Danny’s head ached but if he unclenched his jaw, the weeping would start and progress quickly to wailing. Totally undudelike.
He blamed the doctor seated across the table from him and Jenna. A little less compassion from the MD would have helped. But no. The guy swam in an ocean of it, riding its wave on into the room where they had met him a few minutes before.
Dr. Adams removed his black-rimmed glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he looked again at them, his eyes glistened. “The good news is you’ve already heard the bad news. From here on out it’ll be only hopeful or challenging news. I can already tell that Kevin is totally on board with this way of thinking.”
Jenna nodded. His sister vacillated between catatonic responses and a take-charge demeanor. Every last vestige of a whiny princess had been blasted from her attitude.
Adams said, “He’s not going to sit around feeling sorry for himself. His main concern is you, Mrs. Mason.”
“Me?”
“He asked me to pray for you to have the strength to hang in there.”
Danny watched thoughts parade across Jenna’s face as clearly as if she spoke them. Any caring person would not want to see his loved ones suffer over his distress, but Kevin’s concern stemmed from his wife’s “princess” status. He not only teased her over it, he often encouraged it in the way he catered to her.
Jenna’s face relaxed. She flashed a smile. “Ooh-rah.”
Dr. Adams grinned. “Ooh-rah.” His expression softened again beneath a halo of neatly trimmed silver hair. “You can take him home soon, perhaps by Saturday. We want to wean him off the IV drugs. I’m guessing his pain tolerance level is high. We also have to wait for the swelling to go down in the residual limb.”
Danny mentally translated that reference to mean what was left of Kevin’s leg. He wondered if this was hopeful or challenging news.
“Home?” Jenna said.
“Home to the States, to San Diego.”
“To the Wounded Warrior facility.”
He nodded. “He’s part of the C5 program.”
Danny shut his eyes briefly. Hopeful or challenging news? Kevin had visited the facility, had met amputees during their rehab. Now he’d be one of them.
The doctor said, “They have state-of-the art everything. They’ll take care of him and you, Mrs. Mason, from here on out.”
“Call me Jenna.”
He nodded. “They offer everything from counseling to climbing walls and obstacle courses to expertise in prosthetics. Okay?”
“Okay, as long as it’s not me doing the climbing.”
He smiled.
“How long are we talking, Doctor?”
“Above-the-knee amputees need at least, on average, twelve months of rehab. When the knee is intact, the use of a prosthesis comes more easily.”
“But we’re talking about Kevin.”
“Right. Scratch half of what I say.”
“Already have. He’s going to be an outpatient in no time.”
Danny wondered who the woman was living inside his sister’s body.
Dr. Adams said, “Kevin will experience phantom pains that over time will become more of a sensation. His brain thinks the limb is still there. I’ve heard bizarre stories of what it feels like. You and Kevin and the therapists will figure out how best to live with it.”
“That’s what this all comes down to, doesn’t it? Figuring out how best to live with these changes. Hey, Danny.” She looked at him. “Don’t you think Kevin’s going to be really glad not to have to hike up two flights of stairs to an apartment?”
“He’s going to love the house, Jen. Great foresight.”
“Foresight? Danny, get a grip. God was taking care of things. As Nana would say, He is good.”
Definite alien in place.
Too keyed to sleep, Danny and Jenna sat in the hospital cafeteria, drank coffee, and waited for Kevin to waken.
“Jen, Kevin’s going to be proud of his princess.”
“I doubt that. I only quit being a royal pain in the neck the night we heard he’d been injured. I think that was just last night?”
“Depends on what continent you’re on.”
“Anyway, we’re talking seven months of unhinged and at least two of making really dumb mistakes.”
“The war is the really dumb mistake.”
“Danny, come on. I’m not going to blame circumstances. What’s happened has happened. We have a long row to hoe. We’re going to need marriage counseling on top of everything else. No doubt I’ll cry some more, but guess what? Whining isn’t going to put Kevin’s body back together.”
“Wow, what has happened to you?”
“What do you mean?”
He widened his eyes at her.
She shrugged. “Well, I just realized what you’ve been telling me all along. That God loves me. And . . . and forgives me. Call me slow to catch on, but there it is.”
“Hmm.”
“I was actually living my dream life, you know. I was married to a bona fide hottie. I was a teacher thinking about the day I could quit and have a baby.”
“Was there something wrong with that?”
“It was all about me. About me being comfortable and looking good. Suddenly that’s not my priority. I was praying on the airplane over here for Kevin, of course, and Miranda and those other wives and kids, especially poor Evie. And our whole family and Skylar and Rosie and Nathan, Tuyen and Hawk. Then I got going on the doctors and nurses helping Kevin. Then I ran out of words. I had no words but I felt like I was groaning inside for others. Where is all this coming from, Danny?”
“God’s Spirit.”
“Really?”
“Jenna, you’ve heard this stuff your whole life from Nana.”
“Obviously I wasn’t listening.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I know what your problem is with Skylar.”
He stared at her.
“It’s so all about you, Danny. It’s about you being hurt by Faith Simmons eons ago. It’s about you being hurt by Skylar. It’s about you looking like a horse’s rear end because your girlfriend is in prison. You really need to quit wallowing in self-pity and get over yourself.”
“Yeah, yeah. I admit it.”
“Good.” She abruptly pushed back her chair. “Kevin’s awake.”
“Huh? How do you know he’s awake?”
“The Holy Spirit?” She shrugged and hurried toward the exit.
He followed at a slower pace. The new Jenna had taken the old Jenna’s bossiness to another level. It was as if the princess had grown into queen and understood how to exercise her increased power to its fullest extent. She would be all right on her own.
He wondered how soon he could get on a plane.
Like a fly on the wall, Danny watched Jenna and Kevin’s reunion. He had hesitated but she had insisted he be that near.
He loved Kevin like a brother. He was a guy’s kind of guy. Athletic, funny, loyal. Danny had never understood how the man could fall for his sister until now. Maybe he had sensed the emergent woman beneath the pouting royal pain in the neck, the woman who would eventually stand by him through thick and thin.
Jenna practically melted into Kevin. “Hey, Kev.”
“Hey.” His voice rasped. “You really here?”
“Yeah.” She kissed him full on the mouth for an embarrassingly long time.
“Oh, man.” He chuckled. “My hallucinations never hit me like that.” His eyes strayed over her shoulder. “Danny?”
“Yeah. Hey.”
“Hey. Now I know this is for real ’cause you sure never showed up in my dreams.”
“I’m glad to hear that, buddy.”
Kevin struggled to move his arm, giving Jenna more space to scoot in close. “How you doing, pretty lady?”
“Good, Kev, I’m good. Now that I can see your blue eyes. We’re going to be all right.”
He touched her face. “I screwed up big-time.”
“Yeah, you did. But I love you more than ever.”
The scene blurred. Danny excused himself and went in search of a phone to call the airlines.