Prologue

Wesley Broden stared at the inside of the ambulance. He couldn't believe he had to travel this way. It was a six-hour drive, but he couldn't find anybody else to take him, so this was about the only way to go. It wasn't necessarily a true ambulance. It was more of an interfacility transfer vehicle.

The paramedic looked down at him. "You doing okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I had hoped to find somebody with a truck to get me there."

"Not advised," he replied. "Anybody in your condition will find it very painful to go that far for six long hours."

"It is much more comfortable to lie down," Wesley admitted.

The paramedic nodded. "That stump of yours is pretty sore, isn't it?"

"Both of them." He nodded. "They were doing better, and then they weren't. I tried to… I wore the prosthetics too much," he shared, hating to admit it. "I just was really happy to get back up and to have some mobility. And then, of course, I pushed it."

"Yeah, that happens," the EMT noted, "especially on your left arm."

"Yeah, I don't have much of a stump." He had about four inches down from the shoulder. "I was really trying hard to make the prosthetic work because I hate not being independent," he said, his tone letting through a tinge of anger.

"And yet there's times when you need help, like all of us." The paramedic lifted his pant leg and showed him his lower leg, which was a prosthetic.

Wesley stared at it. "Well, that gives me hope," he said.

"Don't ever lose hope," the EMT declared. "I lost my leg when I was sixteen in a motorcycle accident, and I thought my life was over at the time," he admitted, "but it's not. It happened long ago, and I survived pretty fast. I had to have surgery and rehabilitation," he added, "but it is what it is. I'm fine with it. My wife's fine with it. My kids think it's cool."

Wesley laughed. "I can see that too. That almost sounds like fun when you're a kid. I'm probably not a whole lot older than you, but, at the moment, I think my arm amputation bothers me more than the leg."

"Of course. At Hathaway," he offered, "you'll do just fine." He pointed out the window. "You can see the grounds just coming up here. I've delivered a couple people here, and every time I think what an absolutely incredible place it is. I've looked it up a couple times, and the reviews and awards it's won are just incredible," he shared. "You're in good hands here."

Wesley nodded. "I hope so. Sometimes you just want to give up."

"Don't give up," the EMT stated. "I'm proof that you can have a life after amputation. Even double amputations," he added. "Find something you want to do with your life and stick with it and don't let anybody tell you differently." And those were definitely words to live by.

"Do you know anybody who works there?" Wesley asked him.

"Several people," he replied. "Dani, the co-owner, I've talked to her a couple times. I've had a friend go through here. She mentioned Dennis in the kitchen—apparently he's quite a character. I don't know anybody else right now, but that doesn't mean a whole lot." As he pointed out the window again, he said, "Look. Somebody is out riding horses."

Wesley shifted so that he could look outside. "Wow, I would love to get back to horseback riding."

"They have training here for the patients too," the EMT offered.

A couple people were out there. Wesley watched the woman, with her long red braid bouncing behind her, as she moved the horses at a great clip.

"Well, if nothing else," the paramedic added, with a big smile, "you'll have lots of good things to look at."

Wesley wasn't sure whether the EMT meant the woman or the horse. But, in truth, the two of them moved as one and looked absolutely stunning. "I used to ride like that," Wesley muttered.

"And you can again," the paramedic vowed. "Don't worry. Have a little faith, and it'll take you a long way."

And, with that, they pulled into the driveway and up to the front of Hathaway House and the new beginning of Wesley's life.