For the evening meal, the group had slaughtered a hog for a good old fashioned barbeque, with pork ribs, pork steak and corn on the cob.
The only thing that put a damper on the festivities was the fact that Bryan and most of the other men were missing. They were still out searching desperately for Sarah.
The final toast, made by Hannah herself, was “This one is for my best friend Sarah. May God keep you healthy and safe until we find you and bring you home for your own celebration.”
Then Mark led the group in a prayer for Sarah’s safe passage home.
Through the course of the next three days, everyone went out of their way to make Joel feel welcome. The children fought for his attention. The women were flattered by the compliments he heaped upon them. The few men who were left in the compound were impressed by his bravery.
Mark and Hannah’s plan was working. They were falling in love with the guy.
One person was particularly enamored with Joel.
Rachel had been a child of sixteen when she and her sister Roxanne were brought into the mine some five years before.
Their father was shot dead before their eyes when he stopped their pickup on Highway 83 to help a stranded motorist. The motorist and his partner then stole the pickup, leaving the girls stranded and alone alongside the highway, screaming in agony and trying desperately to revive their dead father.
The man who murdered their father was Nathan Martel.
From their vantage point inside the mine, John and Karen had seen the murder on a long range security camera.
They hadn’t seen it coming. Even if they had, there was nothing they could have done to prevent it. It was over within seconds.
The best they could do for the girls was to rush out to the highway and bring them into the mine. To comfort and console them.
To make them part of the family.
Now, five years later, Rachel was tired of being alone. She was twenty one now, and mature enough to know that if she never broke free from the compound, her chances of finding a man of her own were extremely limited.
Almost all the other women in the compound had someone. Even her sister Roxanne.
She was tired of waiting and hoping for a knight in shining armor to show up to take her away to a fairy tale castle far, far away.
Enter Joel Hance, and Rachel fell head over heels.
She wasn’t sure exactly why. She hoped it wasn’t just desperation.
But for some reason, she and Joel seemed to hit it off famously from the very beginning.
And the strangest thing happened.
By the end of his second day in the compound, Joel stopped flirting with the other women.
Hannah took it just a wee bit personally.
“You haven’t made a pass at me in several hours. What in hell is wrong with you?”
Joel smiled.
“I’m sorry. Does that hurt your feelings?”
“No! Maybe… I don’t know.”
“If I made another pass at you now would you give into my demands?”
“No. I’m happily married.”
“Then why does it bother you that I’ve stopped making passes at you?”
“I don’t know. I guess that it was fun, you constantly trying to get into my pants and me constantly getting to shoot you down in flames. I love Mark more than I’ve ever loved anyone, but we’ve been married for a very long time and he doesn’t have to pursue me anymore. He knows he has my heart, so that’s one aspect of our relationship that has slipped away from us.
“I suppose it was fun being pursued again, even if I knew you weren’t serious.”
“Who said I wasn’t serious?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the other three thousand women you flirted with besides me?”
“Touché.”
“So seriously, why the big turnaround? Why have you stopped flirting with everyone?”
“Do you believe in love at first sight?”
“Yes. I fell in love with Mark the first time I saw him, laying on the sidewalk in front of Baylor University’s administration building.”
“Huh?”
“Long story. So who did you fall in love with?”
“Can you keep it a secret?”
“Sure.”
“Rachel. She told me her story. It’s so sad. But she’s come through it so well. She’s everything I ever wanted in a woman.”
“I thought I was.”
“Nah. I just wanted you for a sex toy.”
Hannah laughed.
“Oh, so now the truth comes out. Have you told her?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because long distance relationships never work. I’ve got three more months of physical therapy at Wilford Hall, and I’ve already told the Army to ship me back to Atlanta when I’m done.”
“Are those plans set in concrete? Can they be changed?”
“Anything can be changed. But even if I stayed in San Antonio, she’d be up here. I might get to see her occasionally, but that wouldn’t do. It’s probably better to just drop the whole thing.”
“Don’t drop anything yet. Do you think she feels the same way?”
“No. I didn’t ask.”
“Why the heck not?”
“Look. I flirt with every woman I see because it’s fun. But the down side is, I get shot down a lot. An awful lot, in fact. And it doesn’t bother me. It’s part of the game. I take it in stride.”
“But I haven’t felt this way about anyone in a very long time. And if she were to shoot me down, I don’t think I’d take it well.”
“So you’d not even try?”
“I don’t think it would be a good idea.”
“And I thought you had balls.”
“Excuse me?”
“Out there at the crash site. I thought you weren’t afraid of anything. I considered you my superhero. My Superman. And now I find out you’re afraid of some words that she may or may not say to you?”
“Well, I guess since you put it that way…”
“That’s the only way I can put it. Tell her how you feel. Otherwise you’ll never know.”
“Know what?”
“Whether she feels the same way about you.”
“Do you think she might? I mean, I’m a cripple.”
“Don’t you dare use that word in my presence.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like it. And it’s not who you are. You are a brave and wonderful man who just happens to have lost your legs in a terrible accident. It doesn’t change what’s in your heart, and it doesn’t change the type of man you are. You’re a hero not only to me, but to the dozens of women whose faces you brighten each and every day. The Joel I know and love is anything but a cripple. He is one of the finest people I’ve ever met. And if you call my friend a cripple again I will beat the ever-loving crapola out of you.”
“Have I ever told you that feisty women turn me on?”
“Oh, shut up. Now, here’s what we’re going to do…”
The next morning, as Joel rolled his wheelchair to the dining room to eat breakfast and say goodbye to everyone, the atmosphere was considerably more subdued.
In the three days he was a guest in the compound, he’d bonded with everyone.
Some more than others.
Karen even shed a tear as she handed him a backpack filled with homemade cookies and muffins.
“Now, I know because of the kind of person you are, you’re going to share most of these with your friends at the hospital.
“But you be sure and eat some of them yourself. Do you understand me, young man?”
“Yes, ma’am. I promise.”
Several other women came forward to hug Joel and wish him well. Several of the men shook his hand or patted him on the back.
But as Joel looked around the room, he noticed that the one person he really wanted to see before he left wasn’t in attendance.
And it broke his heart.
> Hannah, on the security desk, called over the radio.
“Okay Joel, your van is out front.”
Debbie, sitting beside Hannah at the desk, asked her “Aren’t you going to go tell him goodbye?”
“No.”
“But why on earth not?”
Hannah smiled slyly.
“You’ll find out.”
Mark carried the bag Joel had brought with him, as well as the backpack Karen had handed him, and pushed Joel’s wheelchair toward the door.
The others waved goodbye and stayed behind.
Debbie told Hannah, “If Mark’s going to escort him all the way to the van, we need to send someone out to secure the gate behind them.”
“Mark’s not taking him to the van.”
Debbie was puzzled, but she didn’t have time to ponder Hannah’s words.
Mark’s voice came over the radio and reported, “We’re at the gate. Are we clear?”
Hannah studied the monitors and saw no one lurking outside the gate.
“Yes. We’re clear. Go ahead and open it.”
Hannah and Debbie watched Monitor 7 as Rachel rolled Joel through the gate and to the waiting van a hundred yards away. And as Mark closed the gate behind them.
Hannah smiled. Debbie remained puzzled, but sensed that something was in the air.
At the van, the driver opened the back door and lowered a powered wheelchair ramp. While they waited, Rachel leaned over and kissed Joel, for what seemed like an eternity.
“Well, I’ll be darned,” Debbie said.
Hannah chuckled and said, “I hope they come up for air soon, or he’s going to miss his ride.”
Chapter 35
Hannah continued to watch the monitor as Joel’s van drove away and Rachel skipped like a school girl back to the gate.
Hannah said to Debbie, “Please don’t tell anyone what you saw until after the meeting. We don’t want to sway the vote.”
“What meeting? What vote?”
Hannah ignored her, instead getting back on the radio.
“Mark, this is Hannah. Rachel’s outside the gate and it’s all clear.”
Mark let Rachel in, Hannah smiled and Debbie scratched her head.
Mark and Rachel went immediately to the dining room, where most of the residents were finishing up their breakfasts and visiting.
“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?”
All heads turned to Mark.
“I know that this is a little unusual, but since we’re all together I’d like to call a special meeting regarding a matter in which a decision has to be made fairly quickly.”
That got everyone’s attention.
“I know we’re all worried about Sarah and are working hard to find her. I know that’s on everyone’s mind, and ordinarily I’d let this other matter wait. But it has a short fuse and if we don’t discuss it quickly we might miss a great opportunity.”
Sami said, “But Mark… Bryan and most of the other men are gone. Don’t they need to be here to vote?”
“No. I’ve spoken with Bryan and Brad, and they’ve both given me proxy to vote for them in their absence. That gives us enough for a quorum, and we can proceed without them.”
“Proceed with what, exactly?”
“Hannah and I want to propose to the group that we invite Joel Hance to join us.”
The group fell silent. Several people looked at one another. Some responded with shrugs. Some nodded in agreement. Mark scanned the room looking for any dissenters. Shakes of the head, angry faces, disgruntled mutterings… but he saw none.
“I’d like to open it up for discussion.”
Hannah could see Mark and the others from the security console. But she was too far away to make herself heard.
“Debbie, honey, can you man my seat for five minutes?”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Hannah walked over to the dining room. She was still weak and a bit unsteady on her feet. But Mark locked eyes with her as she rose, and the others turned their heads to see what Mark was looking at. They were patient and waited for her to cross through the lobby and into the dining room.
“I’d like to speak if I may.”
“You have the floor, honey.”
Hannah looked around the room at the group before she started.
“I wanted to bring Joel here because I felt I owed him something. Mark suggested that we honor him for his heroics, and I thought it was a great idea. You all did an amazing job in telling him you appreciated his bravery and his kindness. Honoring him so was the proper thing to do, and I love you all for helping me do so.
“But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit there was another reason we brought him here. We wanted you to meet him, so you could get to know him and fall in love with him the way I have.
“Mark didn’t understand my feelings at first. I told him that I loved Joel, and at first Mark misinterpreted my words. I had to explain to him that I don’t love him in the same way I love my husband. Mark is and always will be my one and only.
“But we are allowed to love our friends. It’s part of what makes us human. I love each and every one of you. My life would not be complete without you, collectively and individually.
“Now granted, we’ve all known each other now for a very long time. And my love for you has grown over time. And some of you may doubt that I can feel the same bond with Joel as I feel with you. After all, you might say, I’ve only known him for a couple of weeks.
“But Joel and I went through something together that no one should ever endure. I saw the worst thing that could possibly happen to us as humans. I saw my whole world fall apart, and I saw one of the finest men I’ve ever known die right before me.
“Then I saw one of the best things a human could ever experience. A man… a brave and valiant man, risked his life to save mine. He quite literally kept me alive until help could arrive. Even though he could very well have died himself by doing so.
“The doctors said it was a miracle that we both survived. That God must have had bigger plans for each of us.
“When I woke up in the hospital my first thoughts were of Joel. Even before Mark, even before Markie. I thought first of Joel, and desperately wanted to know if my hero had made it. I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t.
“When I found out that he’d made it, that he was going to survive, I was relieved.
“Then I was guilty, for deep down inside me I felt bad that my first thoughts were for Joel and not for my husband.
“I apologized to Mark, and then together we tried to figure out why that was the case.
“With Mark’s help I realized that Joel and I had been through such a horrific ordeal, in which we relied on each other to pull one another through, that we were permanently bonded in a way no one else can understand.
“The second day after I came out of my coma, a doctor walked into my room. He said he was a psychiatrist, and he was there to help me deal with John’s loss, the trauma of the crash, and anything else that was bothering me.
“One of the things we discussed was my feelings for Joel. He explained that what Joel and I had gone through wasn’t unlike what soldiers go through on a battlefield. It was intense, and deadly, and we were unsure whether we were going to make it. But we fought together to survive.
“He said that the love Joel and I felt for one another wasn’t unlike the love soldiers feel for one another after they’ve been through a fierce battle together. That they are no longer just comrades and friends. That they are now more like brothers. They are linked together with bonds that can never be broken.
“I asked him if it was a betrayal for me to feel love for my husband and for Joel at the same time.
“He said no. He said it was like comparing apples and oranges. That it was okay because I loved them in two different ways. Then he went to talk to Mark. Alone, without me. And he came back and told me that Mark understood. And Mark wouldn’t hold my feelings against me.
“Onc
e I was past that, I turned my thoughts toward the reason I made it. The doctors told me that I must have a higher purpose. That God spared me for a reason.
“I think that reason is to help Joel.
“I know he was only here for a short time. And I know that several of you didn’t get a chance to talk to him one on one. So you may not be aware of his story.
“He lost everyone. He lost some of them in the freeze, and some of them in the plague that followed. But all of his family members… his mom and dad, his fiancé, his brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends… they all perished.
“He found a new family in his helicopter crew. They, like him, were drawn together out of mutual heartache. Each of his aircrew members was also all alone.
“And now they’re gone as well.
“Twice now, he’s lost everyone. He has decided to return to Atlanta, Georgia not because he has people who love him there. But because he has a job waiting.”
She let that sink in for just a moment before continuing.
“A damn job. That’s all he has left in the world.
“I want to give him more than that. I wanted him to come here so you could meet him and get to know him the way Mark and I have. Because I wanted to ask you all to give him something else. I want you to give him a new family.
“A job can’t hold him when he’s feeling depressed or lonely. A job can’t nurse him when he’s sick or injured. A job can’t bring him happiness.
“But we can do all of that. And now that you’ve met him, I hope you’ll agree that he deserves to have all those things. He’s a good man. A very good man. I owe him my life, and I can’t think of anyone who deserves happiness more than Joel.
“Now that you know him, I hope you’ll agree. Mark will soon ask you to vote whether to invite him to live here permanently. To become one of us. To join our family. I hope you’ll all open your hearts to him and allow him to do that.”
Hannah looked at the clock and suddenly realized she’d talked for several minutes.
“Oops. Sorry. I guess I got a little long winded. I’ll shut up now.”
With that she turned and walked slowly back toward the security desk.
Sami stood up, wanting to be the next to speak.
“I won’t be as long-winded as blabbermouth. But I agree with everything she said. I want to add one more thing to the mix.
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