A Family For The Soldier. Carolyne Aarsen

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      “He is a sweetie,” Chloe murmured, rocking him to keep him quiet.

      “I can take him back now,” Mamie said, taking the boy from her. “I should find a place I can heat this up.”

      “There’s a microwave at the nurses’ station I’m sure you can use,” Chloe said, walking to the sink in Ben’s room to wash her hands again.

      Mamie walked out, leaving Grady and Chloe alone. She moved to the other side of Ben’s bed and started with his leg exercises.

      “Does that do anything?” Grady asked. “I mean, he’s not participating.”

      “No, but it’s important we keep his abductors flexed, his hamstrings from pulling.” Chloe glanced over at Grady, disconcerted to see him staring at her. She dragged her attention back to her patient. “It’s a type of stimulation, as well. And if we don’t do these exercises, his muscles will seize up and when he gets out of the coma, he will have a much longer recovery ahead of him.”

      “You said when.”

      Chloe glanced up from Ben, thinking of the theories of coma patients being able, on a subliminal level, to hear what was said around their bed.

      “I said when and I mean when,” she said, her voice firm. “He will come out of this. We just have to do what we can for him while we wait.”

      Grady sat down in the chair, setting his crutch aside. “I like the sound of when. I have things I need to settle with my brother. Ben and I... Well, we had words before I left.”

      “A fight?”

      “A disagreement about his lifestyle,” Grady said. “I want to make it right.”

      Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw Grady drag his hand over his face. He looked exhausted. She was sure some of it was the burdens he carried, in addition to the pain.

      “Then, this is a chance for you to talk to him,” Chloe said, picking up Ben’s arm and stretching it gently above his head. “A chance for you to tell him what you feel. Tell him how you care for him.”

      “So you think he can hear me?”

      “I’d like to think he can.” Chloe gave him a gentle smile. “Sometimes talking aloud can be as much for yourself as for him.”

      Grady nodded, then looked up at her, his expression growing serious. “You think it will help?”

      “Confession is good for the soul,” she said.

      “In that case, I’ll wait until you’re gone. I don’t want you hearing all my deep, dark secrets.”

      “You have those?” And how did that semiflirty note get in her voice?

      “Don’t you?”

      She held his gaze a split-second longer than she should have, thinking of the last time she and Jeremy had been together and the repercussions of that. The child she now carried.

      She had no right to talk this way to him. No right at all.

      “If you’re referring to Cody’s parentage, I feel I need to tell you, he’s not my son. At all.” His gaze locked on hers, suddenly intense.

      “He’s not?”

      “No.”

      Chloe seemed surprised and yet, at the same time, pleased that he wanted her to know.

      “So why is Vanessa—” she stopped herself. She almost asked him why Vanessa was acting as if she had some claim on Grady, but it was none of her business.

      Yet he seemed to think she needed to know. A tiny finger of awareness trickled down her neck. Was he trying to tell her something else?

      She pushed it away as she returned to working on Ben. He was simply concerned about his reputation, that was all. Besides, it seemed that Vanessa, in spite of Grady not being Cody’s father, seemed to have laid her claim on Grady.

      There was no way Chloe could compete with her very attractive stepsister.

      A few minutes later she had finished. Before she left, she couldn’t help a glance Grady’s way. But his entire attention was on his brother. So she made a notation on Ben’s chart then left.

      Dr. Schuster stood by the nurses’ station, but he looked up when she came near.

      “Chloe. Just the person I need to talk to.” His grim expression made her apprehensive.

      She swallowed down her nervousness. “What do you need?”

      Dr. Schuster tugged at his moustache, then steered her toward a small room just off the nurses’ station. “I had hoped to do this in my office, but I don’t have time.” Another tug on his moustache. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Chloe. But I just got the word that I have to cut back on the budget. I know I promised you a job for longer than this, but I’m afraid I have to let you go. I don’t have much choice.”

      “Excuse me?” Chloe wasn’t sure she heard him correctly. “I’ve lost my job?”

      “The position was only temporary,” he reminded her.

      “For a year.” She fought down her rising panic, trying to maintain a professional attitude, trying not to sound as though she was pleading. “I need this job, Dr. Schuster.”

      Her life had been turned upside down the past four months. She had counted on this year to catch her breath, make other plans.

      “I’m sorry, Chloe. You’re a hard worker and I’d love to keep you. We could certainly use a fully staffed physical therapy department. But it’s not going to happen. Sorry.”

      “When do I leave?”

      “I’ll pay out your two weeks’ salary, but Friday will be your last day.” He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder and left.

      Chloe leaned back against the wall, fighting down an unwelcome urge to cry. Silly hormones, she thought, closing her eyes and breathing slowly.

      Help me, Lord, she prayed. Help me get through this.

      The prayer had been her constant refrain the past year. Each time she felt that she had caught her balance, life spun her around again.

      She covered her face with her hands, pulled in a wavering breath, then slowly released it.

      “Are you okay?”

      Mamie Stillwater’s concerned voice behind her made her straighten and force a smile to her face before turning around. “I’m fine,” she assured the elderly woman, still holding Cody, who slept again. “I’m just fine. Just tired. How’s Cody?”

      “He’s tired, too.” Mamie gave her a careful look. “I better get back to see how Ben is. You take care of yourself, okay?” She patted her on the shoulder with one thin hand, then trudged away, her own shoulders stooped, as if carrying Cody was more than she could bear, either.

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