Shocking Sapphires - Ann Omasta Page 0,11

yelled, “Go away and take him with you.”

“He needs to see his father,” Molly answered cheerily as if she hadn’t heard the fury in my voice. Angling a pointed stare at me, she added, “And you need him right now.”

With that, she used the remote to adjust my bed so I was sitting up higher. Once I was arranged to her satisfaction, she plopped my son into my arms.

“Take him!” Panic edged my voice as I stared down at the bundle in my arms. “I don’t want to drop him.”

Molly sounded completely calm as she reassured me, “Your arms work just fine, and your upper body strength and mobility will keep getting better––if you use it. You can hold your son.”

I stared down at the bundle in my arms. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. Scout blinked up at me with nothing but trust and adoration in his gaze––just like he did when my legs had worked. He didn’t yet sense that I was a weak, debilitated shell of the man I used to be.

He was too young to comprehend that his father was only a shadow of the man I’d been before the accident, but he was bound to figure it out when he got older. It would be better to save him from the embarrassment and shame my handicap would inevitably bring him.

Glaring at Molly and holding him out to her, I said, “He deserves better than what I can give him now. I’ll set up a trust fund to make sure he has plenty of money, but he needs to go live with a family that has a father who can play ball with him and show him what it’s like to be a real man.”

Molly pretended like she didn’t see me shoving the baby out toward her as she argued, “Scout needs his father, and you are a real man.”

I scoffed at that, which earned me a glare from her. “I’m half a man, at best… probably more like a quarter of a strong and healthy one––like I used to be.”

“You will learn to adjust to this new reality,” Molly said confidently, before admitting, “It’s a shitty turn of events, but it is not the end of your life. You will bounce back. You are handi-capable now, and––”

I clenched my teeth together and interrupted her by seething, “Do not use that word with me. Call it what it is… I’m disabled… a cripple… a mere fraction of the man I was.”

Molly sat down in the chair beside my bed. “Okay, you are a person with a disability, but you’ll learn how to adjust to it and even thrive. You are strong enough to handle this.”

“I’m not!” I shouted, angry with the entire world––especially her, since she was right here in front of me and such an easy target.

“You are stronger than you think,” she answered calmly, ignoring my outburst.

I wanted to smash something, but didn’t see any viable options. Instead, I yelled at the woman. “I’m not, and I don’t need you here with your positive Pollyanna bullshit. You don’t even know me. This is the worst thing that could ever happen to me. Please go and take him with you.”

This time, when I held my son out to her, she took him into her arms and quietly left.

9

Molly

I didn’t know what to say or do to help Grant. A tragic thing had happened to him. There was no denying that. But it wasn’t the end of his life. He needed to find the strength to power through and bounce back from this. He had too much to live for to give up, but I didn’t have any idea how to make him see that.

I wasn’t trained for this, and I kept saying and doing the wrong things, but I wanted to be there for him in any way I could––even if he didn’t want me there. He needed someone in his corner, fighting for him when he didn’t have the strength or willpower to believe in himself.

Max was needed at the fire station. Dani was almost always busy because she had recently taken over her mother’s medical practice, while her mother traveled around with her group of friends in their new recreational vehicles. So, that left Grant stuck with me. I made the easy decision to officially quit my part-time cashiering job, where I hadn’t been getting many hours anyway, so that I could focus on Scout and Grant.

“I want