Heath

by Dale Mayer

Chapter 9

  Hailee looked up to see Caitlin standing at Hailee’s doorway but looking down the hall at something. Caitlin stepped out of sight, and Hailee could hear Caitlin speaking with somebody else. Frowning, Hailee hopped up to see Caitlin talking with one of the patients. Hailee smiled and headed back into her office. When Caitlin reappeared a few minutes later, Hailee looked up and asked, “Problem?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Caitlin said with a shrug. “But he seemed hesitant to come forward, and I didn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t talk to us if he needed something.”

  “Of course not,” Hailee said in surprise. “What was he looking for?”

  “He didn’t really say,” she said. “I saw him earlier. He was walking down our hallway, as if listening to something. And then he seemed to shrug and turned around and moved on.”

  “Maybe he was looking to see if Dani was here?”

  “Maybe,” Caitlin said, looking relieved at the suggestion.

  “As long as he knows he can talk to us anytime, it’s all good,” Hailee said, comfortably digging back into the pile of work on her desk, smiling to realize she had, indeed, settled in here. It had taken a few days, but Dani had quickly dumped a stack of paperwork on top of Hailee’s desk. Hailee was doing a combination of pure bookkeeping work as well as accounting, but she was good with that.

  As Dani cleaned off her desk, more and more was getting dumped on Hailee. Her day was quickly filling up. Plus the bookkeeping was behind in terms of producing proper documentation needed for Dani’s next investors’ meeting with the bank. Hailee would take a few days getting all that taken care of too.

  But, all in all, she settled in much better than she had expected. She reached for another stack of invoices, studied them, and shook her head. These were from weeks ago and should have been entered around the same time. It just went to show how quickly the work ran away on Dani. She should have hired an accountant a while back. Had Hailee known she was ready to tackle this job on the level Dani needed, Hailee would have jumped at the chance earlier.

  As far as her meals were concerned, she took to that like a fish took to water. Three meals a day was something she hadn’t had in a long time. Most of her clothing hung on her shoulders and thin frame now. She used to have a good twenty extra pounds on her long before Jacob was born. After that, it just melted off. So she could stand to gain a little bit, but she wanted more muscle. So she couldn’t just eat cinnamon buns. She’d have a thicker layer of excess padding around her instead. Much better that she ate a little bit more in the calorie department as to the healthier foods, indulging in cinnamon rolls occasionally, and went for long walks.

  So far, Dennis had treated her almost like a best friend—or maybe his role was more of a mother hen because he came along and watched over her all the time. He would even come to her office, once he found out where she was, if she didn’t show up for lunch. Speaking of which, her stomach started to grumble. She looked out her office at Caitlin to find her working, head down, dealing with the phones and schedules, trying to sort out some of the day trips that were happening. Plus they had a bunch of deliveries that would come here and others that Robert would drive into town and pick up. Hailee decided she’d finish one of her stacks, and then she’d take a break and get some breakfast.

  As soon as she had that work completed, she got up, walked toward Caitlin, and said, “I’m getting some food. Do you want me to bring you anything?”

  Caitlin looked up, distracted, then shook her head until she realized what Hailee had asked. “No,” Caitlin said. “I ate early this morning. I’ll have a snack and then call it quits a little bit early today too. Heading into town for a dentist appointment.”

  “Ouch,” Hailee said. It had been so long since she’d even made it to the dentist that she probably needed to go in for a checkup herself. But not until the bills slowed down.

  “Well, we get that covered here,” Caitlin said, “so I figured I should at least take care of my teeth while I can.”

  At that, Hailee stopped, looked at her, and asked in a low whisper, “We get dental here?”

  Caitlin looked up in surprise, then nodded quickly. “Yes. You might even get a better plan too,” she said. “I know I was amazed when I found out I could go in and get checkups and even cleaning covered. I think it’s two cleanings a year and one checkup or something like that. Believe me. It’s more than I’ve ever had, so I’ll take advantage of it.”

  Hailee thought about it as she walked all the way to the cafeteria. She didn’t know the last time she had had any dental coverage. As such, she took good care of her teeth because she couldn’t afford to have anything go wrong. When she entered the large cafeteria, she realized it was almost ten o’clock, and the patients would probably be coming for coffee. She looked to see if any breakfast food was left. A lot of the trays were gone, leaving mostly sweets. She walked through, looking for anything not too sugary.

  Dennis caught sight of her and walked up. “You missed breakfast, didn’t you?”

  She smiled and nodded. “For some reason, I thought maybe there would be some leftovers.”

  “There is,” he said. “What would you like?”

  She thought about it and shrugged. “A little bit of fruit, yogurt, and granola would be nice.”

  “Coming right up,” he said and disappeared without asking any details.

  She frowned at that, but he came right back with two large parfait glasses layered with something delicious-looking. She stared at both and said, “I didn’t want anything too sweet though.”

  “These are plain Greek yogurt with fresh berries and granola,” he said. “I make them up a couple times a week, and these two happen to be what was left.” She looked at him and hesitated. He held them up and said, “Raspberry or blueberry?”

  “Raspberry,” she said instantly. Then she accepted it, looking at it with a smile. “You’re sure it’s healthy?”

  “Of course it’s healthy. No extra sugar added. It doesn’t need it.”

  She smiled and nodded. “This should hold me until lunch.”

  “It will,” he said. “You can always have an early lunch too.”

  “Right,” she said with a smile. Then she stepped back and made herself a small pot of tea at the drinks station. With a fresh cup on the side, she carried her tray back. As she headed across the cafeteria though, she stopped and viewed the massive deck outside in the sun. She’d seen it before but had yet to make it out there. She wandered outside, knowing that she should go back to her office, yet she caught sight of the pool and the hot tub below. Again, things that she had seen but hadn’t really taken in. Down below, she could see men put through the paces by their therapists, while other men wandered around with crutches, talking to people in wheelchairs.

  A great social atmosphere came with this place, almost as if everyone was part of a large extended family. Hathaway House didn’t have any hospital feel or look to it, and she appreciated that. She couldn’t imagine anything worse for these guys. She didn’t think they could either. A certain sense of freedom was here, and she loved that.

  As she looked down, one man with dark hair leaned against the edge of the hot tub. He looked exhausted. She frowned as she studied him and then realized that maybe it wasn’t exhaustion on his face but pain. She hesitated, put her tray on the table, and leaned over the railing to see if anybody was with him. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. She stared down and gave him a half smile and then pulled back. She didn’t want to seem like she was interfering or being nosy. Yet there was something about him.

  Dennis came outside with a big dishcloth and started wiping down the tables. “I thought you would take that back to your office.”

  She hesitated, then nodded, and said, “I haven’t been out on the deck in the sun, so I’m taking five to just sort it out.” She pointed over the railing. “I also hadn’t taken time to really see the pool or the hot tub.”

  “Wow,” he said, “you are mi
ssing something.”

  He joined her at the corner, and she stopped and stared at what was in his arms. “What is that?”

  “Not what is that,” he said. “It’s who. This is Chickie.”

  He walked closer, and he held a tiny pet bed and inside was one of the smallest animals she’d ever seen. “Oh my.” A short tail wagged at her tone, and she reached out a gentle hand and scratched his tiny head.

  “His back legs are paralyzed,” Dennis said. “He often sits up front with Caitlin, but he has had a couple rough days, so I often keep him in the back with me when that happens.”

  “Is he better back there?”

  “Chances are somebody gave him food he shouldn’t have,” Dennis said. “Chickie’s stomach is very delicate. One of the rules we have is that nobody’s allowed to feed any of the animals. They’re all on strict diets.”

  He motioned to the pasture, where she could see the big Newfoundlander. She’d seen it from a distance before but hadn’t met him yet.

  “I’ve been here three days on the day shift,” she announced, “and I haven’t seen any of the dogs.”

  “They’re all around, but you’re so tied to your desk,” he said. Then he stopped and nodded. “You were doing the cleaning before, weren’t you? They would have all gone to their beds. We don’t leave them to run around at night.”

  “In that case,” she said, “I’ll have to go make everybody’s acquaintance.”

  He smiled and said, “Well, you’ve just met Chickie. We also have a big Maine Coon around here with three legs, and I know that Stan has been working hard at getting another cat trained to be a therapy cat.”

  “That’d be a heck of a job,” she said. “I can’t imagine any cat allowing itself to be trained for anything.”

  He chuckled. “Absolutely. And I’m not sure this cat will be prepared to do anything, but he’s incredibly intuitive, according to Stan.”

  She hesitated.

  “You’ve never met Stan either, have you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Well, why don’t you leave that tray here, and we’ll come back for it in a minute?”

  “Or I eat it right now,” she said, “and then we go.”

  “Well,” he nodded and said, “sit down. I’ll finish my cleaning, and then I’ll take you down and introduce you to Stan.”

  She frowned and glanced back at the offices.

  “Stan is part of the office workers here. You should meet him.”

  “If you say so,” she said. “I just don’t want to get into trouble.”

  He laughed. “Dani should have introduced you right away, but I know she’s really busy with these meetings.”

  “She is,” she said. “And honestly I’m the one prepping her documents for those meetings, so I’ll take a rain check. But maybe this afternoon?”

  “Absolutely. Whenever you have time.”

  She picked up her tray and headed back, but her mind was full of animals and Stan. If she’d only known, she would have been there on day one.

  Heath wasn’t sure who it was that he’d seen up on the deck, but it looked like the woman from one of the offices. He shifted in the water and slowly pulled himself out, so he now sat on the edge of the hot tub. He looked around, and Shane came toward him with a couple towels.

  “Enough for the day?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” Heath said. Beside Shane was the big Newfoundlander dog. Heath reached out a hand and called out, “Hey, Helga, come on, girl.”

  Helga raced over and jumped up so her paws were on the back of the hot tub which gave Heath so much more access for belly scratches.

  He cuddled her gently. “You’re so fortunate to be here,” he said. “Do you know how many welcoming hands there are here for you?”

  Helga barked in his face. Heath smiled and looked at Shane. “You’re lucky too that you get to have these guys around your workplace.”

  “Hathaway House is very unusual that way,” Shane said with a nod. “But it also works out very well. These animals need a lot of care and attention too. So we rehab both here. Plus I think the animals benefit from all the humans being around, just like the humans benefit from all the animals being around.” As he looked past the hot tub, he saw Stan leading the small llama outside again. Shane called out, “Is she okay?”

  Stan looked over and raised a hand and said, “She’s fine. I was just checking her hooves, but she’s doing great.” Then he opened up the paddock to lead her inside and took the harness off her face and let her go. Up close was a multicolored horse waiting for the llama. Immediately the two raced off together and then stopped and cuddled up.

  Heath stared and smiled. “You don’t see that too often.”

  “No, but now they’re both fixtures here,” Shane said.

  With one towel wrapped around his shoulders now, Heath used the other one to dry off and then slowly turned so his legs were out of the water. “The animals really add another element.”

  “I think more animals are coming,” Shane said. “Oddly enough, I think one comfort animal is a pygmy pig.”

  Heath stopped, turned, looked at Shane, and asked, “Seriously?”

  “Not only does Dani collect strays,” Shane said with a head shake and a broad grin, “but so does Stan. Sometimes we’re all asked to help out, depending on what the problem is. We had an injured female lab give birth here, but she needed surgery herself, so we had to bottle-feed her pups until she was capable again.”

  “That would have been fun,” he said. “I could get behind something like that.” He looked over at Helga, who seemed to immediately realize he was a soft touch, so she dropped her head on his lap. “The only problem,” he said, “is how do you keep the facilities clean when these guys are shedding hair everywhere?”

  “Which is why we have such a high level of cleaning in the place,” Shane said. “And all the filters in the pool and the hot tub specially filter out the hair because we can’t keep the animals out of the water.”

  He looked at the pool, then at Helga, and asked, “Does she swim?”

  “Don’t even say that word,” Shane said hurriedly. “Given half a chance, she jumps in on her own. We’ve got her mostly trained, so she doesn’t go in without an invitation, but an invitation is something that she tends to take on herself.”

  “Right,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind being in the pool myself.”

  “How much swimming have you done since your accident?”

  “None,” Heath said, staring at the water. He was just hot and sweaty enough from the hot tub that a cool dip in the pool was enticing. “You got any problem with me going in it?”

  “Go for it,” Shane said. He walked over to Heath’s crutches and brought them to him. “But I don’t want you to exhaust yourself.”

  “No, I already did that with you this morning.”

  Shane chuckled. “Let’s get you into the water, if that’s where you want to be.”

  Carefully, moving slowly on the wet cement, they made it to the side of the tiled pool. Heath handed off his crutches and just let his body fall forward. As soon as the water closed over his head, he happily sunk to the bottom. When he slowly surfaced, Shane stood there, watching him with a frown on his face.

  “I’m fine,” Heath said.

  “Well, you looked like you were just a solid slab of meat when you fell in.”

  “This is so nice,” he said. “I used to be a hell of a swimmer. It’s been a long time though.”

  “Swim away,” Shane said. “You’ve got about ten minutes. After that, you’re done.”

  And Heath took Shane for his word.

  Heath immediately broke into a front crawl, feeling his body roll with the unused muscle motions. He was surprised to find just how sore he was. His arm didn’t quite fully go up and over, so his form sucked. Both legs kicked, but he only had one foot, so one leg was active, and the other one just felt like it was sticking out there doing nothing. It was such an odd feeling, but he was m
obile, and he was doing it on his own. He raced forward to one side and then back to the other. By the time he had completed three full laps, he could feel his energy waning. He pulled into the shallow end and sat on the step, just catching his breath.

  Shane walked up beside him. “And?”

  “Well, it felt good to swim and to support myself in the water without needing crutches,” he said, “but it really reminded me that I’m not in the shape I used to be in and that the muscles don’t want to go in the direction they’re supposed to go.”

  Shane grinned. “Isn’t that the truth? But now that you’ve been in here, and I see that you can swim, I’ll incorporate it into your weekly workouts.”

  “I’m okay with that.” Heath looked over at the hot tub, then at Shane, and asked, “Are we done for the morning, or is there more?”

  “No, you’re done, but I want you in your room now, so I can take a look at your back.”

  “Great. I thought I could hop in the hot tub a bit longer.”

  Shane shook his head. “No, your energy level is already way too low. We may have to use a wheelchair to get you to your room as it is. The crutches would be hard with your current energy levels.”

  As he looked at the crutches, the rest of his energy started to drain, making him realize how tired he really was. Heath nodded. “I’m afraid you’re right. I didn’t even realize it until now.”

  At that, Shane walked over to the side and grabbed one of the many waiting wheelchairs, then pulled it over, and said, “This time I’ll take you up. Next time you’re on your own.”

  Chapter 10

  Several days later Hailee started to get to know and to identify the different staff members and patients. During her night shift work of cleaning, she didn’t get to meet very many people. But now any number of individuals came through the offices at any given time. It was one of the oddest feelings. When she had started her cleaning job, she’d been so grateful to Dani but hadn’t really recognized how different it was to work here on the day shift as compared to working the night shift.