by T. K. Chapin
“She’s fine. That’s not why I’m calling.” Sniffles filled the airwaves between us.
“Okay . . .” My heart felt pricks of pain in hearing Gail upset and crying. Even after all the hurt and heartache she had put me through, it was still crippling to hear her upset. Clearing my throat, I asked, “What’s going on?”
Hearing the strain of her words as she fumbled over what to say, my pain folded into sympathy. Gail finally found the words and said, “My mother’s ill.”
My lips tightened together as I kept my quiet. Having lost my father not even five years prior, I understood the pain. “I’m sorry. That’s got to be hard.”
“It is . . .” She paused. Her tone shifted entirely, into almost a longing tone of voice. “Cindy checks every single band aid, cane and medical piece of equipment she can get her hands on in the pharmacy every time we go to the store.” She let out a sigh. “All in the hopes of finding one of her daddy’s company’s logos attached to the bottom.”
I grinned. S and E’s logos would never be found on a product, but it warmed my heart to know Cindy still loved me and was searching for things that reminded her of me. She was my little princess, and I missed her.
Cindy was due for a visit with me in August. I’d get to spend three whole weeks with her, but the thought of not seeing her again for months after that pained me. “I miss her so much, Gail.”
She sniffled and then said, “I know. I know she’s supposed to visit in a couple of months . . . but what do you think about both of us coming in a couple of weeks to visit? I’m off all summer because of school, and Bill’s running around the country on tour with the band. I think it’d be nice to let Cindy see you early and for me to visit with my mother.”
“All right. Yeah. You're staying at your Mom’s then, right?” I asked as I looked over at Kip as he tried leaping up on the twig in his cage.
“Well, yeah.”
Turning back toward the house, I saw Janice and Katie at the kitchen table, talking and laughing. I said, “I’d love to see Cindy.”
The smile in her voice was noticeable as she said, “Good. I’ll keep you posted on when we’ll be there.”
“Sounds great, Gail.”
Hanging up with her, I went inside and broke the news to Janice.
“Why can’t she just drop Cindy off and go away?” Janice asked with a look of contempt. She loathed Gail and held it against her that I ever ended up damaged and broken the way I did, not physically, but mentally. I agreed that it was messed up what Gail did, but I was more focused on seeing my little girl, not on Gail’s coming to town.
“I should go,” Katie said, wiping her mouth with her napkin and setting it on her plate.
“No. No. No . . .” Janice said.
Katie looked at her with a frozen expression.
“You need to know who Gail is.”
Katie raised her eyebrow and shook her head. “I’m just helping Clay with physical therapy. I don’t need to know about Clay’s ex-wife.”
Janice shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. Gail will think you’re moving in on Clay and make your life a pain.”
Putting my hands up, I said, “Wait a second, Janice. Gail and I aren’t together anymore. She’s not going to do that. You’re over thinking this.”
Janice dropped her napkin down on her own plate, stacked Katie’s on top of hers, and began to make her way into the kitchen. “I’d put money on it that she tries to screw with you two.”
“I’m his nurse,” Katie said defensively. Pressing her hand against her chest, she said, “I’d never show any interest in a patient.” Looking over at me, she said, “No offense.”
“None taken,” I replied with a nod. “It’ll be fine.”
Janice came back over and finished clearing the food from the table. “What about the bird cage? You do that for all your patients?”
Katie took a step back and said, “I don’t want to cause issues between you and your ex-wife, Clay. I got the bird cage for Kip because the bird is important to you.”
“No. It’s not like that. Gail won’t be a problem, Katie.” I smiled as I paused. “I totally spaced on thanking you for the cage, by the way.”
Katie grinned. “You’re welcome. I used to have a bird and just figured you’d like it. Seriously didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Oh,” Janice said as she grabbed the potatoes and took the leftovers to the counter. Looking back at Katie and over to me, she said, “Sorry.”
Katie replied, “It’s okay. I need to get going, though.”
As I walked her over to the door, I turned to her once my sister was out of earshot. “Sorry about Janice, she can be a little too extreme. Lot of pent up anger toward Gail.”
Katie forced a smile. “I understand. We’ll do some basics tomorrow. Start getting that bum leg working properly again.”
“Sounds good, Katie.”
After seeing Katie off, I shut the door and cut through the living room into the kitchen. Janice stopped me as I was heading to the back porch to tend to Kip. With a hand gently pressed to my chest and her eyes on me, she said, “You like her.”
Shaking my head, I said, “That’s crazy. I don’t even know her.”
“You have that look in your eyes, Clay.” She grabbed my shoulder and focused her eyes on mine. “Don’t let yourself miss an opportunity.”
Smiling, I responded, “She’s my nurse.”
“Maybe your leg isn’t the only thing you want her to take care of.”
Glancing at Janice’s engagement ring, I grinned. “Not all of us have a Paul Oakley.”
Janice laughed.
CHAPTER 9
A knock came early the next morning. Glancing at my phone on the coffee table, I saw it was only six. Why do people insist on doing this to me? Letting go of my phone, I relaxed for a moment.
Another knock.
“Hold on!” I shouted from the couch. My tone was sharp and my annoyance peaking. Grabbing my tee shirt, I threw it on and went over to the door. Using the door frame to hold myself up with one hand, I opened the door.
It was Katie.
Squinting to shield my eyes from the brightly shining early sun, I asked, “What are you doing here this early?”
“We’re going for a swim. Did you forget our conversation last night? We have to fit in our time together around my job.”
Recalling the conversation, I shook my head. “No. It’s six in the morning. I must have thought six at night when we talked.” Slamming the door shut, I collapsed over the couch and back to a lying position.
Another knock.
Grumbling, I lifted my head. “Go away!”
A few minutes passed without a knock. As I began to drift back to sleep, my phone began to ring and vibrate across the coffee table. “Ugh!” Flipping the phone onto its side, I looked to see, and sure enough, it was Katie. Holding the power button, I shut it off.
A few moments later, the doorbell started going off rapidly. Jumping off the couch, I hurried over to the door and jerked it open. “Stop!” I shouted in a whisper. “My sister’s going to—”
Hearing Janice’s door open, I went silent as I froze in place.
“If you want to—” Katie began to say.
“Shh . . .” I said, pushing my finger to my lips as I glanced over my shoulder toward the hallway.
Footsteps shuffled down the hallway and my heart began to race. Janice emerged and glared at me. Looking past me, she softened her expression when she saw Katie at the door. “What’s going on?” Janice asked in a soft and fake tone.
“Your brother won’t go for a swim.”
Janice shot a pair of disappointed eyes in my direction. “Why?”
“I’m tired. It’s six.”
“Go for the swim, Clay. She’s going out of her way to help you and not making a penny from doing it. Just go.” Janice shook her head and turned around, heading back down the hallway. I could hear faint grumblings all the way back to her room until she sla
mmed her door shut.
Cringing, I looked over at Katie and sighed. “Fine. Give me a minute. Or do I need to be barefoot?”
“We are going swimming.”
My jaw clenched. Replying through my teeth, I said, “I don’t swim.” I did swim, but showing off my scars to a stranger wasn’t my idea of a fun time.
“It’s good for you. Come on.”
“Okay. Give me five.”
Flashing a fake smile, I let it drop away as soon as I shut the door. This woman is going to be the end of me. Finding a pair of shorts and my flip flops near the washer and dryer, I slipped them on and headed back toward the front door. Knowing how painful the walk at Bear Lake was with Paul, I grabbed my cane on the way back toward the door. As I came outside, Katie began to laugh as she watched from the driveway near her car.
“What are you laughing at? My cane?” I felt mortified.
Shaking her head, she pointed at my shorts. “Those trunks. They’re hideous.”
Glancing down at my tie-dye shorts, I snickered. “They are kinda ugly.”
Catching up to her in the driveway as she turned and began to walk, I glanced over at her. “Don’t you sleep? Or at least enjoy it?”
“Only on Tuesdays.” She grinned over at me.
I smiled.
We got out of the driveway and started walking up to the road. Thinking about the comment she made about my shorts, I said, “You should know these trunks were cool once.”
“When? The seventies? You’re not that old.”
I laughed. “I was born in the seventies. What about you? What are you wearing?” Tilting my head, I glanced at her back to see if I could spot a swimsuit underneath the over-sized white tee shirt she had on.
She pulled her shirt down over her shoulder to reveal the top of a black swim suit.
Raising my chin, I scoffed. “Oh, I see . . . solid black.” I rolled my eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She let go of the shirt to let it go back up her shoulder.
“Oh, nothing. Just that you’re boring,” I said with a grin.
She laughed for a moment and then got a serious look on her face. Raising her chin, she responded, “It’s classy. Not boring.” She then jerked her head away from me enough to shake the pony tail that held her hair up that morning.
We turned and walked down the main street that stretched from the beginning of Suncrest at the top of the hill all the way down to the lake access point. As we walked down the side of the road, I peered up at the tops of the trees that had lined the road ever since I was a child. Closing my eyes, I was transported back to when I was just a young man and spent the summers out at my Uncle Tom’s house, which is now Janice’s, after he and his family moved to North Carolina eight years ago. Those summers at Tom’s were some of the best times of my life. My cousins and I would play volleyball in the side yard while the adults sat up on the porch and barbequed. Countless times, random laughter would echo from around the corner where the adults were and mixed with a smell of hamburgers sizzling on the barbeque. They were simple times, but they were unforgettable memories.
When we arrived at the gate at the lake’s access point, I turned to Katie and patted my back pocket. “I forgot my access pass.”
She looked over at the chair where the gate keeper’s butt usually sat and said, “No attendant. Plus, the pass won’t open this padlock.”
I grinned. “True.”
She grinned and then jumped up the side of the chain-link gate. Grabbing onto the top, she planted a foot and swung her body up and over to the other side.
Looking through the small openings in the chain-link, I asked, “I have a bad leg. How’s this supposed to work?”
“Land on your good leg, duh!” She began walking away from the gate toward the park. What kind of physical therapy is this? It’s more like torture!
Grabbing onto the gate, I tried jumping up but fell back down, landing in the gravel. This is stupid. Looking over near where the gate met the fence, I saw a small opening so I went over to it. Pushing the chain-link, I tried to size up the opening it made. I think I can do it. Pushing hard, I squeezed through.
Hopping as I ran with my cane, I fought through the pain and caught up to Katie as she was rounding a large tree near the docks. We spotted a lone fisherman sitting in a chair at the end of one of the docks. He turned in his lawn chair and waved to us as we walked in the direction of the swimming area. We waved back.
Katie looked over at me. “Don’t you love the water? It can move you and make you feel weightless, yet it has the power to kill you. There’s no greater force that can relax every muscle in your body and a moment later take your life.”
“Little dark,” I replied as I saw a fish jump out of the water.
“Yeah . . .” She reached up and grabbed at the leaves of a tree as we passed underneath. The swim area was coming into view and Katie said, “Let’s go start your water exercises.”
As we approached the swim area, I could feel my heart race as I realized my shirt was going to be off. She’ll ask about the scars. As our feet hit the sand and it squeezed between my toes, I pulled my tee shirt off.
She did look over at me for a moment as she got down to her swimming suit, but she didn’t say anything about them. She just directed her attention to the water. Freezing water splashed against my ankles as I stepped into the lake. “Burrrr!” My feet found a mixture of soft rocks with rounded edges and then random, prickly ones that caused me to hop a little when my feet landed on them.
“I’m sure you’ve been through worse.” She walked out into the water like she was walking across a smooth surface in a warm pool. She didn’t seem affected by the rocks or chilly water.
Straightening out, I walked confidently the rest of the way into the water. She challenged me with her comment. Even though I stepped on more sharp rocks, I held my composure.
Katie dove into the water and then came up to the surface a few feet away from me. “Are you going to get in deeper?”
Shaking my head from waist-deep, I said, “I’m fine here.”
Laughing, she swam over near me. “All right. Let’s get started. We’re going to begin with a light jog.” She began bobbing up and down, disturbing the water around her legs. “Just want to get the oxygen pumping through the body and get those muscles activated.”
“Wasn’t the walk down here activation enough?” I questioned as I began jogging.
We moved closer to the shore, out of the water, and the jogging became a bit more difficult. My heart rate began to pick up tempo and my legs began to feel heavy.
“Now let’s rest and stretch.” Katie pulled her leg behind her. I followed suit.
“Ah . . .” I said, releasing my leg. “That hurts.”
“Stretch until right before it hurts and hold. Don’t overdo it.”
Trying again, I felt agitated as I barely brought my leg up behind me. Ouch.
“Other leg.” Katie switched to her other leg and waited for me to follow suit.
Switching to my good leg, I was able to pull more on my hamstring, but the weight pressing down on my bad leg was gnawing at me with pain. Releasing, I said, “It’s hurting my leg to stand like this.”
“Move out farther into the water and see if that helps to lighten the load.”
Swimming out, I felt my leg become weightless. “This is better.”
By the end of the exercises that morning, I was exhausted. Getting up onto the beach, I dropped into the sand and sat for a moment as Katie came out of the water. She walked over to me and I looked up, making eye contact with her.
“Good first day.” She reached a hand out to help me up.
Grabbing her hand, I gladly accepted the help up onto my feet. I grunted a little as my legs were sore and my bad leg, in particular, had a sharp pain running down from my back clear to my foot.
Katie looked over at me as my jaw clenched. “You’re going to get through this, Clay. I promise.”
“M
y lower back is killing me.”
“That’s where the sciatica nerve is. It’s normal. You’ll have that pain greatly reduced and almost gone soon. Don’t you worry.”
Scoffing, I shook my head. “Hard to believe that.”
“You have to. It’s the only way you’ll ever get better. Hey. You still believe in God, right?”
Nodding, I didn’t go into detail about my angst.
“Good. Then you believe in the Bible and the power of healing. Jesus cast out demons, but he also healed the sick. I always tell my patients to focus on Matthew 8:6 which states that Jesus ‘healed ALL the sick.’ ”
“Cute,” I replied. “Looks nice hanging in a picture frame, but try to tell that to someone with cancer.”
“You have cancer?”
“No.” Looking down, I continued. “I’m sorry. I have some beef with God right now . . .” My old life with Gail and Cindy flashed through my mind, and then reminders of the day in the trailer park pierced my consciousness. “Tell me about the wrinkles you work with.”
“What?” she asked as we stood up. We began walking up the path that looped around the playground and up alongside the hill that divided the park from the forest.
“The old people?”
She laughed. “Mr. Harris is my favorite. He never has anyone come visit him, but when the trick-or-treaters come on Halloween each year, he’s so excited. He dresses up in the same superman costume every year and hands out candy. He loves it.” Her eyes warmed with joy as she spoke about him.
“That’s awesome that he does that. He sounds like he’s full of life. So he has no family?”
She shook her head. “I saw his son once. That was when he first came to the home. He dropped him off and . . .” She paused as she shook her head and looked over at me again. “That was it.”
“That’s so sad. I don’t get why people don’t cherish their parents more.”
Katie nodded. “I agree. Family in general, really. We have no idea when someone will be gone the next moment.” She looked as if she was swept away in a thought as we continued down the pathway.
We made it over to the gate that we had first come through earlier that morning. There was an attendant there this time, who let us through with, “Have a good day.”