by Barbara Goss
When they’d left the room, Nora turned down Alex’s bed. “Five minutes after I see your door open I’ll come for your back rub,” Nora told him as she picked up his dinner tray.
When Nora returned, Alex was already on his stomach, with his nightshirt up and ready. Nora smiled; glad he enjoyed the backrubs. When she'd finished, she pulled down his nightshirt, covered him up, and walked to the door.
This time he whispered loudly, “Thank you.”
“Goodnight, Alex.”
Nora was awakened by hammering two days later. She sprang out of bed, dressed, and went out into the hall. Alex’s door was wide open. Two men were there, dressed in overalls, their tools spread about the room. She noticed they were installing the equipment for his workouts. She peeked around the men to see Alex sitting in his chair, watching them with a half-smile on his face. Nora silently thanked God—things were indeed looking good.
She went downstairs to get Alex’s breakfast and Nathan surprised her by waiting at the kitchen entrance.
“Aha! Just the person I want to see.” He gently took her arm and led her into the dining room. “I’ve taken a few hours off today to make sure everything is installed properly.”
“It’s wonderful,” she said.
“I want to warn you about something.” He hesitated as if trying to find the right words. “Don’t get too attached to Alex.”
“I try not to get too attached to any of my patients—most of them die. Why the warning though?”
Again Nathan frowned and hesitated before he continued. He looked to the floor and rubbed his chin. She knew his words would be unplanned.
“If Alex walks again, he’ll take over the factory—”
“Isn’t that what you want?” she asked.
“He’ll be back in society, and possibly back to Celeste,” he warned.
“That doesn’t bother me. I can see how it might bother you, though.”
Nathan kept stalling in search of the right words. “Let’s put it this way—Celeste is only out for Celeste.”
Nora couldn’t hide her surprise. “Doesn’t that trouble you at all?”
“A little, but that’s just Celeste. I fear she's after the mill. I go along with the engagement because she’s attractive, and looks good on my arm at social events. I am fond of her, but I’m uncertain of her motives, and that’s why I hesitate to set a wedding date. I'm never sure if she actually cares about me, or if she's simply doing her father’s bidding. I also don't know if she'll go back to Alex if she thinks it would be more to her advantage. Her father wants me to take over full control of the mill and approve the merger between our two companies, but I plan to become a lawyer instead. And you,” he tapped her nose, “are the one who will make that happen for me.”
“Me?” Nora asked.
“Yes. You will be the one to get Alex walking, I can feel it.” He gave her a warm smile. “And I’ll be visiting more often and be available for assistance if you need it. I spent little time here before you came, but now, I'll be here to give you as much support as need be.”
“Thank you. What exactly are the men installing?”
“Let’s go up and I’ll show you,” he said, taking her hand to lead her up the stairs.
When they reached the bedroom hallway, he said, “First of all you should know there's nothing wrong with Alex’s legs. The injury was to his spinal cord, and the doctor isn’t sure if it's permanent or not, which is why he wants us to try with him—”
“And pray,” Nora added.
“Yes. And pray.”
They entered Alex’s room together. Nathan pointed to the pulleys the men had installed from the ceiling. “These will help him pull himself up and down, as you had him doing. Over here,” he pointed, “is a large pad affixed to the wall, as you suggested. This is for his leg pushes, they'll help strengthen his legs, so when he does walk, thanks to you, he'll have the muscle to do it.”
Alex cleared his throat and they spun around.
“Am I to eat breakfast today?” he asked.
“Oh, my goodness!" Nora said. "I’ll be right back with it, Alex.” She scurried downstairs to get his breakfast.
Alex turned to Nathan, “What are you up to? Are you going to steal my aide now too?”
Nathan rolled his eyes. “If you can get your body moving and do everything Nora tells you, you might be able to walk again. There is hope. I’ve agreed to help her. I’ll tell you something that I’ve not said before: I don’t want to own or operate the mill, and if you win back Celeste, I’ll be fine with that too, if that’s what she wants.”
“Oh, Celeste! She continues to visit and babble on and on trying to clear herself of her guilt for leaving me. I know she doesn’t want to be burdened with a crippled man, and who could blame her?" Alex drew back into his shell, and resumed staring out the window.
Nathan shrugged. “I’m off to the mill.”
Nora came in with Alex’s breakfast, just as Nathan was leaving.
“I’m leaving. Take good care of him.” Nathan winked.
Sylvia came to see Nora as she prepared for bed. “These exercises might do Alex more harm than good," she told her. "I insist that they stop.”
“But the doctor—” Nora started to say.
“He has to say that. What else can he say about a hopeless case? Exercises are ridiculous. Alex will never walk again. You are only here to keep him company, feed him, and see to it his comfortable. You are not a doctor. How do you know these exercises won’t hurt him more than do him good? I never gave permission for the installation of that equipment either.”
“I didn’t think—”
“Of course you didn’t think. I want it stopped.” Sylvia Vanderhorn marched out of the room, and shut the door behind her.
Nora was shocked. Why would Nathan encourage the exercises when his mother discouraged them? Apparently, Nathan hadn’t asked his mother’s approval before having the equipment installed. Nora was utterly confused by it, and emotionally drained.
She also did not understand the situation with the elitist Celeste. Which brother was in love with her, if either? And which brother was she in love with? It seemed to Nora that Alex was still brokenhearted over her, but Nathan didn’t seem to care, one way or the other.
How perplexing.
Nora's head began to spin with all the goings on.
When Nora checked on Alex in the morning, he was working away at his exercises instead of staring out the window.
“Good morning,” she greeted cheerfully.
He nodded in her direction.
“I hope you’re having a good day because there is something I need to talk to you about when I return.” She turned toward the door, glancing back in time to see his nod.
When she returned, she sat on the edge of his bed. He turned his chair toward her, and looked at her expectantly. Nora felt that she was making some progress.
“Your stepmother's angry with me because I‘m encouraging your exercises and she wants them stopped. I want you to continue doing them, but I can’t be involved. I’m sure Nathan will help you, seeing how excited he is about them.”
Alex shook his head. “She doesn’t want me to walk. She wants me just the way I am so her son can marry the privileged socialite and take ownership of the factory.” He turned back to the window. “Nathan can’t own the mill or merge it without my signature. Yet, I cannot continue to run the mill from my room, so sooner or later I’ll have no choice but to sign it over.”
Nora wondered how much more she should say. She wanted to ask him whether he’d take Celeste back if he was able to walk again, but she wondered how he could possibly take her back after she’d turned her back on him after his accident. She knew it was too personal a question, completely off limits for their conversation.
Instead, she said impishly, “How would feel about putting a bee in your stepmother’s bonnet?”
He glanced back at her with a puzzled look.
“Let me take you for a walk in the chair
with wheels," Nora said with a mischievous smile, "that's sure to anger her.”
Alex hesitated so long that Nora thought he would not answer, but he slowly turned his head toward her and nodded with the slightest of grins.
Nora was elated. “I’ll go get the chair.” She hurried off before he could change his mind. At the top of the stairs a thought hit her—how would she ever get the chair up and down the stairs? Dejected, she walked back to Alex’s room. “I don’t know how to get the chair up or down the stairs.”
“There’s a ramp in the other wing. My father used it before he died,” Alex said. “Use the door at the end of the hall.”
She found the chair and the ramp. She tried to help Alex into the contraption, but he gently pushed her away, and lifted his body into the chair on his own. Nora wheeled him to the other wing, and down the ramp to the front walk. The chair seemed unstable; its wheels were rusty and squeaked. She could tell it lacked comfort as well, as it had no footrest, and he had to sit with his feet flopping in front of him.
Since the day was warm and sunny, she walked him for over an hour. He seemed to enjoy it. She stopped at a nearby park where they sat to enjoy the sunshine, and watched the ducks swimming in a nearby pond. Neither of them spoke, but they were both able to enjoy each other’s company without the conversation.
When they returned to the house, Sylvia Vanderhorn met them at the door, frowning, with her hands on her hips. Nora wheeled Alex right past her and she saw Alex crack a small smile, and she felt as if they'd become partners in crime.
Nora took Alex back to his room where he lifted himself back onto his regular chair as Nora parked the wheeled chair in the corner of the room.
Once he'd settled, she said, “I’ll get your dinner.”
He grabbed her arm as she turned toward the door, and she looked at him in surprise.
“Thank you,” he said, looking directly into her eyes.
She smiled. “I enjoyed it as much as you did.”
4
That afternoon they played Chess and a few card games. Alex didn't talk a great deal, but he did converse somewhat, and that pleased her. He seemed to look at her differently now, and she felt she’d made some progress. Alex didn’t frown as much anymore. Sometimes she thought she'd even caught a bit of a twinkle in his eyes. When he did give her a partial smile, it warmed her, probably because she felt she might be the one responsible for bringing some happiness into this man’s life.
She found Nathan waiting for her at the kitchen door when she came down with the dinner trays.
“Nora, I need to talk to you. Would you do me the honor of a walk? It’s a lovely evening.”
Nora nodded. “There's something I need to tell you as well.” She'd decided to speak with him about his mother’s attitude regarding Alex’s exercises, because she couldn’t afford to be fired.
The sun had begun to dip below the horizon when they stepped out onto the sidewalk. Nathan adjusted his long strides to fit her short ones. It was, indeed, a lovely spring evening. The stars seemed to wink at her as they walked, giving her some encouragement.
“How’s Alex doing?” he asked.
Nora wondered if this was all he'd wanted to see her about. He could have asked her about Alex in the hallway. “He’s improving," she said. "I took him for a walk in his wheeled chair today, and he quite enjoyed it.”
Nathan steered her in the direction of the park, and then to a bench by the small pond. Once seated comfortably, Nathan brought up the very subject that she’d intended to speak to him about. "Celeste and my mother are upset over Alex’s exercises. They're afraid they'll do more harm than good. What do you think?”
So he knew about how his mother felt regarding the exercises. Nora sighed. “To be honest, I think Celeste gave up the right to her opinion regarding Alex’s care. As for your mother, all I can think to do is ask the doctor. If he says the exercises are all right, then Alex should keep doing them.” She hesitated, “Though, I do worry about keeping my job if I continue to openly support the exercises. Your mother is quite adamant they stop.”
Nathan nodded. “Sounds like her. I’m sort of in the middle here. It’s all right if you back off and pretend not to notice the exercises. I’ll support you as much as I can. I’ll try talking to my mother. I’m excited about Alex doing his exercises and the possibility of him walking someday soon, though it’s for selfish reasons.”
“So that you can go back to school?” Nora asked.
“Yes. And since Celeste doesn’t support my goals, I won’t worry about her going back to Alex,” he said.
Nora studied his face in the fading sunlight. “I don’t understand. Why not tell her how you feel?”
Nathan shrugged. “It’s hard to fight two persistent, domineering women.”
“Your mother and Celeste?”
He nodded. “It’s simply easier to go along with things, than get into a battle with either of them. Celeste can be a cold and calculating woman— well, they both can be, actually.” Nathan reached over and patted her hand. “I’ll support you and the exercises.”
She nodded and pulled her hand away. “Are your mother and Celeste close friends?”
“Oh, yes. They both know what they want, and they aim to get it.”
“I wonder how far they’ll go,” Nora said.
“I’ve often wondered that myself.” Nathan rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know. My mother can’t understand why I don’t want the mill, but it seems that what I truly want doesn’t matter.” His voice grew louder as he grew angrier. “Then there's Celeste’s Father, Phillip Randolph, who is currently courting my mother.” Nathan stood, took her arm, and led her down the sidewalk toward home. “Phillip would love to merge the two mills, but Alex opposes it, and so do I, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. There's absolutely no advantage in merging our successful company with Phillip’s dying one. Phillip, however, would have much to gain from the merger.”
Nora said, “Then you should start asserting yourself toward your goal of going back to school.”
They continued to walk, and he said, “It isn’t quite that easy, Nora.”
“I don’t see why not. You’re an adult, and you should be able to do as you please.”
“If I run off to college, the mill will be left without anyone to run it. Not only will it go out of business, but hundreds of men will be put out of work as well, and their families depend on those jobs to survive. Phillip Randolph can’t take the mill over without Alex’s signature, besides, and he’ll never give it.”
“Oh,” was all Nora could think of to say. Nathan had to stay. They had to get Alex back to running the mill, walking or not. The fact that Phillip Randolph was courting Sylvia bothered Nora. The whole situation bothered her. Who was coercing whom?
“As far as Celeste goes,” Nathan said, “I’m getting a bit fed up with her arrogant and rude behavior. I thought her terribly rude to you the other night. Being linked to her makes me no better; at least, that’s how I feel. She abhors the idea of me becoming a lawyer. She thinks it’s demeaning.”
“Have you tried telling her how you feel?” Nora said as they approached the Vanderhorn residence.
“I usually try to sidestep arguments.” They’d reached the house, and he opened the back door leading into the kitchen. “Maybe I need to become more assertive. This whole thing with Alex and your coming here has changed much of how I feel.” He looked down at her. Since Tillie was still tinkering around, the kitchen lamps were still burning. “You,” he said softly, “have made a big difference in how I feel.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm.
“Me?” she gently pulled her hand away, although the kiss left her feeling a bit flustered. “How could I possibly have made a difference in how you feel?” They walked through the kitchen into the dining room.
“It has been a while since I’ve met such a practical woman, someone who cares about other people, and not just for herself. I’ve seen how you try to he
lp my brother, and I saw how Celeste treated you. It woke up feelings in me.”
The way Nathan looked at her made Nora feel uncomfortable. Could he have romantic feelings toward her? She hoped not, because the whole situation made her head spin, and she now wished she were back working with the elderly. She’d never had such problems with them. The Vanderhorns were an odd bunch.
“I need to give Alex his back rub,” she said, backing away.
“All right. I’ll look for you tomorrow to see how things are going.” He walked her to the stairs. “Goodnight, Nora.”
Alex was ready for his back rub when she walked in. He lay face down with his nightshirt up, and again moonlight flooded the room.
“I’m sorry to be a bit late, Alex,” she said. “Your brother and I were discussing your progress.”
“Watch yourself with him,” Alex said, so low that Nora had to bend down to hear him.
“Why?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
“Nathan does his mother’s bidding,” he said.
“I’ll be careful then,” she said. “Now you’ve tensed up, I can feel it. Try to unwind and enjoy your massage. The objective is to loosen up your muscles so you’re able to relax and fall asleep.”
A pleasure-filled moan escaped his lips as she massaged. When she’d finished and pulled his nightshirt down, again he said, “Thank you.”
5
Nora cornered the doctor as he left Alex’s room the following morning.
“Could I have a word with you in private?” she asked.
“Certainly. I have another patient to see—can you walk with me to my buggy?”
Nora nodded and walked with him. Once outside they stood next to his buggy and she told him, “Alex’s mother has forbidden me to encourage Alex’s exercises,” she said.
“What?” Max Sharple sounded angry. “Is she out of her mind? That’s the best therapy for him. I approve of the equipment that’s been installed.”