Keith (Hathaway House #11) - Dale Mayer Page 0,16

a lot of work ahead of him, but there was every reason to think that he could lead a fully functioning life again after this.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” she said. “I think he’s almost stuck in that zone where he doesn’t see progress, doesn’t think there’ll be any, and doesn’t know why anybody bothers anymore.”

“Yes, I see that too,” Dennis said. “There’s very little in the way of laughter or even smiles in his world.”

“I don’t think there has been for a long time.”

“I’m glad his sister brought him here,” Dennis said. “Robin has had a lot to do with any smiles we do see.”

“But someone shouldn’t have to try to smile,” she said sadly. “Do you think his world has beaten him up so much that smiles are something he has to force out? That’s just sad.”

“You may find that just being around him will lighten him up a little bit, and he’ll have more reasons to smile. The trip here couldn’t have been easy, and the adjustments here aren’t easy either. Just knowing you are taking a few minutes to visit with him in the morning helps too, I think.”

“Does everybody know about that?” she asked with a sense of humor. “I’m not even sure why I started it, but now it feels like I can’t stop it.”

“Do you want to stop those visits with Keith?”

As always, Dennis had a zinger of a question, and he went for the jugular with it. She crossed her arms over her chest while she thought about it because a question like that deserved the time for a real answer and not just a flippant comeback. “Stop? No, I don’t think I do,” she said. “The place is so quiet in the morning. It’s fresh and feels renewed or something. It’s hard to explain, but, when I come in each morning, it feels like all things are possible. And when I stop and see that his light is on and that he’s awake, it’s just the two of us in the foggy world all around us, and something’s special about that.” She gave a quick nod. “The fact that sometimes he’s awake, and sometimes he’s not, that sometimes I remember his coffee, and sometimes I forget, keeps it changing.” She laughed. “It’s not a routine really. It’s more like just a connection that we get to make and then move on.”

“Or not move on,” Dennis said, with an arched eyebrow.

She laughed again. “No, it’s nothing like that.”

“Too bad,” he said. “You haven’t had a relationship in years.”

“Keeping track of my love life now?” she teased. “Remember though, if you do that to me, I get to do it back.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “That’s the thing. Nobody can hide from anybody in this place.”

“Maybe that’s okay too,” she said, “because, if you know the shields won’t work, why put them up in the first place? And we all spend way too much time building those walls against the rest of the world. I hide in my kitchen, and it makes perfect sense to me, but other people think it’s terrible.”

“But most people don’t think about it that way,” he said. “They just batten down the hatches even tighter, hoping that nobody will notice that they’ve got a wall up.”

“And very often they don’t,” she said sadly, “because everybody else’s walls are even higher.”

“This place does something to you,” Dennis said. “It opens our eyes and our hearts.”

She nodded.

Just then one of the patients called out to him. He hopped over to him. “What can I get for you, sir?”

She watched as Dennis, with that big affable smile of his, served a patient. She relaxed here and watched as Dennis interacted with the next few who came by. Something was special about Dennis too. She wished he could find a partner in life, particularly after they’d seen so many relationships come through this place. But, much like her, he hadn’t had the time, the opportunity, or just that right connection yet.

As she was about to head back into the kitchen, she saw Shane pushing a wheelchair. From where she was, she could see that it was Keith. For whatever reason, realizing he was in a wheelchair made his condition all that much worse. He’d said he was ambulatory, but she had yet to see him walking—with crutches or without. To see him in a wheelchair seemed like a step back. But he also looked worn out, and she knew he hadn’t even