognition.
She tilted her head to the side and introduced herself. “I’m Meredith.”
He nodded slowly. “I remember,” he said, but his tone was indifferent, like he was talking about the weather or something.
Meredith’s heart sank, but she schooled her expression. At least she hoped she did. So no hugs needed or wanted by this Gregory. Giving a polite nod, she replied, “Good, I hope the time we had together has been forgotten.”
He tilted his head ever-so-slightly. “Meaning?”
She took a deep breath and said, “Just that we were friends once, and I don’t want our prior relationship to hold back your healing.”
Instantly, he dropped his gaze, and then he smiled and said, “Thank you for that. I have no intention of letting that happen.”
Not quite the response that she wanted but okay. I’m his primary care nurse. She returned his smile. “I’ll be your primary care nurse, as I was assigned to your medical team. I don’t know if you’ve seen everybody else yet on your team,” she said, “but obviously I have a little more history with you than probably the other members.”
“You might have known me before,” he said with a curt nod, “but the last five years have seen a lot of changes.”
“Obviously, and not for the better, and for that I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. “Sometimes life can be a bear.”
He gave a hard laugh at that. “That’s one way to call it.”
She motioned toward the door. “It’s almost five-thirty, and we have a notation here that you wanted to eat then. Do you want to come with me so I can show you the ropes?”
Gregory hesitated.
Immediately she backed up and said, “Got it. If you need me for anything, just hit the Call button.” And, with that, she disappeared.
“Ouch,” Gregory muttered. “Couldn�
��t have made that any worse if I’d tried.”
He should have called her back, and he probably still could, but it would be a bit awkward now. He should have just done it, so why hadn’t he?
He stared at the tablet in front of him and realized he could call her back. Once again forcing himself to do what didn’t come naturally, he pushed the button and then sat here and waited. When she came around the doorway, a puzzled frown on her face, he just stared at her.
She shook her head, looked at him and asked, “What’s up?”
“If you hadn’t run away quite so fast,” he said, “I could have explained. I would like to go to the cafeteria. … Yes, I would like you to show me the ropes. But I need to make a trip to the washroom first, and that can take me a little time.” He watched as a smile bloomed across her face.
“Well then, why don’t you do that now? I have to step into my office anyway, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.” And then, just like the first time, she disappeared.
Gregory took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He just needed to process a little faster. Everything in his life seemed to have slowed down since sustaining his injuries. It’s not that he’d had a brain trauma, but he didn’t seem to have the lightning-quick mentality that he’d had before. He didn’t know if it was something from the initial injury itself or just another side effect due to these big changes in his life’s circumstances.
Regardless, she had given him a second chance, and, if he could at least put them on a friendly basis, then she was right. It wouldn’t slow down his healing. Meredith had had a lovely personality before—hopefully she still did. It was that in particular which had attracted him to her, her fresh openness to everything and to everyone.