Page 79 of The Potter

“Yes, but I had made a commitment, and I couldn’t let Caleb go down this path without a friend. Both of us went to college on a scholarship. My parents owned a dairy farm, and when my father had his stroke, it was too much for my mother to keep up. They sold all the cattle and moved in with my aunt and uncle, just so they could pay for the rest of my college.

“You see, my parents were forty-three when I was born. They’d tried so hard to have a baby for years and were never successful until my mom thought she’d had a virus that wouldn’t go away. They’ve always worried they wouldn’t see me marry or meet their grandchildren. So, they were excited to know that Caleb and I were planning to marry so soon.”

Smoothing a hand over her hair, I brush it behind her ear. “They wanted to give you everything.”

She nods, a sweet smile emerging. “They did, and all I could think was I would one day pay them back when I landed the role of a lifetime. I would buy them a small farmhouse, like they loved, but would only stock the land with enough cattle for them to be pets.”

She swallows. “And then I got the frantic call from Caleb’s friend that changed my entire life.”

My arms tighten around her. This part of the story, I know all too well. “Caleb was trying to drive home from a party. His friend—I can’t even remember his name—didn’t know what all Caleb had taken, just that he was panicked and acting erratically.”

The pictures of her body… God. Just remembering the graphic images in her chart where her bones protruded from her skin has me sick to my stomach.

“I rushed to the party and found Caleb in his old pickup, surrounded by several guys, all trying to convince him to get out.”

Her hand trembles against me, and I grab it, pressing it to my lips.

“We argued. I opened the door.” Her voice hitches. “I tried to pull him out…” She hiccups, fighting off the tears. “Someone tried to pull me back, but I stumbled.”

And he floored it, crushing her body underneath.

Lifting her closer, I pull her to my chest, shushing her softly. Some things you can’t unsee. Having this veracious woman telling the story without hate is so much worse.

“He didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t mean to hit me.”

But he did, and from what her chart says, he spent the next eighteen months in rehab while she went through a total hip replacement, rods in her thighs, and an infection that set her back months.

“I don’t even remember the pain. I just remember thinking that I hope someone stopped him before he hurt himself.”

I wish he would have, but lucky ol’ Caleb came out of that night with nothing but a headache.

“I remember the ambulance… and the helicopter. But it wasn’t until I woke up, covered in bandages, that the pain hit. I couldn’t walk. My legs looked like they’d been through a meat grinder. And my boyfriend… was gone. I remember thinking I would never walk again. My parents didn’t have the money for all the therapy I needed. They didn’t even have the physical strength to help me from the bed to the bathroom when I was discharged.”

I unintentionally rock us faster. The thought of Halle helpless and alone while she fought through the pain in a body that no longer felt like hers has me ready to sprint from this vineyard and up to that piece of shit’s door. How dare he cause her so much pain and not atone?

“My aunt and uncle were very kind and allowed me to move in with them, too. But the recovery—wetting myself when I couldn’t get to the bedside commode—was humiliating. I remember lying in bed crying as my aunt, who I didn’t really know, cleaned up after me, and thinkingis this what the rest of my life looks like? I knew I would regain my strength eventually, but at the time, in the moment of feeling like a burden, you don’t really turn to logic.”

Her story is starting to sound like my therapy sessions—except, with a brutal example.

“And then I saw that woman’s story. The one I told you about.”

She looks up at me with a tear-soaked face but the most perfect smile. “I knew that if she could overcome, then so could I. You may not be a Marvel hero, but a potter sounded pretty perfect to me.”

She deserves that man, thatpotter, as she calls me, not this one. “Did the motherfuc—Caleb ever apologize?”

Or let you get a few hits in with a bat?

She shakes her head, her smile still firmly in place as she reaches up and pushes at my lips, attempting to make me smile. “Nope. And while that bothered me for a while, I learned to get over it.”

I scoff. “You don’t get over something like that.”

“You can; all you have to do is forgive.” She shrugs like it’s so fucking simple. Like you can erase years’ worth of pain with one simple action.

“And how did you forgive him?”

“It’s not like there’s a magic button,” she says, choking on a laugh. “Forgiveness is a choice. One that I constantly need to remind myself of. Caleb making a mistake does not make him a bad person or an unforgivable one. As you’re aware, we all make mistakes, Dr. Potter. If we were only able to make one mistake in our lifetime, with no one to forgive us and allow second chances, we’d be lonely, fucked-up messes. We’d have no reason to live. No reason to try again or do better. I decided that I was wasting years feeling sorry for myself and holding on to my hate for Caleb. He messed up, sure. But so have I.”

“I highly doubt you’ve ever done something so horrific.”

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