Chapter 3

T he first thing Talia did the next morning when she walked into her office was phone the hospital to check up on Zander's progress. The news was encouraging, and, with that, she headed down to see Xavier. When she knocked on his door, he answered.

"Come in."

He looked up to see who it was, and she stepped inside. "Hey. I didn't know if you'd connected with the hospital regarding your friend yet, but I did just now. I have an update." She quickly filled him in on Zander's condition. "They've changed out his medication, and he seems to be doing better."

"That is good news," Xavier replied. "Zander is not good at fighting for himself."

"No, but he seems to have a wingman who will fight for him," she noted, with a bright smile.

"Yeah." Xavier nodded. "He saved my life. And I still feel as if I deserted him by leaving him back there."

"And what did he want you to do?"

"He wanted me to come ahead and to get his place ready," Xavier shared, with a chuckle.

"Then why don't you do that?" she asked. "Keep him informed of your progress and how this place is, what you would like to change, what you think he would like, and just give him a running commentary. When he gets here"—and she deliberately didn't say if —"he'll feel comfortable and will settle in faster."

He eyed her and then nodded. "I don't know if it works that way, but I could definitely do that for him."

"So then do it," she urged. "Obviously he needs something to look forward to right now, while he gets over this current illness."

"He's had nothing but illnesses," Xavier shared.

"And that could be the reason why we can't have him here just yet," she pointed out. "I don't know. That would be left up to the doctors back there and to our doctors here."

Xavier nodded. "That's really a concern for him too."

"And I'm sure for you as well. Has Zander shared his health issues with you?"

"His immune system's shot," Xavier said. "Seems as if he catches everything."

"I'm sorry. That takes longer to build up, especially when you have back-to-back bouts of pneumonia."

"Then after that hurdle, Zander has to get the funding for a stay here. I have no idea what it costs at a place like this."

"Dani works on getting funding for everybody she can. After all, our patients are all veterans. It does depend on if we are the right place to help our patients with rehab. Like your friend Zander is in a hospital. We can't treat patients here when they really need to be in a hospital setting. However, if rehab is on the agenda, then Dani will see about getting it funded, even partially if not fully."

Xavier frowned. "I hope that's true. Zander and I were injured out on a mission, so I don't think that it should be a problem, but… who knows? It seems as if a problem always pops up somewhere."

"Then I wouldn't worry about it," she suggested. "Let's get you into your rehab program, while Zander gets a little bit stronger. Then, when we do get him moved here, he should adjust faster, having updates from you beforehand."

Xavier smiled at that. "I don't think anybody would call him slow."

"Maybe not, but his body might balk," she noted, with a gentle smile. "This is all about dealing with your bodies and what they need. And it's not always what we think that they need."

"No, it never is, is it?" he agreed, shrugging.

"Did you have a good night?" she asked.

"It was okay. I kept waking up and falling back under and waking up yet again. I was worried about Zander's healing, my acclimating to my strange bed, and, to a different scenario, enduring all the traveling. Everything was just going over and over in my mind."

"That's pretty normal for new patients to go through," she confirmed. "Your medical team can offer you some sleep aids, from prescriptions to more homeopathic remedies. The new guys get a day or two off to settle in. Then you get tested to see where they should start you off. Your rehab program will be tailored for your starting point, and then you start seeing some of your medical team. So ask any of them about any problems sleeping or whatever."

He nodded. "Maybe."

She got the distinct feeling that that was a flat-out no. Yeah, most of these veterans refused to ask for help. She asked him, "Did you get down for breakfast?"

He shook his head. "Am I supposed to get down there on my own?" he asked. "I wasn't sure what the protocol was."

"It depends on how mobile you are after your travels and if you're too tired."

"I'm not too tired." He sat up in bed.

She noted that he was fully dressed. "Then let's go. I want some coffee anyway."

He frowned. "You're not on babysitting duty again, are you?"

She laughed. "No, no babysitting duty in my world," she replied. "First thing I did was make a phone call to check on your friend's progress and after that? I have plenty to keep me busy for the rest of the day."

He nodded. "If you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate your taking me to the dining room again. Otherwise I can go down there on my own."

Still turning down help, even when offered. Talia smiled. "Nope, I'll take you down. Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll find more cinnamon buns."

"Do they keep them around all the time?" he asked curiously.

"No. You have to be lucky enough to be there in time to get them."

"Ah. I consider myself much more of a meat-eater, so, if I miss them, I'll be okay with that."

"Well, how did the cinnamon bun go down yesterday?"

He nodded. "Fine. It was really fresh tasting."

"That's because it was made fresh, right before they came out of the oven. So that's really not a surprise."

"Maybe for you," he said, "but for me? It's a surprise."

"Well, come on then. Let's go see what other surprises they have for us today," she stated, with a bright smile. She waited for him to get into his wheelchair and went to push him, but he raised a hand.

"I'll do it."

"If you're sure?" she asked. "You just got here, and we don't want to tire you further than your travels already did. We can't have you suffer a setback for trying too hard."

He frowned over at her.

"That's why we give every new arrival a couple days to get in sync with being here. If you get tired or too exhausted at the get-go, there really is no benefit in it for anybody." His shoulders slumped, and she added, "And didn't you say that sometimes your back gives out on you and your knees, et cetera?"

"Yeah, sure. Doesn't that happen to everybody?"

"Not sure it does," she said, "but I'm not one of the medical professionals here, so I have no clue."

*

Talia's answer was honest and forthright, followed by a gurgle of laughter, which brought a smile to Xavier's face. "Are you always this upbeat and happy?" he asked.

"Yep, pretty much. Does it bother you?"

"No, it's quite nice. After getting used to people not wanting to do their jobs or not being in a job that they enjoy, it ruins the day for the rest of us."

"Or the week or the month or the lifetime," she added in agreement.

He burst out laughing. "I wasn't thinking it was quite that bad," he muttered, with a smile.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that."

He looked up at her, as she pushed him down the hallway. "I guess I'm just surprised that you're upbeat and happy all the time that I've known you."

"Which is a whole what ? Half a day?"

He laughed. "That's true.… I guess you have time yet."

"Time for what?" she asked curiously.

Without cracking a grin, he replied, "To see your grumpy side."

She dropped down so that he could see a big frown on her face. " This is my grumpy side," she stated.

He started to chuckle.

"No, look. This is it.… This is me being grumpy."

He snorted. "That's you being a clown."

Immediately her face cracked up again. "Now that could be true, but the truth of the matter is, I don't get upset very easily. And, in a place like this, that's a godsend. Because upsets and emotions and tempers and frustrations can all run high at times. How can it not? People are in the middle of a transition here at Hathaway House."

"Is that what you guys call it here, a transition ?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Transition to what?" he asked, twisting to look up at her.

"Transition to the best life that you get to live," she replied. "Each of our patients has come from somewhere," she declared, throwing out an arm with an expansive gesture.

Xavier saw dozens of people in the buffet line and even dozens more in the dining room.

"But they're all in transition to what comes next," she declared. "And you may not know it now, but you're blessed to be here."