Page 25 of Left Behind

Wiley sat back down with his food and ate because he was hungry, but he was bothered. He didn’t like people being upset with him. And at the same time, he knew she had every right to feel how she felt.

***

Linette was teary-eyed all the way to her car. As soon as she slid in behind the wheel, she laid her head down on the steering wheel and cried, then wiped her eyes, blew her nose, and drove home. She couldn’t keep doing this—resenting a man she’d only had half a date with. And he’d said in his text that he’d been appalled at what had happened and blocked them from contacting him again, and she’d been happy when she read that.

And then all of a sudden, it hit her! She’d never responded. She’d just assumed he would call her again, while her silence must have given him the impression she wasn’t interested.

“Oh lord. I am such a dumbass,” she muttered.

But how did she correct this?

Had he given up on her?

After the snotty attitude she’d just copped, was it already too late?

Before she could talk herself out of it, she sent him a text.

I think I messed up. I read that last text from you as a heads-up to an incoming invitation after you healed, then heard nothing, and you read my idiotic mistake in not responding to your text as I wasn’t interested. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m still here. You still make me crazy. But dinner sometime would be nice.

Then she hit Send.

Wiley had just finished off his burger and was working on the last of his fries when he got a text. He wiped his hands before checking his phone.

As he read, he knew he was smiling, and when he got to the end of the message, he was smiling inside as well.

“Hot damn,” he said softly, and sent her a thumbs-up emoji and a smiley face. Life was looking up.

***

Tom Wheaton was at the front desk of the Serenity Inn, requesting a handicap-accessible room on the ground floor for him and Johnny Knight.

“How long do you plan to stay?” the clerk asked as they were checking in.

Tom glanced down at Johnny and then sighed. “We’re not sure. We’re here because his fiancée is in the hospital in the ICU. We don’t know what’s going to happen because she hasn’t recovered consciousness.”

The clerk blinked. “Oh my. So, you’re in Jubilee just because of this family emergency?”

“Yes,” Tom said.

The clerk paused. “Excuse me a moment,” he said, and slipped into the adjoining office.

Tom saw him pick up a phone and wondered what was going on, but when he came back a few moments later, he soon found out.

“Mr. Wheaton, your room and two meals a day have been comped for the duration of your stay. That includes the cold drinks and snacks available in your room.” He handed Tom two card keys. “All you have to do is charge the meal to your room and it will be picked up by us, along with the room charge.”

Both men were in shock, but it was Johnny who spoke first.

“I have no words to explain what a gift this is. You have my undying gratitude for such kindness.”

The clerk nodded. “You’re welcome, sir. It’s our policy to accommodate families now and then in emergencies such as this. We’re sorry for what’s happening and wish your fiancée a speedy recovery. Follow that hallway, and take a right. Your room is about halfway down on the left.”

Tom pocketed the card keys, shouldered his travel bag and put Johnny’s bag in his lap, and then wheeled him away. As soon as they got to the room, he gave Johnny the bed closest to the bathroom, then helped him into bed. It was midafternoon but he felt like he’d been awake for days.

Johnny was in so much pain that he was ashen. Tom helped him undress and then got him to the bathroom, gave him two pain pills, then helped him back into bed.

“Rest easy, buddy,” Tom said. “We’re here, and with some luck and a few prayers, Carey will wake up and get well. But you’ve got some healing to do, too, so we’re gonna be smart about these visits. Morning. Noon. Evening. Not every hour on the hour. Understand?”

“Yes, and I appreciate what you’ve done by taking off from your work like this for us.”

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