The Land Beneath Us (Sunrise at Normandy #3) - Sarah Sundin Page 0,15
every day you’re going to feel better. I won’t lie and say your life will return to normal. Everything has changed, but you can come out stronger for it.”
“With the Lord’s help, I will.” Leah forced the words out, words she knew to be true, words she clung to when brutal memories darkened her mind.
Mrs. Bellamy blinked rapidly, squeezed Leah’s hand, and wheeled her cart of books and magazines to the next patient’s bed.
The Lord would indeed help Leah through this as he’d helped her all along. Hadn’t he sent Clay Paxton to save her life?
The instant the wolf had laid the knife on the floor beside her head, she knew he’d planned to kill her when he was done. Since he hadn’t used the knife in his initial attack or to threaten her to keep silent, the knife could only serve one purpose.
Leah’s thoughts careened. Her breath came fast and hard. She stared at the bare wooden ceiling and willed her breathing and her mind to calm. The Lord had been with her. The Lord would continue to be with her.
“Excuse me, Miss Jones?” Lieutenant Glassman, the ward nurse, stood at the foot of Leah’s bed. “Are you up for a visitor?”
Leah tried to sit up. Pain shot through her chest, and she winced and lay back down.
She’d only had three visitors. Darlene had made two short, cheery visits on her way to work. Miss Mayhew had visited the day after surgery, when Leah had been groggy. The librarian had voiced concern and shock and had asked Dr. Reeves how long until Leah could return to work. A month, and Miss Mayhew had not looked pleased.
That day, the military police had questioned Leah, but she’d had so little to tell them. Khaki uniform with no insignia. Dark hair below the cap. He’d only spoken one sentence, with a Midwestern accent. The MPs kept questioning the man’s accent and skin color. Was she absolutely certain the man was white and not Negro? Yes, she was. Any hint of a foreign accent or smell or manner, as if a German prisoner of war had slipped out of the enclosure and slipped back in? No, none.
“I’ll tell him to come back later,” the nurse said.
“I’m sorry. Who is it?”
“The man who brought you in the other day.” A conspiratorial look flashed in her brown eyes. “Honestly, we all thought he’d attacked you—you know his kind—but the MPs cleared him.”
Light and air filled her chest. “He saved my life. Yes, I want to see him very much.”
“All right.” The nurse shrugged and walked away.
Leah checked to make sure her pajama top and blanket were in place, but Clay had already seen her in all her shame.
She shuddered. However, Clay had acted like a physician with her. A gentleman.
He approached, the shoulders of his khaki uniform shirt darkened by raindrops. “Hello, Leah.”
“Clay! I’m so glad you came.”
His smile relaxed, and he set a box on her bedside table. “I brought you chocolate from the PX.”
Only the sling could keep her from reaching for it. “A whole box? For me?”
He chuckled and sat in the chair by Leah’s bed. “Just a little box, and don’t you dare indulge without asking your doctor, you hear?”
“I won’t. I’m so glad you came.” Why was she repeating herself?
“I’m sorry I took so long. I came the next morning. They told me you’d come through surgery fine, but they wouldn’t let me see you. Then my commanding officer sent us on a three-day march and field exercise. This was my first chance to visit.” Clay pulled off his garrison cap and assessed her from head to toe, one corner of his mouth crimped. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better, thank you. I’m very tired, of course.”
“Are you in any pain?”
“Only when I move.”
“All the more reason to rest so you can heal.” He really did have a physician’s manner, even kinder than Dr. Reeves.
“I’m glad you came, because I need to thank you for saving my life.”
Clay lifted half a smile. “Reckon I ought to thank you too, for clearing my name with the MPs.”
“I can’t believe they thought—”
“Nah.” He waved one hand as if erasing her words. “When a man brings a battered woman to a hospital, they’d better ask questions and a lot of them.”
Leah couldn’t remember much about the trip other than a bumpy run and Clay’s strong arms. How could anyone have thought he had harmed her after he’d fought off an armed assailant and performed