Chapter 6

U nfortunately, Xavier's stomach didn't seem to like dinner, or the breakfast the next day or dinner that night, or for several days. Talia started to get really worried, as she watched the weight fall off him. As was her practice, she came to visit him before lunch.

He gave her a wan smile. "Yeah, apparently they just did some cultures, and I've got a tummy bug," he shared, with a frown. "Not sure where I got that from."

But her relief was overwhelming. "Yes, while it might be terrible, it isn't devastating. Plus, that is fixable."

He nodded. "At least that's the hope." He grinned at her. "Maybe by the time I get the okay to eat again, I can get the okay to gain a whole pile of weight too. I tell you that Dennis seems to be chomping at the bit to fatten me up."

She nodded. "And honestly, I'm in his camp. You've lost a lot of weight."

"I don't think it's a lot of weight," he clarified. "Definitely a few pounds though. Still, being injured, not moving around much, not holding down most of my food, I can't seem to put on any weight."

"You were very slim when you arrived," she noted, "but now I have to admit you're kinda gaunt-looking." He frowned at her. She frowned right back and added, "No, I'm not saying you're ugly or anything else." She chuckled at that. "However, I'll be happy when you're back to eating and regaining some of that lost weight."

"Maybe after antibiotics for ten days, heavy supplements of good bacteria and enzymes, and blah, blah, blah ," he shared, with a hand wave.

"Right, so more shakes?"

"Definitely shakes for the next few days and only soft foods," he said. "And only if I can keep them down."

"That would be the first criteria, I would think," she confirmed, with a bright smile. "I would suggest we go have coffee."

He shook his head. "Honestly, coffee isn't even sitting well."

"How long until they expect you to start feeling better?"

He shrugged. "Three to four days."

"Okay, that's doable," she murmured.

"Says you." He glared at her. "I'll be really cranky without my coffee."

She gave him a flat stare. "No cranks allowed."

He groaned. "Caffeine is a necessity."

"No, it's just in your mind," she told him.

"Yeah, right ," he muttered. "My mind is pretty decisive." And he gave her a big fat smile with that to belie the fact that he wasn't upset.

"How about a cuppa tea?" she asked. "A little weak, clear, so no milk or sugar."

He frowned. "I've never really been a tea drinker."

"Maybe it's a good time to try it," she murmured, "because it is caffeine. So, if you get a caffeine-withdrawal headache, tea might stave it off."

"We could try."

"Good. How about we take it outside though?"

He looked out the window in his room but hesitated.

"Let's go outside," she said, "maybe in the wheelchair because you're not looking all that hot." He glared at her, but she shrugged. "Just calling a spade a spade. Goes along with that being skinny look."

He growled. "I'm not skinny."

"You're past skinny," she murmured, but he went to the wheelchair obediently. And she noticed that. "Obviously you're not feeling very well because that wasn't much of a protest."

"Just weak," he said. "And I don't want to wipe out and have to rely on you to get me back."

"I wouldn't even try," she declared. "I would get two orderlies."

He chuckled at that. "Might not be the worst idea in the world to do that either. It's good that you have orderlies here. I also understand animals are here."

"Yep, Stan's got kittens, if you want to go see them."

"Stan's a mama cat?" he asked. "Who would name a female cat Stan ?"

She chuckled. "Nope, nope, nope, nope. Stan's the vet, and he's got kittens, and the mama got hit by a car and needed surgery. So they're looking after her babies down there until she recovers, probably bottle-feeding them."

He stared at her. "Good Lord. I would love to see them."

"Let's go take a look then. We can always go for a walk outside, and, when we come back, if you think you're up for it, we can try a cuppa tea."

"Sounds like a full afternoon. Aren't you doing something today?"

"It's Saturday," she said cheerfully. "And I'm not doing anything."

"Wow, I've lost track of my days just because of not doing so well," he murmured.

"That's what happens," she noted. "All your programs came to a complete stop because you weren't strong enough to follow them."

He winced. "I sure hope I don't stay down for long," he muttered. "I have only so much time to get through this."

"And don't you start worrying about that either," she said, pointing a finger at him. "What about Zander? Did you update him?"

"No, I figured there was no point in making him worry. He is doing better though."

"Good," she said. "Has he applied?"

"He has, and has been put on a waitlist."

"You might want to put in a good word for him with Dani."

"If that'll make a difference, absolutely," he declared.

"I'm not sure if it'll make any difference," she replied. "I know we often have a long waitlist. But other things have to line up too, such as, Zander has to pass a bunch of tests. His doctors at that end have to sign off on his transfer papers too."

Downstairs, Xavier was introduced to the ladies who ran the office of the vet clinic, and then Robin came out, holding kittens. She smiled at him and asked, "After these guys by any chance, are you?"

Immediately he held out his arms, and she dropped two tiny sleepy little guys in his arms, and Xavier held them up against his chest.

"They've just been fed," she shared, "so they're looking for a warm place to snuggle up."

"Wow," he whispered, as he stared down at the two Persians. "They're so tiny."

"How's the mama cat doing?" Talia asked.

"Hopefully she'll make it. She's got a broken back leg, and she's pretty bruised up. However, with any luck, she'll come through this like a trooper," she explained. "We do keep the kittens with her most of the time, but we can't have them on her all the time until she's a little bit better. So we're trying to keep them close enough that they know that that's mom but not slow her healing either."

He nodded at that. "You're blessed to work with them. I don't think I could handle the accidents and putting them down."

Robin nodded. "There is a certain poignancy in working with animals," she said. "I don't think I could do the job upstairs," she noted, with a smile over at Talia.

"It's different," Talia murmured. "It seems down here you get the decision between life and death more often."

"We do, and sometimes it weighs on us," she admitted. "Sometimes Stan gets pretty overwrought when he sees perfectly healthy dogs that have either been abused or have a disease that could have been prevented if they'd received proper care. Of course the only decent option is to put them down." She shook her head. "We try not to focus on that. Just like you try to focus on healing upstairs, we try to focus on healing down here."

"The kittens are absolutely adorable," he whispered, dropping a gentle kiss on the head of one of them. It was so small that it was hard to even imagine how it could survive. Finally he picked them up and held them back up to Robin. "Thank you for that," he said.

Her tone was sincere, and her smile warm, as she nodded. "Anytime you need to touch some of the gentler sides of Mother Nature, come on down. We always have some animals here."

"And I'm glad to hear that," Xavier replied. "I've seen some of the guys having a few dogs upstairs. I wasn't exactly sure what the deal was."

"Dogs and cats," Robin confirmed. "They're what we class as therapy animals. Plus, we have Hoppers, a huge rabbit. We keep them here full-time. They live on Hathaway House property, and some of them are in better shape than others. So please never feed them. Racer in particular—which is the little guy, the Chihuahua with wheels—as his stomach is definitely touchy."

"Well, he gets my sympathies then," Xavier noted, with feeling, "because that's definitely my problem too."

At that, Robin chuckled. "And, with Ilse's cooking, that can't be easy to turn down any of her food."

"No, it isn't," he complained. "I would absolutely love to tank up on some of that awesome food." He asked her, "Do you get to eat the dining room food?"

"As employees, we can, but not necessarily," Robin replied. "I have a partner, so we tend to eat together as much as possible."

He nodded. "I get that too. A special someone is something else that I don't have."

"Hey, stick around here long enough," Robin said cheerfully, "and you'll probably end up with somebody."

He looked at her in surprise. "Sorry?"

She smiled. "A whole lot of matchmaking goes on at this center in the last few years," she shared. "It's amazing the number of partners who have hooked up." She looked over at Talia. "You escaped all that, didn't you?"

"Well, if escape is the right word, yes," Talia replied, "but you met your boyfriend here. It's Lance, right?"

Robin smiled a beaming smile. "I met Iain and Lance here. Now I'm with Iain, and Jessica is with Lance." She pointed to Xavier. "Ooh, that's someone you should meet. Lance is setting up a center for veterans trying to transition into life after rehab," she explained. "So, if you have any issues trying to figure out what you're doing next in your life, you can always give Lance a call."

He frowned at her. "Somebody from Hathaway is doing that?"

"He was a former patient here at the center, and now he's recovered and helping other patients to find their next step in life."

"I should definitely talk to him," Xavier admitted. "I'm really not sure what I'm doing after rehab."

"And you don't need to worry about it right now either," Robin pointed out. "Just like any of the animals down here and any of you guys upstairs, you need to focus first on healing and growing the way you need to. After that you can deal with finding the right occupation for you."

And, with that, they left her and headed outside. The heat of the sun beat down on them.

Talia suggested, "Let's head to the trees. It'll be much nicer there." She pushed Xavier's wheelchair off to the left and around a pathway that took them directly into the trees.

As soon as they were in the shade, he sighed. "I love Texas, love the heat, but wow."

"I love the sun too, but the heat is a wow for me also," she murmured. "We are so spoiled because we have air-conditioning all the time that I forget what it's really like out here."

"And yet it's gorgeous," he murmured. Off in the distance he watched a woman working with clippers on a couple trees. "Even have women landscapers out here," he noted, amazed.

"That's Bella, and she runs the team of landscapers," Talia clarified, with a smile. "Not everybody here just does clerical work or nursing."

"Hey, I didn't mean it that way," he said. "Yard work is just a very taxing physical job."

"Yep, and she works hard at it. I don't think I could do that job," Talia murmured.

"If it's not where your heart is, it makes sense not to do the job," he noted. "When you think about it, it's all about doing what you love."

"If that's an option, yes," she agreed. She looked down at him. "And what about you? What do you love?"

"Well, I loved the navy," he shared. "And I could potentially go back and do a desk job, if I wanted it."

"And you could probably find another job too," she suggested, "that wasn't necessarily a desk job."

"Maybe, but moving from the job I used to do to a desk position would always feel like a consolation prize."

"I think we all have more than just one dream job," she shared.

*

Words to live by, and ones Xavier thought about for a long time after their walk. He sat in his room, waiting for dinnertime, wondering if it was safe to even try real food.

A little bit later he was in his wheelchair and heading to the dining room.

Dennis looked up and greeted him. "Well, today is the day. Are you ready to try something?"

Xavier nodded. "But I want to stick with something easy."

"How about with a baked potato?" Dennis suggested. "Nice, simple trimmings if you want them. Other than that, stick to just the baked potato with some butter."

"That might not be a bad idea," Xavier said. "Yet it's not quite what I had in mind."

"Of course not, but rice and potato can be some of the easiest things to digest."

"Okay, let's give it a try. Do I get to have anything on it?"

"Other than butter, maybe a little bit of sour cream but don't go too heavy on that, as fat can be hard to digest."

"Right," he murmured. "Okay, let's try the baked potato."

As he sat down to eat, he loved the smell and wondered just how long he would have to be on bland, easy-to-digest foods. And yet it was still way better than nothing at all or just green shakes.

And almost with that thought, Shane showed up with a big green shake again, placing it before Xavier. "Courtesy of Dennis," he said, yet looking at the potato approvingly. "That's the way to start, nice and easy."

"It's a little hard when you're getting steak," Xavier grumbled in disgust.

Shane chuckled. "And that may be, but no point in giving you a steak if it's not staying down."

"I know. Just one of those things I have to put up with for a while again."

"It absolutely is, and we're sorry that you can't eat just any food. However, as soon as you can, you're welcome to tuck in."

"And I will as soon as I get there," he said, staring down at the potato. "It does look good."

"Actually it looks freaking awesome," Shane replied. "I think I'll go get one myself." And, with that, he took off.

Meanwhile Xavier tucked in. It wasn't long before he had the entire potato down. So far, so good. His stomach was holding strong. Now if only it would hold for the rest of the evening. In the interim, he would sip away at his green shake.

By the time he went to bed that night, he felt pretty decent.

When he woke up the next morning he was even further emboldened. So, when he headed down for breakfast, he looked over at Dennis with a big smile on his face.

"So it was good?" Dennis asked.

"It was very good," Xavier declared. "No stomach pains at all."

"Good to hear."

Xavier looked over the food in front of him but frowned.

Dennis suggested, "How about just some scrambled eggs?"

Of course Xavier was looking at everything else, and he sighed. "I guess I should stay with gentle foods, huh ?"

"Absolutely," Dennis agreed. "The last thing we want is to set you back right now."

"Okay, scrambled eggs it is."

And with a decent plateful of scrambled eggs and a plain piece of toast, he headed out to the deck. He chose a spot in the early morning sun, wondering how any place could be so stunningly beautiful. With the rolling hills and the horses out here, it was just postcard perfect. He caught sight of Dani, standing against the deck railing. "I don't know how you managed it," he called out to her, "but it's really beautiful."

She turned and smiled at him. "Well, I think somebody above"—she pointed to the skies—"had something to do with that."

He chuckled. "Absolutely, but what you've accomplished here is pretty impressive."

She smiled, obviously pleased. "Thanks, it's been a labor of love. If you ever see my father around here—he's the older gentleman with the big impressive moustache—it was all built for him."

Xavier nodded at her. "I think I've seen him around. The Major?"

She nodded. "That's my father. He was in worse shape than you when he came back from a mission," she shared. "And his depression was something else, and his physical state was even worse. He was suicidal, and his whole world had collapsed. It took us a long time to get him back to decent health, mentally and physically. During that process, the idea for this place became a reality, more to help him than to help anybody else," she murmured. "Of course all good things tend to spread."

"You're not kidding," Xavier agreed, looking at her with additional respect. "And that's even more impressive to think that you did it for your father."

She smiled. "He's the only family I have, so I wasn't prepared to lose him quite yet," she murmured.

"Understood. I hope he understands how lucky he is."

"Well, you can always remind him anytime," she said, with a chuckle. "I'm sure he would appreciate that." Xavier grinned at her, as she gave a small wave and added, "I have to head back to the office now."

And he began to realize just how much work went into running this place. It was pretty crazy. He couldn't imagine what kind of dedication it would have taken originally to get this idea off the ground, but knowing that it was for her own father, that made it very understandable. And he meant it when he told her how it was even more impressive because too often people just wrung their hands together and didn't know what to do and, therefore, didn't do anything.

Whereas she'd buckled in, and she'd helped create something very impressive that not only was a benefit for him, but also for so many others here as well. And then realized that he'd just missed his opportunity to ask about Zander's application. He turned to see if Dani was still around, but she was long gone. He groaned. "That was foolish."

"What was foolish?" asked a woman with a cheerful voice.

His smile immediately brightened as he turned to face her. "Talia, I was hoping I would see you."

"See? We're back to that honesty again. I really like that."

He laughed. "With somebody like you, it's always best to be honest. You would see through the lies in a heartbeat."

"And why would you want to lie to me anyway?" she asked, with a bright smile. "The world has enough problems without lying to people."

"I don't like lying either," he shared. "Particularly when you find yourself in this situation where a lot of the issues are medical. They don't exactly tell you the truth. They just skirt around it, saying nothing."

She nodded. "You're not the first person to mention that. I think being straightforward is always best, but not everybody wants to or is ready to hear the unvarnished truth," she murmured.

"No, I guess not," he conceded, "but, in my case, it's definitely what I would prefer."

"Good, I'll keep that in mind."

He nodded. "You do that. I think relationships are always better off with honesty anyway."

"Oh, I agree," she confirmed. "I think it's the biggest breakdown between people when that lack of communication and honesty comes up."

"Good then," he replied, "we're on the same page with that too." He flashed her a bright smile and added, "I managed to keep dinner down last night."

Her face split with joy. "That's wonderful news," she declared, as she sat down. "I can't think of anything better."

"I just had some eggs, so I'm really hoping…"

"I am too," she murmured. "I am too."