by Dale Mayer
After a few more moments of small talk, she could tell he was still out of sorts, so she stood again. “I’ll head back to work and check on you later.” With a breezy smile, she walked out. He didn’t stop her—he didn’t call to her in any way. She wasn’t sure what she was to do when he was like this. She figured doing nothing was probably the best. Not everybody liked everything every day. Today might’ve been a little more difficult for him because of the horses, because of the reminder of what that meant to him. For that, she was sorry. She wanted him to get better, not to feel bad about anything. The others were right. Enough was enough.
She popped her head back into his doorway. “And I shouldn’t have asked you to show up for the horses. That was my bad. I’m sorry.”
He stared at her, his gaze still dark and fathomless, and gave her a clipped nod. “Good. I wasn’t going anyway.”
She grinned. “At least now you don’t have to worry about it.”
How did that work? He stared at this woman, so loving and giving. She never complained. She never argued. Instead she went out of her way to do even more for people. She had such a positive attitude to life.
Look at the horse therapy and getting him access to the hot tub. The horses just weren’t for him. As much as he’d like to think she was doing something special for him that she wasn’t doing for other people, he knew that wasn’t fair. It was not professional, and if there was one thing she always was, it was pro.
He sighed. She was always doing her best.
Unlike him.
Even when she was wrong to do so, she took the high road. Whereas, he’d fallen off fast and taken the low road as soon as he could.
She’d already figured out how to let him off the hook with the horses, going above what she needed to do, because she wanted to make him feel good even when she’d been right.
He hadn’t admitted to his weakness in a long time. But since he’d finally told her, he felt better—and worse. Better for clearing the air but now worse as she’d been so damn good at forgiving him and letting him off the hook.
She was doing her best.
And he wasn’t.
He didn’t like himself much at this point.
Chapter 13
Now that Sicily was back on more settled ground with Elliot, the days passed happily as the two slowly regained their footing and surged ahead. She had a good feeling about their relationship. He’d learned they could move on. It was all good. Several days later, while working on her files, she got a phone call from Elliot. “What are you doing awake?”
“Muscle knots,” he gasped.
She bolted from her chair, phone in hand. “I’m on my way. Hang tight.” She could give him certain medications to relax the muscles. But he reacted badly to so many of the drugs, so doing anything natural was easier. It was less stress on him physically.
When she walked into his room, he was twisted on the bed, his shoulders back and his face frozen into a grimace.
“No drugs.”
She grabbed the bottle of cream from the side table and coated her fingers. She knelt on the bed and went to work. “I didn’t say I would give you any.” She shook her head. “But you need to talk to the doctor about this. There should be something you can take.”
As her fingers touched his skin, he said, “The worst is past.” His voice was tired.
“Good,” she said. “This should work pretty fast. But you still must talk to the doctor tomorrow. The spasms are getting worse, but that’s also a good thing. It means life is returning to the muscles with all the work you are doing. Don’t overdo it.”
He lay quietly as she worked, her fingers sliding up and down each of the muscle bands, coaxing them to relax.
“I doubt I’ll sleep again tonight,” he said with a heavy sigh.
“You want to try the hot tub afterward?”
He lifted his head a few inches to look at her. “You think that would work?”
She pulled out her phone and contacted the orderly. While waiting for him to come, she continued to work on the rest of Elliot’s muscle bands. When the orderly arrived, she smiled at him. “Let’s see if we can get him to the hot tub.”
It took a few minutes to get Elliot into the wheelchair, with a blanket around his shoulders, and the trio moved slowly to the hot tub area. It was off to the side of the pool, under cover. The night was balmy and warm, so she didn’t see any point in closing the doors. They rarely closed them, unless a big storm or an unexpected cooler period was coming in.
With the orderly’s help, Elliot made his way into the hot tub. As soon as he sank into the warm water, he groaned. “Oh God, that feels so good.”
She stood at the edge of the tub and studied him. His color was almost back to normal, and although he was exhausted, the stress lines had eased. The furrows of pain on his forehead had relaxed. She nodded at the orderly. “How’s your schedule? You okay to stay with him for the next half an hour or so?”
He nodded. “I can be here for a bit. If I get called away, I’ll have you come down and replace me first.”
She nodded. With a smile at Elliot, she said, “Relax and use some of the yoga exercises you were taught to stretch out those muscles. Don’t do too much. A little bit will help ease the tightness. I’ll come back and check on you in about twenty minutes.”
He barely opened his eyes, but he gave her a small finger wave from the top of the water and sank deeper into the bubbles. With a smile, she headed upstairs to his room. His sheets were drenched, so she did a quick linen change for him, then flipped back the covers so when he returned from the hot tub, he could crawl right back inside. Afterward she walked to the coffee station and made herself a cup of tea. Dennis often left out a few snacks for the nighttime staff.
If one of them was even hungrier, they had a fridge of leftovers to choose from as well. She only occasionally did that. She usually had a sandwich that she brought from her own place, or she packed up something from dinner to have later.
At that moment another patient called for her, so she headed there to help reposition the bed and realign him so his pain was eased. He didn’t need any sleeping pills—he needed help rotating his body. So often that was the case. Sometimes in the night the muscles locked up, and it was so hard with their patients’ recent injuries to get into a position that wouldn’t hurt.
By the time she was done there, it was past time to check on Elliot. She walked to the hot tub as he slowly sat down in the wheelchair. He looked much more at peace. The orderly was drying him off, and Elliot held a towel, scrubbing down his hair. She stepped in front of them. “How do you feel now?”
He gave her a smile. “That’s a magical cure.”
She laughed. “Nothing magical about it. Just heat.” When they were ready, she walked beside him on his way back to his room, and Elliot got into bed.
He moaned as he sank into the fresh bedding and smiled. “I’m so tired,” he whispered.
“Good, sleep.” She shut off the light beside his bed. “I’ll check on you in an hour or so,” she said. The orderly stepped out into the hallway to carry on with his duties. Sicily watched and waited, but sure enough, Elliot closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. With a smile, she returned to her office. Inside, she felt great. From the looks of Elliot, the hot tub might be a magical answer after all.
Elliot woke the next morning feeling rested and at peace. Waking up screaming in pain hadn’t been much fun. He wasn’t sure why the muscle spasms had been so bad lately, but they were. He’d read somewhere about nerve endings and muscles finally coming to life again. They needed time to adapt. In those cases, muscle spasms weren’t unusual. The use of magnesium, calcium and something else could help prevent the muscle spasms. He’d ask the doctor about it today. He didn’t like taking even muscle relaxants, although given the pain he had been in last night, he’d do a lot to avoid that again. He’d always been sensitive to drugs. He couldn’t even take aspirin most of the time, without getting shortness of b
reath and perspiration-like sweat attacks.
He sat up slowly. His skin felt odd, but then he had been in the hot tub and not showered afterward. He stood up straight and stretched. He checked his clock and realized it was almost breakfast time. After a quick shower, he slowly made his way to the cafeteria on his own two legs. He wasn’t full of energy, but he wasn’t dragging his feet either. Weeks of sleepless nights weren’t made up for in a couple good nights, but it sure was a healthy start to fixing the problem. As he walked into the cafeteria, he ended up behind Dani in line.
She studied his face for a moment and smiled. “Hi, Elliot. You look better this morning.”
He nodded. “I am. I feel great today.”
“That’s good to hear. I’m really pleased.”
He nodded. “I’ll talk to the doctor today about changing my nutritional supplements.”
Dani inclined her head. “Good idea.” She accepted a plateful of omelet from Dennis on the other side of the buffet. “Looks great, Dennis.”
He chuckled. “You’re easy to please.” Dennis turned to Elliot. “What about you, big man? What can I get you this morning?”
Elliot studied the array of food in front of them. “I’m hungry.”
“Meat it is then. Especially for a growing healing boy. Sausages, bacon and eggs. Toast and hash browns.”
Elliot surveyed the platter, shoved high with food, and smiled. “Normally I wouldn’t get through half of this, but today it looks about right.” He moved on to the end and grabbed a fresh juice and milk. At least there was calcium in the milk—that might help too. Although he was fooling himself to think a single glass of milk would make a big difference. He headed off to the sunshine-washed deck, only to find Sicily sitting there, hugging a cup of coffee, waiting for him. Dennis brought Elliot’s tray behind him.
He approached her quietly. “May I join you?”
She nodded and gave him a small smile.
It was a beautiful morning. He felt better, but she looked tired.
“Thanks,” she said to Dennis as he placed the tray down and left.
It had to be hard to work the night shift. “Do you like working that shift?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes I think about asking for a shift change, but I like it most of the time. It’s peaceful, and it’s quiet.”
“What do you do on your break?”
“I usually sit in the office. Sometimes I walk around because I need the exercise and to get out of the four-walls type of thing. I might go out on the deck for a few minutes, but I always have my phone in case anything comes up.”
“So you’re never off, are you?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She shrugged again. “It works for me.”
“It’s not like working in a normal hospital, is it?”
“No, it’s a completely different environment.” She sipped her coffee. “Here I get to help people. It’s like giving back in a way, as well as doing a job.”
He was wondering if he could do something to give back. Elliot glanced at the buffet as Dennis, back again behind the counter, smiled at the people moving along in front of him. It reminded Elliot how helpful Dennis was.
That gave Elliot the glimmer of an idea. Only it wasn’t one that would work every day. She’d done so much for him. He wished he could do something to give back to others—especially to her.
Chapter 14
Two nights later, she got a call at three a.m. from Elliot.
Expecting the worst, she was already up and out of her chair, heading toward him at top speed with her phone still in her hand. “Elliot, what’s up?” She tried to keep her voice level, but his last call in the night had ended up with them massaging out the knots on his back and followed up with a hot tub visit, so she was expecting something similar. She had almost reached his door before he answered.
“I was wondering if you could come here for a moment,” he said. “Have you had your break yet?”
“No, it’s been too busy for that. I’m almost at your room. Hang on.” She shut off her phone and pocketed it. At his door, she knocked, walked inside and came to a complete standstill. He was sitting up in bed with a big grin on his face. But beside him were several food trays on a cart she would normally have used to carry her medicines and another food tray was on his small table. She frowned, not quite understanding. “What’s this? Are you hungry or something?”
He motioned at the chair sitting beside the cart. “This is me trying to pay you back for all your loving kindness and care,” he said with a big smile. “You haven’t had your break, so I arranged with Dennis to set this up.”
Her mouth dropped open, but no words came out.
He chuckled. “Well, it’s nice to see you’re shocked into silence, but I hope it’s a good surprise,” he said quietly, his gaze searching hers.
She turned shocked eyes to him and then beamed. “I can’t remember the last time anybody did something like this for me.” She approached hesitantly, her gaze going from the pot of tea to juice, sandwiches, muffins and cookies and a bowl of fresh fruit salad. “This is a veritable feast,” she exclaimed.
“It is, so I hope you’re hungry.”
She laughed. “It’s my break, but that doesn’t mean it’s yours.”
“I don’t know about that. I’m always happy to eat big meals three times a day and another one during the night.”
She chuckled and took her seat. “Having time to eat can be a problem. But if I don’t eat in my eight hour shift, it’s hard to stay awake.”
“We can’t have that happening,” he said. “Sit down and pick what you’d like to start with.”
She stared in wonder. “This all looks so wonderful.” She picked up the bowl of fresh fruit salad. “But I’ll start with this.”
“And here I thought it would be dessert first,” he joked.
She pointed at the cinnamon buns and muffins and cookies. “There’s enough dessert here for half a dozen people.”
Elliot shook his head, picking up a cinnamon bun and a cup of tea. “Not if I’m eating too. I’m starting with dessert.”
That set the tone for the next half hour. By the time her break was over, she was very comfortably full. “I’m so sorry,” she said regretfully, “but I must get back to work now.”
He nodded and smiled. “I know. I didn’t expect you to stay past your break time. But you are allowed a coffee break, so if I’m still awake, feel free to come back.”
She looked at the food still on the tray. “I was wondering about taking some of this back to my station.”
His grin widened. “I’d be happy for you to do so.” He consolidated the food from the two trays onto one. “I’m more than ready to try for some sleep, so take the cart with you, and I’ll see you tomorrow sometime.”
She stopped before she walked out the doorway, pushing the cart, and turned to look at him. “Thank you for doing this,” she said with a big smile. “It was very much appreciated.”
He was already curled up on the bed with the lights out. “We can’t exactly go on a date,” he murmured, his voice drowsy, “so this was what I could come up with.”
Then he fell silent. Slowly, she pushed the cart to her office. A date night—that was how he looked at it. In a way, it certainly was. People in situations like this had to make do with whatever they could manage. As far she was concerned, he’d done a heckuva job. She’d never been happier.
She wandered past the orderlies, sitting down having coffee, and offered them the rest of the desserts. Both accepted thankfully. She grinned, then brought the cart back to the kitchen, where she dropped it off, but not before collecting the remaining half sandwich and the last of the fruit salad. Both of those she would take care of before the end of her shift. She must remember to thank Dennis for his contribution to her surprise. Although he’d probably just grin at her and tell her to let others do something for her for a change. With a big smile on her face, she finished the rest of her night filled with a quiet happines
s.
Elliot woke the next morning feeling bright and happy, only to realize it was a horse therapy day. He rolled onto his back and wondered what he could do. What was he prepared to do? What was even reasonable to try to do? He lay there quietly, thinking about how far he’d come in so many ways and how far he still wanted to go. The progress was for him but also for Sicily. She was a very special person, and he was happy with the way their “evening” had turned out. It was unusual to sit here and have a date at three o’clock in the morning, but given their circumstances, it had been perfect.
He’d spoken to his therapist about what was on his mind, but he hadn’t mentioned it to Shane. As Elliot made his way to his daily session with Shane, he held his tongue as Shane put him through his paces. When they took a break, he brought up the subject of the horses.
Shane cast him a sharp look. “Anytime you want to try, you tell me, and I’ll make it happen.”
Elliot nodded. “That all sounds good in practice.” He shook his head. “But making something happen is a lot more than just talking about it, and I’m not sure I can do what I want to do.”
“Then start with coming down and seeing everyone. Start by meeting the horses. They’re great big beautiful animals, looking for love and attention, the same as we are.”
Elliot smiled at the imagery. “Hardly. They are huge, and they can be vicious.”
“Sure.” Shane nodded. “But humans can be much more vicious. Keep that in mind.”
Elliot brought up the subject again at the end of his session. “Can I go down to the corral on my own to watch for the last half hour or something?”
Shane nodded. “It’s this afternoon, so you can make your way on your own, or you can let me know, and I’ll come get you.”
“I’ll think about it,” Elliot said hurriedly, backing off again. Every time he even thought about committing to such a step, it made his stomach heave.