Keith (Hathaway House #11) - Dale Mayer Page 0,4

huge whiteboard that already had the days of the week lined out with spaces for the meals on each day.

“Do you want a hand?”

“I’ll be fine,” she said.

Ricky closed the door quietly behind him, and she stood here in silence for a long moment, wondering if and when any of these staff issues would ever change. She hoped soon for Stefan’s sake, because his situation had to be just brutal. And her thoughts went from Stefan, with his dark hair and skinny body, to the dark-haired guy with the alabaster white skin and the frail body she had met earlier today. Keith, Robin’s brother.

He obviously hadn’t seen the sun in a year. His body had been beaten and torn first by the explosion and the associated physical and emotional trauma, then by all the surgical procedures trying to stitch him back together as well as possible. She had long been amazed at the versatility and the agility of the patients in this place but was stunned when she’d heard from Robin how many surgeries he’d had and what a mess his body still was at this point. She could only hope he would get through this.

She also hated the idea of him barely eating. That’s the chef in me, she thought to herself. Going to bed on an empty stomach went against the grain, and she knew he’d sleep better with food, but only if it was something his stomach would tolerate. She quickly checked to see in her New Patient Notice if Keith had any dietary restrictions prescribed, and there were none. A lot of things upset his system because his stomach had taken some shrapnel too.

The last of that had been surgically removed, but it was a different story to get his gastrointestinal system settled again. She remembered that she had a good potato soup in the kitchen, and maybe that, with some big slabs of toasted French bread, might go down just fine. But not a whole lot of protein was in that.

Frowning, she walked back out to the kitchen, got a small pot, and quickly warmed up some of the soup, adding cheese and some chunks of ham. When she had a good thick broth, she put it into a bowl, toasted some French bread, and added a little plate she’d prepared with some sliced meat and cheese. With that done, she called Dennis in.

He came walking through, wearing his bright, cheerful smile as always. She pointed at the tray and said, “Keith just arrived today. He hasn’t eaten, and he’s saying no to food, but, when I was talking to him, I was thinking food might not be a bad idea.”

Dennis immediately nodded. “That’s Robin’s brother, isn’t it?”

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, and he does not look happy to be here.”

He looked at her in surprise.

She shrugged. “I don’t think he’s all that happy to be on the planet just now.”

Understanding lit Dennis’s face. They’d both been here for some time and had seen a lot of patients come and go, with some pretty serious physical and mental health issues. “I’ll take this and see if I can get him to eat a little something,” he said. He picked it up and walked out with the tray in his hand.

Gerard looked over at her. “Is he okay? The new guy?”

“First day. Traveling is brutal, and his surgical list is long enough for twenty-five people,” she said, with a shake of her head. “The fact that he’s even alive is pretty amazing, but his skin is pure white because he hasn’t seen daylight or sunshine in probably a year or more.” The others all winced at that. “We’ll see if he eats.”

She had just stepped back into her office when the phone rang with a call from Dani. “What’s up?”

Chapter 2

“Hey,” Dani said. “I just passed Dennis, and he said you were sending food down to Keith.”

“Hoping to tempt him to eat a bit, yes,” she said. “Problem?”

Dani chuckled. “Gosh no,” she said. “I just wanted to thank you for being you.”

Surprised, Ilse shrugged, even though she knew Dani couldn’t see it. “It’s all good. You know that.”

“I know,” Dani said, “but it’s also why this place works,” she said. “We come from the heart. That doesn’t mean Keith’s eating anything. It doesn’t mean he’ll even be in any condition to excel here,” she said. “That was my concern with bringing in a family member, honestly. But we’ll do our best by him regardless.”

“Looks like a