“I guess we’re about to find out,” she said and walked over to open it.
When she did, she found that two hospital staffers and a nurse had already removed Ryan from the ambulance and guided his wheelchair up the ramp to the porch. Her boyfriend looked up at her and, in a slow, labored voice, spoke.
“Would you…like…buy some…Girl Scout Cookies?”
Jessie couldn’t help but laugh. He’d probably been working on that the whole way over.
“Come on in,” she said after leaning down to give him a kiss.
She bit her lip, trying to keep tears at bay. It had been such a long road. Now he was finally home. The emotion of the moment was almost overwhelming.
The staffers pushed him inside, had Jessie sign some paperwork, and left again. The whole process took about three minutes. The nurse, a blandly pleasant forty-something woman named Patty, remained behind. She was here to help Ryan acclimate to his new surroundings. But when she left this evening, they’d be on their own. Luckily Jessie had contracted with a private nursing company to have folks in the house as needed.
“We’ll show you around in a sec but I wanted to give you a moment to settle in,” she said, wheeling him over near the couch where Hannah, who hadn’t gotten up to greet him, still sat. “Excited to be out?”
Ryan nodded. He opened his mouth but it took several seconds for the words to follow. Each one was an effort.
“I think…they are…excited…that I’m…gone.”
“I’m not surprised,” Jessie replied. “Everyone knows that your winning charm starts to fade around the six-week mark.”
Ryan laughed, though it came out as more of a throaty rasp. As improved as he looked from even a month ago, it was still tough to look at him and not picture the man she used to know. Once muscular and tan, he was now pale and his skin looked pouchy over his flesh. His hair had been cut shorter than usual, almost like a crew cut, for easier maintenance. The one thing that hadn’t changed was his deep, brown eyes. They still had the same warmth and intensity as always. But right now they looked troubled.
“What is it?’ she asked.
He tried to get his mouth to form the words in his head but it was a struggle.
“Phy…phys…ph…” he seemed to give up on that word and skipped to the next, “therapy.”
“Right,” Jessie replied, getting what he meant. “The rehabilitative therapist will start tomorrow. That will be every day. Once you’ve made some progress on the activities of daily living, we’ll bring in the physical therapist to help you get your strength and mobility back. But we’re going to have to be patient. Remember Dr. Badalia wants you to take it one step at a time. Biting off more than you can chew could be detrimental to your long-term recovery.”
Ryan shook his head.
“Not…average…bear,” he insisted.
Jessie smiled.
“Don’t I know it. So do you want to check out the new digs?” she asked. “Hannah, would you like to do the honors?”
Hannah, who had been silent up to now, nodded.
“Hey, Ryan,” she said quietly as she stood and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Good to have you back. Now I won’t have to take the trash out to the curb every week.”
Ryan did his raspy laugh. Jessie smiled, glad that at least her sister wasn’t taking her frustration out on him. As Jessie and Nurse Patty trailed behind, Hannah wheeled him through the house, pointing out all the added features, including the handrails everywhere, the assist bars to get in the bath and on the toilet, and the call buttons in every room. She also showed him the emergency call button necklace they’d gotten for him. That got a huge grin from him.
“I’ve fallen…and…I can’t…get up,” he said.
Hannah looked over at Jessie, confused.
“It’s from an old commercial,” she said. “Look it up on YouTube.”
When they got to Jessie’s office, Ryan looked over at her.
“Was Garland’s?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said, confirming that this had been the home office of Garland Moses, the man who’d left her this house in his will. The fact that they only lived here now because Garland had been brutally murdered by her ex-husband was something she was still trying to come to terms with.
“Sorry,” Ryan croaked, reaching out for her hand and squeezing it tight. He’d actually been the detective who first investigated Garland’s murder and the person who had to break the news to her. He knew how much the old guy