Page 103 of A Twist of Faith
“I don’t know if I’d be so sure, son.”
He couldn’t answer. In fact, he wasn’t sure of anything at the moment, except the fact he wasn’t touching the apple cake. Safety lived in Ransom. Safety and the familiar. Jana moved to be with him in Ransom, would it really be possible to uproot his family to follow Dee? Start brand new? He swallowed his fear. Try out his dreams?
“I reckon dreams can change with the right motivation and heart?” Mama’s voice softened.
“For both of you,” Rainy added.
Reese looked over at his little girl, then stared at Brandon, and emerging out of the insane conversation and broken heart came the lightning flash of understanding. His dreams waited for the taking too. Would God give him Deeandhis love for teaching too? He slumped back in his chair, overwhelmed.
All eyes waited for his response. He sat up and looked around the room. “Well, I think I have a few plans to make.”
Chapter 21
I can’t turn your soul on. Leave me those feelings; and you can take away the voice and the face. They are not you. (Pygmalion, Act 5)
Dee opened her eyes, heavy and fighting to close again. The hateful side effects of her medication took their time releasing her mind and body from their hold, even though she’d been off them nearly eight hours. It took a full thirty minutes to wake up in the morning, and another thirty minutes to get her brain in gear. She’d never been a fan of pain meds and certainly not mild concussions.
She’d already weaned herself down to one pill before bed, but it still sent her mind into Wonderland. She stretched her body, the sudden realization she sat fully clothed and sitting in the chair beside her bed coming slow and confusing.
What was she doing here? The sleepy fog of her brain cleared to a syrupy clarity.
She was being discharged. Right. It was Thursday morning. She breathed a sigh of relief. Time to go home, with the comfortable red couch and the dulcimer over the fireplace, and a grinning hound.
She pushed herself up to a stand and grabbed her crutches, permanent fixtures in her life for the next six weeks. A small price to pay after her near death experience. Or new life experience, maybe? She smiled. The Ball and the car crash revolutionized her life, eternally. Now she needed to find Reese Mitchell and plan a future.
On the phone last evening, Dr. Lindsay gave her an extension to this afternoon for a definitive answer about the job. One conversation with Reese Mitchell would clear up her answer one way or the other. If she won back his trust and his love, then she’d give up Charlottesville without a second glance … well, maybe without a third glance.
The welcome quiet of the room must have lulled her to sleep as she waited for the discharge papers. There’d been little quiet since she’d come to the hospital. Her mama hovered like a shadow, listening to every conversation, talking almost incessantly. No opportunity for private conversations with Reese, even when he did visit.
It was infuriating—and yet, a touch of gentleness cooled her anger with new understanding. A remarkable peace stilled her heart and nerves, curbed her anger, and touched each emotion with a sense of His presence. Words she’d heard growing up took on a whole new meaning, and the small bits of Bible verses she’d read while in the hospital sunk deep and provided a great deal of clarity and conviction.
Leah, the young morning nurse, bustled in with a glass of water. “Did the nap help?”
Dee rubbed the back of her neck and returned her smile. “Was I asleep long? I have no sense of time.”
Leah retrieved the cup after Dee’s drink and then handed Dee a clipboard with a few last papers to sign. “Only long enough to miss your visitor.”
“Visitor?” Dee signed the last form and handed back the papers, working her way to a precarious stand. She balanced herself with her crutches. “Do you mean my mother? She left to bring the car around.”
Leah’s brow quirked. “Not your mother. Your not-so-secret admirer.”
Dee stared at her, confused. A secret admirer? Surely the side effects of the meds hadn’t made herthatforgetful.
Leah sighed. “Reese Mitchell.”
“Reese was here?”
“Not two minutes ago. Said something about a new job in Chicago?” Leah shrugged and handed Dee her purse. “Crazy man. I went to high school with his brother. Neither one of those farm boys could survive in Chicago.”
Dee froze, pen in hand. Chicago! How had she forgotten about his interview yesterday? He accepted the position? He was leaving her? She had to talk to him. Convince him to stay.
“Two minutes ago? Then maybe I can catch him.” She reached for her new phone, but one look reminded her of the hospitals poor connection.
Leah sent a doubtful look to Dee’s casted foot, but it only fueled her determination. She hobbled past the skeptical nurse holding the room door open and then lobbed along the hallway as fast as her untrained crutched arms carried her. Oh, what a thought! Reese walks in to talk to her and she’s probably snoring with drool dripping from her mouth. Definitely a reason to drop Chicago!
She rolled her eyes heavenward. And he was moving to Chicago? Her heart quivered. Did any of the universities in Chicago have a Speech-Language Program?
The exit sign shown to her left at the stairwell door. The elevator waited directly in front of her. Her gaze volleyed between the two. She was on the eighth floor. Tenth! That meant eight flights of stairs? With crutches? The truth kicked her hope into frustration. How on earth would she get to him this way?
