He turned to her. “Yeah. Have you met him?”
“I think everybody has,” she said. “She walks him around on a leash quite a bit.”
“That’s pretty amazing,” he said. “She seems happy here.”
“Every time I’ve seen her, she appears to be. She has hardships too, I’m sure. But nobody likes to be in a place where they can’t help somebody else.”
“True. But, in a place like this, I doubt you get very many deaths.”
“It’s happened,” she admitted. “Not because of something done here but underlying conditions. Still, it’s hard to say goodbye when you had such hope and investment in someone’s progress.”
He winced at that. “I didn’t even think of anybody passing away here, but I imagine it’s fairly traumatizing for everybody. This is a place of hope, of healing, not walking away or letting go.”
“Exactly. But it is what it is. Maybe go hunt your sister up after lunch. If they’re busy, they’ll tell you,” she added thoughtfully. “I’ve gone down there a few times. Most of the time it’s all good, but, once in a while, it’s just a nuthouse.”
“I’d like to avoid the nuthouse part,” he said. “I’m doing okay when I’m out here, but it’s not that easy to maneuver if tons of people are there or if I have to navigate among dogs on leashes.”
She looked at him thoughtfully. “I can see how that could be a problem. But still, it’s well worth going down there. We’ve all been roped into feeding kittens and looking after injured animals that they’ve had to keep for a few days to a week. Most of the time it’s absolutely delightful, and, of course, it’s the middle-of-the-night stuff. They have to handle it anyway, so getting anybody to pitch in really helps.”
“I can see that,” he said. “You’re right. Maybe I should go after lunch.” He pulled out his phone and sent his sister a message, while Ilse watched. When the answer came back immediately as a yes, and asking if he wanted her to come and get him, she smiled.
“See? You just have to reach out a little, and asking for help doesn’t necessarily have to hurt.” With that, she hopped up and said, “I’ve got to go back inside and return to work.”
“Have you had lunch?”
She turned, looked down regretfully, and said, “Yes, I did. But make sure you get yourself something.” With that, she headed back inside.
Keith sadly watched her go. He had been hoping that maybe she hadn’t had lunch. Once he’d seen her with the big delivery truck, he realized that, like everybody else in this place, they all had jobs and responsibilities, something that filled their life outside of physio, shrink visits, and medications. He didn’t want to feel like he was useless, but it was definitely a different working path he was on right now.
He didn’t want to think about what he would do in the future, but, for the moment, his job was working on himself. But that wasn’t her job. Her job was running the kitchens, and it looked to him like she was doing a great job. He’d been hoping she’d see him out here, and of course she had. And their ten-minute visit was great. He’d given her his empty bottles, so he stood up slowly and grabbed his crutches.
Mindful of loose gravel, he made his way to the bottom of the large ramp, which went up to the front reception area. On his first day, he’d been pushed up that ramp in a wheelchair, with someone else pushing, so it had been quite easy to maneuver. He wasn’t sure how he would handle it now on crutches, but he was determined to try. He started up slowly, and, about halfway, he got tired.
He wasn’t sure what the answer was, but he stopped, rested, and then went a little bit more. He stopped and rested again, and then he went up a little bit more. Before he realized it, he was at the front door. Beaming with the flush of success, he pushed the button to open the door and wandered inside.
One of the girls at the front desk looked up at him and smiled. “Isn’t it a beautiful day out there?”
He looked at her and smiled. “It sure is.” Tired but happy, he headed down the hallway to his room. He really should go get some food, but he wanted to switch over to the wheelchair. After that climb up the ramp, walking more on crutches was just a little more than he thought he could do.
Back in his room, he grabbed his wheelchair, slowly lowered himself into it, and feeling everything inside just relax, knowing the strain of what he had just done was over, he headed down for lunch. Now that he’d built up an appetite, he couldn’t wait to fill up. With any luck maybe he’d meet somebody to have lunch with him.
Even as he had the thought, he had to wonder. Wanting to be around people? Where did that come from? Was it good or bad? As he wandered in, the lineup was gone.
Dennis looked over at him. “Hey, there, are you hungry?”
“Actually, I really am,” he said. “What have you got?”
“All kinds of good food,” he said. “Come on up here, and let’s get you set up.”
As soon as Keith had a tray full, he headed out to where he normally sat. It was near the doors, and, when they opened, he loved the fresh air. Shane and a bunch of the other physiotherapists were off to the right, and it looked like another group of staff was having an impromptu meeting at a table just ahead of Keith. He sat down at an empty table, wondering at his choice once again.
Just then, somebody at the table behind him spoke. “Hey, you don’t have to sit alone. An empty spot is here, if you want to join us.”
He looked at him in surprise, turned to look at the spot, and said, “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
The other guys all smiled. One said, “Join us, please. We’ve been here so long that we’re sick of each other.” They all chuckled.
Keith replied, “I haven’t been here long enough to know who you are, so it’ll be a change for both of us.” And, with that, he set down his tray, and, for the first time in a long time, he had lunch with a group of men. Men who understood what he was going through, where he’d been, and what he was heading for. He thought to himself that maybe this was where he belonged.
Chapter 11
The next few days were harried as several of her staff fell ill. Ilse arrived this morning, earlier than normal, more or less running past everything. She didn’t get coffee, didn’t have a chance to deliver coffee, and by the time the three days were up, she was done. On the fourth morning, she walked in early, not yet knowing if this would be another shorthanded day like the others or not. But, when she walked in, one of her sick men was back to work. She looked at him with joy. “Well, thank heavens you’re back, Mike.”
He nodded. “Really sorry about being gone. I would have been here if I could have.”
“I know,” she said, “and we don’t want you in here sick anyway. It’s best to stay home.”
He nodded. “But I’m doing pretty good now,” he said. “I’ve got all the prep started for the breads,” he said, “so, if you need to take a few minutes, I’ve got at least my job covered this morning.”
“Well, unfortunately,” she said with half a laugh, “you, Tom, and Stefan were out all at the same time.”