Romance: Altered Engagement (Wild Hearts, Contemporary Romance Book 1)

by Nancy Adams

  Katie Lou smiled at him. “Daddy, you'd only get yourself into trouble, so don't do that. Besides, wasn't it you who always told me that life is what happens when you're busy making other plans? Well, isn't this a prime example? I was planning on getting married, not learning how to live in a wheelchair, but now look at me.”

  Allen looked at his daughter. “Honey, when we got the call that you were hurt, the most terrible things went through my mind. I thought of you dead, or with arms and legs missing, I thought of you as a vegetable that would never talk or even know me ever again...” He coughed, and Katie knew he was covering a sob. “I thought of all those things, but the one thing that kept going through my mind was a prayer. I kept praying, 'God, no matter what has happened to her, she's still my little girl. Give me the strength to do whatever I have to do to take care of her, no matter what.' Well, seeing you sitting here right now, talking to me and making jokes about the whole thing, that's so much better than the things I was seeing in my mind, so I'm just thankful to God that you're here. Let's not worry about what might have been, or what we thought would be; let's just thank God for what is.”

  “Amen,” said Judy, and Kylie said, “Amen and amen!” Katie Lou just sat there and looked at her father, the tears slowly leaking from his eyes, and then she leaned as far forward as she could. He leaned to meet her and they hugged each other.

  “Thank you, Daddy,” she said. “Thank you for showing me how to look at things the right way.”

  Allen and Judy both began getting ready to leave, each to go back to work at their own businesses. They'd been keeping in touch with the ones who were covering for them, so their returns would not be a surprise to anyone, but they were both looking forward to being back in their own saddles.

  Katie and Kylie said they'd clean up after breakfast, and made a team effort of it. Kylie gathered everything up, while Katie Lou sat by the dishwasher and put everything in as Kylie handed it to her. Katie washed out the sink and Kylie wiped the table, and they were done in no time.

  The two of them sat there at the table, and each had another cup of coffee. Katie's appointment wasn't until ten fifteen, so they had some time before they needed to get dressed and go.

  “It's weird,” Katie said. “I woke up this morning, and at first I didn’t even know where I was, but then I remembered, and it all came back to me. Suddenly I remembered the accident, and the hospital, and Darren—and all I could think of was that I wanted to just go back and start last Saturday all over. If things had gone differently, I wouldn't be in this chair, and I wouldn't be broken up. I'd still be looking forward to getting married soon, but now—now I just want to crawl back into that bed and not even bother getting up.”

  Kylie sat there and looked at her big sister. “Katie Lou, I know—I know it's got to hurt so bad that you must want to give up, but you just can't. Y'know, all our lives, I've looked up to you and—well, I've always felt like, as long as you were there, I could cope with anything, right? As long as Katie was there, then the world would keep spinning and the sun would keep shining and everything would be okay. When Mom called and said you were in a coma, I just about died, myself, I didn't know what to think, I didn't know what to do—how could something like this happen to you? How could this happen to Katie Lou, my big sissy, the one who was always there for me when I got hurt, or when other kids picked on me, or when Bobby Peterson broke my heart in the seventh grade. You were the one who took care of me; in some ways, you raised me as much as Mom did, because when Mom was working on building up her beauty shop, you were the one who was at home, making sure I got my homework done, fixing me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, taking me to the after-school movies and to the park, and teaching me to ride a skateboard. I just couldn't imagine how this could happen to you.” She sighed. “But it did, and now I get to help you. If you need something, Katie Lou, I want to be the one you call on to get it for you. If you want a snack, I want you to tell me. I want to be there for you, the way you were always there for me. Is that okay? Am I making sense?”

  Katie smiled, and the tears that came with it were happy tears as she reached across the table to take her sister's hand. “It's fine,” she said, “and I thank you. Now, come on; I've gotta get changed, and then you can take me to see that doctor you think is so cute!”

  “Hey, even Mom thought he was cute,” Kylie said, as she rose to follow her sister back to her room. “And you did, too, even if you won't admit it.”

  Katie froze suddenly, stopping right in the middle of the hall. She sat there for a moment, and then looked over her shoulder at Kylie. “I admit it, he's cute,” she said. “But just because a man is attractive doesn't mean he's worth the powder it would take to blow him to the moon.” She pushed on her wheels and went on toward her room, and Kylie caught up a few seconds later.

  “I got all sweaty yesterday,” Katie said. “I think today I'm going for shorts and a t-shirt, what do you think?”

  Kylie shrugged. “Makes sense, you're gonna be working out one way or another.”

  Katie nodded. “Yep,” she said, and then pulled off the shirt she'd worn to sleep in and tossed it onto the bed. She rolled up to the dresser and fought with the top drawer for a moment, then got it open and chose a bra and panties. In the second drawer, she found a shirt and a pair of athletic shorts from her high school days. She rolled back over to the bed.

  Changing clothes involved some effort; Katie put on the bra and t-shirt with no problem, but then she had to rock from side to side, working her PJ bottoms and panties down a little at a time until she got them down to her knees, before leaning forward and sliding them down the rest of the way. She lifted one foot and then the other to get them off, and then reversed the process, slipping each foot into the appropriate leg hole of clean panties and shorts, pulling them up as far as her knees, and then wriggling them up the rest of the way. The whole operation took about ten minutes, and Katie was breathing heavy by the time it was done.

  “How do I look?” she asked Kylie, and her younger sister gave her a wry smile.

  “You look great,” Kylie said. “Now, give me a couple minutes to go put on something sexy, so I'll have at least a chance of getting Dr. Christopher's attention.”

  8

  The Riviera pulled up at the clinic ten minutes early, and Kylie got the wheelchair out and brought it around to Katie Lou. She swung herself into it as easily as if she'd been doing it for years, and then Kylie pushed her inside. Red-haired Anna saw them and waved as they came through the door, and Katie noticed that the waiting room had only a couple of people in it this time.

  “Hi,” she said to Anna when she checked in. “Is business slowing down? There were more people here yesterday.”

  “Nah, it's fine. Rob let his assistants take a few of his patients this morning, and some of them rescheduled for this afternoon, so he's free to work with you.”

  “Okay, cool,” Katie said. “Well, I'm here. Any more paperwork I need to fill out?”

  Anna shook her head. “Nope, we got it all yesterday. How are you feeling? Still sore?”

  Katie chuckled. “Yeah, pretty much. Everywhere that can feel anything, anyhow, and a few places that can't. Somehow I think I need to get used to that, at least for a while.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Anna said. “Hopefully it won't last too long, though. I think Rob's ready for you; hang on just a second and I'll see.” She got up and slipped through the door behind her desk, while Katie and Kylie waited. She came back two minutes later, and said, “Yep, he's ready. Go on back to the same room he had you in yesterday, and he'll be there in a minute.”

  They thanked her, and Kylie pushed the wheelchair through the doorway and into the hall. The room they'd been in the day before was empty, and they went inside.

  Rob came in a moment later, and neither of the girls missed that he looked Katie Lou over appreciatively. “Hey, there,” he said. “Ready to give it another go today? I've got a couple new things for you to try, so let's g
et you down on the mat, okay?”

  Katie Lou rolled herself onto the floor mat again, and Rob gave her the stabilizer so she could sit upright. This time, though, he got down on the floor beside her and picked up a ball that was about ten inches in diameter.

  “What we're going to try today is to keep your foot balanced on a ball. I'm going to put this one underneath your foot, and then I'll let go, and I want you to try to keep it there. Ready?”

  “I guess so,” Katie said, as Rob reached out and grasped her bare right ankle. He lifted it about a foot into the air, placed the ball underneath her foot, and set her heel down on top of the ball.

  The ball rolled, and her foot fell off, instantly. Rob chuckled and put it back. “Okay, now,” he said, “the object is to try to keep your foot on top of the ball for as long as you can. Try just staring at your foot as it sits there, and concentrating on making it stay put. Try it.”

  He held her foot in place while Katie got herself ready. When she nodded, he let go and watched.

  Her foot fell off. Katie blew air out of the side of her mouth in frustration, looking at at Rob. “This isn't gonna work,” she said. “I can't make my foot do anything; I can't even feel it!”

  Rob laughed. “Katie, that's the whole point. By forcing your brain to concentrate on your foot, and trying to make it do something it doesn't seem able to do, we're hopefully jump-starting the connection between your brain and your foot. If we can get a tiny bit of control over it, it should be like starting a snowball, and we'll see more results as we keep working on new exercises. Now, let's try again, okay?”

  Katie groaned. “Fine,” she said. “Let's try again.” She looked up at Kylie and grinned. “Beats sitting at home, I guess.”

  Kylie was watching Rob, and threw a wink at Katie Lou, but Rob was concentrating on Katie's foot. He set it back onto the ball, and watched as he slowly let go.

  Katie was staring at her own foot, and trying to will it to stay on the ball. She groaned as the ball began to roll a bit, knowing her foot was about to fall again, but suddenly her leg gave a jerk, and she gasped as it moved the ball back the other way. It stayed steady for a moment, but then it rolled again and her foot hit the mat once again.

  “Oh, my gosh,” Katie exclaimed, “did I do that? Was that me? I mean, I know it was my foot, but I think I made it move back a little, didn't I?”

  Rob was nodding, with a smile on his face. “Katie, that was excellent,” he said. “That was more than I'd actually hoped for, because it shows us that the connections are still there. We just need to get them to work again.”

  “But, but if I can do that, then why can't I move it again? I'm trying, and nothing's happening!”

  “Katie, it's like a short circuit in a telephone line. Your brain is sending a message, but because of your injuries, it's not getting all the way through, at least not all the time. Now, though, we've seen just a little bit of signal getting through as you concentrate. By making that tiny bit of movement, you've shown us, and your brain, that the connection is still there. Now we'll work on repeating it, and when we can manage that, we'll go after even bigger movements.”

  Katie Lou was excited, and Kylie was beaming from ear to ear. “Then there's actually hope that I can walk again?” Katie asked. “Real hope?”

  “Well, of course there's hope,” Rob said. “At this rate, we may have you up on your feet in time for your wedding, after all!”

  Both girls suddenly lost their smiles, and Rob looked from one face to the other. Neither of them said a word, so he cleared his throat and went on. “Anyway, we'll keep working until we've got you up walking again, and that's the whole idea, isn't it?”

  “Absolutely!” Kylie said, her smile plastered back across her face. “This is so exciting!”

  “Of course, it is!” Rob said. “So, shall we keep going?” He lifted Katie's foot again, and set it onto the ball. It stayed put for a moment, and then fell off again. Rob put it back up.

  The next hour was spent doing the same thing over and over, though they did switch to the left foot halfway through. Most of the time, Katie's foot fell off within a second, but there were a few instances where it stayed on the ball, and in some of those it was obvious that it was by Katie's conscious control. By the time the session was over, Katie was exhausted from the effort of simply concentrating so hard, and even Kylie was working up a sweat, as she tried to help her sister stay focused.

  “Okay,” Rob said, “let's relax, now. Katie, that was awesome, but now let's work on something else for a few minutes. Let me take the stabilizer, and I want you to lie back on the mat again, like we did yesterday. Now, Kylie, you get down here on the other side of her, and we're going to go for sensation, again, just like yesterday.” He handed Kylie a wooden stick with a point. “Just touch her legs with this in different spots, and let's see if she can feel any more today.”

  Together, Kylie and Rob began touching Katie's legs, Rob on the right leg and Kylie on the left. Each of them kept the pointed stick down low enough that Katie couldn't see it, and let the tip just touch her skin. Occasionally she would say, “Felt something,” and Rob would make a note to come back to that spot again. Kylie caught on quickly, and when he would nod at her, she'd go back to a place where Katie had seemed to feel the point. About half of the time, there was no reaction on the second attempt, but in others, it was clear that she really did feel the touch of the stick.

  “Well,” Rob said after ten minutes, “we're definitely seeing a greater range of sensitivity. Yesterday we had three spots where you could feel something, and all of them above the knee; today we have eleven, and five are below the knee, so we're seeing some neural connections starting to work again. I want you back here tomorrow morning, same time, and we'll work on trying to get more results like these.” He opened the door and they started toward the front of the building. “Meanwhile, get yourself a ball and try the foot balance exercise at home, today. If you start seeing significant improvement, I want you to call me, and I don't care what time it is.” He handed Katie a business card that had his personal cell number written on the back. “I want to know if things start happening quickly, okay?”

  Katie nodded. “Okay,” she said, and then she winked at Kylie. “So, if I suddenly can jump up and run around the block, should I call you before or after I go for the run?”

  “I don't care, as long as you call me as soon as possible! That would be great, but don't get too discouraged if it takes a little longer to get to that point, please? I know how frustrating it can be, stuck in that chair, but you can't let it...”

  They were just coming into the waiting room, and suddenly Katie glared at him. “Don't do that,” she said, “don't patronize me, don't tell me you know how this feels, because you don't! Nobody can know what someone else is going through or feeling, unless they've been in their shoes!”

  Rob didn't say anything, and Katie pushed past him, rolling herself toward the door, but Anna yelled, “Hey!” at her, and she stopped and turned her head. The redhead was on her feet, and the look in her eyes told Katie that all that fiery temper was aimed directly at her.

  “Apparently you don't know it,” Anna said, “but the reason my brother went to school for physical therapy is because he spent four years in one of those things. It was when he was thirteen and I was only four, and a drunk driver crashed into our car. Our Dad was killed, our Mom suffered head injuries and was never all there again, and Robbie had part of his spine broken, so that it kept his spinal cord compressed. He had to have eight different surgeries on his back before he could walk again, so if he says he knows how you feel, you can bet your sweet ass he does.”

  “Anna,” Rob said, “stop. Let it go, now.”

  Anna looked at him. “But she shouldn't...”

  “Don't you think she's been through enough already? Let it go.”

  Katie sat there for several seconds, looking at Anna and then at Rob. She started to say something, but nothing came out, so she lick
ed her lips and started again. “Listen, I'm—I'm sorry. I didn't know, but still, I shouldn't have snapped on you like that.” She turned to Anna. “Anna, you were right to tell me, and thank you. I owe your brother a lot more respect than I just gave him, and especially since he really has been through it. Thank you.” She turned and rolled herself out through the front door, leaving Kylie standing there staring after her.

  “Look,” she said after a second. “Yesterday, her fiancé sort of told her that if she couldn't walk, then she wasn't good enough for him, and they canceled the wedding. She's still pretty torn up about that, so don't take it personally, okay?”

  Rob smiled. “I didn't. I don't like to talk about what happened to me, at least not until I know a patient a lot better. Then it helps them to know I understand, but not too soon. Go take care of your sister, and I'll see both of you tomorrow, right?”

  Kylie smiled. “Right,” she said, and then she went outside to find Katie sitting beside the car, her face in her hands, crying her heart out.

  “Katie?” she asked, but Katie just shook her head.

  “Just open the car,” she said, “and let's go home.”

  Kylie opened the door and watched as Katie swung herself inside, then put the wheelchair away in the trunk and got behind the wheel. She started the car and backed out of the parking space, then turned it back toward Ralston.

  “You hungry?” she asked. “We could hit a drive through, if you want, or grab something to take home, maybe? Pizza? Chicken?”

  Katie was leaning against the door, with her hand covering her eyes. She'd stopped crying, but Kylie could tell she was pretty depressed. She didn't answer, and Kylie was about to ask again, when the car suddenly made a loud bang! and dark smoke began flowing from its tailpipe.

  “Oh, crap!” Kylie said, and Katie looked up and out the back.

  “What's the matter?” she asked, watching the smoke blot out everything behind them from view.