Fixing His Broken Ballerina: Volume 1

by Sheila Holmes

  Still looking at the two greetings that still lay opened on her lap, she read each out loud.

  On the white paper was simply typed: Hope you’re feeling better today. Connie.

  She couldn’t help but smile when she thought how that message differed from the one he wrote on the beautiful greeting card. It’s picture was so calm and peaceful. The water rippling over the brook. The fauna along the river bank spoke of the nourishing life-giving waters the brook had dispersed along its edges. And, across its cover were the words “You’re on My Mind.”

  Once again opening the card, she was in awe of the depth of his caring and thought: Have been thinking again today how much you’ve endured in these past weeks. I just wanted you to know that I have been lifting you up to the Lord as often as he brings you to mind, which is many times daily. Know that I will continue to pray for your physical healing, and that He will give you peace about all things. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7. Connie W.

  All of a sudden, something pricked at Giselle’s mind that she hadn’t questioned before when reading Connie’s notes. Grabbing each and every note, she read the messages again. But, there it was. She had been right. Each time Connie typed his message on white paper, he’d signed his name “Connie.” Whereas, each time he’d handwritten his message on one of the beautiful cards, he’d signed his name “Connie W”. Without exception!

  Huh! Isn’t that funny?! Wonder why he did that? Wonder if he realized he even did it?! She couldn’t even think of any scenario in which one would be considered better than the other. And, to do it repeatedly, and without exception. Huh!

  The truth was, she really loved the cards best. Not just because they were so beautiful, but because she loved that he shared his spiritual depth, and gave her real encouragement in those. Praying for her and all. Not to mention that she thought it was adorable the way he referred to himself as “Connie W” on the cards, not just “Connie”, as he did on the white computer paper. Funny! And, endearing! Conyer could learn something from this selfless man who carved a beautiful piece of relevant art for her, then left her all kinds of cards. Six of them! Maybe if Conyer would take some life lessons from this amazing wood sculptor, he would have been more careful when he was driving that day, thinking of others’ welfare, and not just his own.

  With a smile on her face born of the thoughts of the cute young man called Connie, Giselle packed all her cards and the ballerina sculpture into the hospital bag she’d been given to tote all her belongings home in when she was discharged the next morning. As she packed, the face of Conyer came to her mind. She almost smiled at the remembrance of his appeal. More just a barely-there upturn of her lips. He wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, but there was something so… what?… No, no, no! She wasn’t going there! He may be pleasant to look at, but she didn’t know if she could ever forgive him for what he’d done to her. She knew that scripturally she was supposed to, but the truth was, she was far from being ready for that. Maybe she wouldn’t pursue a lawsuit. She knew that Christians weren’t supposed to sue their brothers and sisters in Christ, but…

  Everything Giselle had in the way of personal belongings were packed in her hospital tote. Well… except for her toothbrush, toothpaste, and brush. She’d need those the next morning to get ready to leave the sterile surroundings that had been her home for what seemed like months, although it had only been weeks.

  It was hard to believe that everything she had with her was able to fit into one medium-sized plastic bag. Doris had returned several times since being released herself to say hi, tell Giselle what she’d been doing to prepare for her homecoming, and take this or that home to her own apartment, actually… hers and Giselle’s apartment. Doris let Giselle know that she’d already been ok’d to take off the entire next day, so that she could drive Giselle home and get her settled in her new surroundings. Neither of them voiced it to the other, but they were both a little nervous how things would go once they were sharing a living space. But, also there was an air of excitement in that they both would be trying a new living arrangement… with another person. Doris had shared with Awsty just the day before that she was hopeful that sharing her apartment with Giselle would be something good for both of them.

  Giselle knew unequivocally by the way Doris behaved with others, and the way she loved to both read God’s Word and talk about spiritual truth, that she was a dedicated child of God. Doris, on the other hand, was still a bit uncomfortable with Giselle’s level of spiritual commitment. She had believed Giselle when she told Doris that she was a Christian, but some of her behaviors and attitudes didn’t really coincide with what the Bible taught. Awsty brought this up to Doris on several occasions as they prepared Doris’ apartment for the day of Giselle’s homecoming. But, faithful friend that Doris was trying to be to Giselle, she reminded Awsty that some really terrible things had happened to her lately… loss of health, loss of career, loss of her only means of transportation. Well, actually Doris realized that the last one was soon to be rectified. She had been told by Giselle of the new car to be delivered to the apartment shortly… in a day or two probably. But, even with a new car, which certainly would be a blessing, Doris said the other two things were quite enough to deal with. She knew that Giselle was already stressed out over what she was going to do now to earn a living.

  With great gusto, Awsty and Doris had prepared the apartment with so many amenities for Giselle, and were so excited for Giselle to see what things they’d done for her.

  Awsty and Doris had simply packed the kitchen cabinets, pantry, and fridge with not only good, nutritious foods, but lots and lots of “indulgences”. They didn’t know what Giselle’s appetite would be like, but they wanted to be prepared to tempt her with many varieties of edibles.

  The two friends had made Giselle’s bedroom a serene and beautiful haven. They’d washed the existing bedspread, but sewed up some bright and beautiful new throw pillows to throw across that vicinity to perk up the room, but also to give Giselle plenty of comfort. Awsty had brought enough of one of the fabrics used for the pillows to quickly sew up some new curtains to put at the one-and-only bedroom window. Granted, that window looked out on the parking garage, but they were hoping they could camouflage that fact by hanging the curtains from halfway down the window and closing them, so that it would give Giselle privacy, but she could still look out the upper half of the window to see sky and trees.

  Doris had drug in an old vanity table that she had stuck in her own bedroom closet. She’d been using it to store items she really didn’t use much. The girls had emptied and taken it down one flight of stairs and out to the parking garage, and after spreading newspapers under it, they’d spray-painted it with a bright new coat of ivory paint. When they saw how beautiful the paint made the vanity look, they considered also painting the chair that was part of the set. But, decided against it. Mainly, because they didn’t have enough paint left, and then found they actually liked the contrast in color between the ivory vanity and the walnut colored chair. With the newly covered cushion on the old chair, it made a charming place for Giselle to sit and do… whatever!

  After dusting the room, cleaning the vanity mirror, and placing a vase of bright yellow Gerbera daisies on top of the chest of drawers, the two stood at the door and looked at their handiwork. They held hands and squealed when they realized that the room couldn’t be anymore adorable than it was.

  But, the last and most important thing they did before ending their preparations for Giselle’s homecoming, was stand at that bedroom door, bow their heads, and ask the Lord to bless Giselle, help her to continue to physically heal, help her feel loved and welcome at this new “home”, and take care of all the details of Giselle’s life that they couldn’t. They then thanked the Lord, before the fact, for all the yet unseen work He was going to do in Giselle’s heart and life.

  As Awsty was preparing to leave Doris’ apartment, D
oris asked Awsty to stop for just one more minute. When Awsty halted and waited, Doris took her hands once more, bowed her head and asked the Lord to help Giselle forgive the man who had been responsible for hurting Giselle. Together they softly pronounced a benediction with a sweet “Amen.” Even though Giselle had finally broken down and explained to them that the man hadn’t beaten her, but rather he’d run his car into her, she had, as yet, an unforgiving spirit that neither Awsty nor Doris could change. Doris added the request of the Lord to heal the man (although neither of them knew it was Conyer they were praying for). Unfortunately, Giselle had not disclosed Conyer’s name, which could have saved so much time in the healing process for all concerned. She chose to keep him as a “negative phantom” in her life. One that she could cast aspersions on, and no one would be able to check on, or perhaps find that he was an “ok” guy. She wanted to nurse her wounds as long as possible, using all their sympathy to fuel her present unforgiving spirit.

  Chapter 15

  As Giselle woke up that morning, while she was dressing for work, she realized that today marked exactly three weeks of sharing Doris’ apartment, and she couldn’t help but mentally review where these weeks had taken her and how much had happened.

  She recalled with a smile on her face her first reaction to her bedroom.

  Giselle had been rather depressed on the afternoon she first arrived at the apartment. She was under the impression that she would be released right after breakfast at the hospital, but it ended up being afternoon before she was actually wheeled out the hospital doors to Doris’ car. That had already put her into a less-than-congenial mood. She loudly sighed and moaned as she waited in her hospital room for the doctor to arrive. The fact that Doctor Timeron had been in surgery for several hours that morning, the last surgery lasting forty-five minutes longer than anticipated had thrown a wrench in his schedule.

  As if the longer surgery time hadn’t been stressful enough, something he ate at breakfast had caused him nausea that lasted the entire way through both surgeries. At one point in between them, he thought he was going to have to re-schedule the second surgery, but the nausea subsided and he began the second procedure. Unfortunately, about midway his stomach began roiling again. By the time the procedure was completed, he literally said thanks to everyone assisting, ran out of the OR into the staff bathroom and emptied his stomach contents into the first toilet stall. Although evacuating his stomach contents helped, he still felt poorly and walked slowly into a staff lounge, crawled onto one of the sofas, laid down, and drifted off for almost an hour.

  Awakening with a start, Dr. Timeron rose, checked his watch, rinsed his mouth out in a sink and slowly walked to the elevator. By the time he’d gotten to Giselle’s floor, and walked its length to her room, he gave himself a shake, perked himself up and walked in.

  “How are you feeling today, Giselle?” he asked, trying to maintain an unaffected face as he spoke.

  “Ok. I thought I was supposed to be released this morning right after breakfast.”

  “Yes, I’m so sorry. One of my morning surgeries was a little more… uncooperative than I’d hoped.” He never mentioned about his own bout of nausea and vomiting.

  When she realized he’d been in surgery all morning, her aggravated facial features relaxed somewhat and she managed a half-hearted, “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you. But, let’s talk about you…” That phrase began his questioning of how she felt, whether she was able to eat, whether she felt ready to go home, and various other doctor-patient communications that were typical precursors to writing up the release for a hospital patient.

  “Ok. I guess we’re going to let you go home then,” he said, with a smile. “Someone’s coming to pick you up, right? And, you’ll be staying at a location in which you can have some good, healthy food in the days to come, as well as someone who can assist you in any other ways? I’m only asking this, since the last time we discussed it, you said you weren’t going to advise your parents of your accident until your health had been restored. Are they back and planning to care for you?”

  Doris, who was in the room with her, seated at a chair on the other side of the room and was closest to the windows, jumped in, “Actually, Dr. Timeron, she’s coming home with me. Actually, we’re going to look after each other for a while.”

  Looking at Doris, thinking what an appealing young woman she was rather than thinking about whether or not everything for Giselle’s release was a “go”, allowed himself the quick thought that even in roommates, people had a tendency to end up paired with people who were pretty much equally attractive, whether dating, marrying, or apparently even sharing an apartment. Interesting!

  “Great!” responded Dr. Timeron. “Sounds like you two are all set.

  “Giselle,” he continued, “I’m not going to write any prescriptions for you, but I would advise you to keep some acetaminophen handy for any residual pain, which you will experience after each of your physical therapy sessions. You’ll be going to those twice weekly. And, you’ll be going to those until I authorize you to stop.

  “Got it?” he asked, with a mock tough-guy look, consisting of tipping his head forward, looking over his glasses with a squint, and pursing his lips.

  That was the only thing that morning that Giselle had responded to positively.

  “Yes, Sir!” she snapped out as she saluted him.

  “And,” he continued, “Give my office a call within the next day or two and schedule an appointment for… four weeks from now. My office already has your file flagged and will be expecting your call.” He had added this, just in case Giselle had any ideas about not showing.

  “Any questions?” When Giselle didn’t respond, he turned to Doris, raising both eyebrows, to see if she had anything to add. When Doris nodded affirmatively, he walked up to Giselle, laid his hand on her shoulder.

  “Give yourself some time to get used to things, Giselle. Don’t allow yourself to get discouraged when you don’t think you’re making progress as quickly as you think you should. I’m expecting great things from you, young lady.”

  Without thinking, Giselle’s reflex was to place her hand over his.

  “Thank you, Dr. Timeron. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

  Patting her shoulder, he turned and waved to Doris, then began to walk toward the exit door. Feeling a prick of conscience after being so curt with him when he came in, Giselle softly said to his retreating back, “Thank you for everything, Dr. Timeron.” Although he didn’t turn around, he raised his hand in a silent acknowledgment.

  As he walked down the hall toward the elevator, he was shaking his head. Very softly he spoke. “Wow! From professional ballerina to…… to what? That young woman has a long, hard row to hoe.” He knew very well that when he and his wife were in Paris, watching the ballet at Palais Garnier, he would be sadly thinking about Giselle Danvers, who should have been on stage with all the other performers.

  *****

  Conyer was doing some paperwork at his Aunt Tierney’s house, in the study. He had been living in her home, now his, ever since he’d been released from the hospital. He wondered if he’d ever think of it as his home.

  Looking at the clock, he realized that Giselle was being released this morning and kind of wanted to be at the hospital to yet-again try to say hello, and tell her he was glad she was able to finally go home. He knew these next few days, probably weeks, were going to be a real testing ground for her. She’d be adjusting to a new roommate, new surroundings, and the ever-present question of what to do with the rest of her life. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was somehow still clinging to the hope of returning to ballet. This thought prompted him to rub his own leg, still given to frequent bouts of pain, often giving him aggravation.

  Bowing his head, Conyer asked the Lord to please help Giselle, wherever she was, whatever she was doing, help her forgive him for any part she thought he had in hurting her so badly, and help her find life’s work that she
would find satisfying. Interestingly, he never asked the Lord to restore her to her prior dream of being a professional ballerina.

  He had already written a greeting card for her with another bit of encouragement and a Bible verse that had been on his heart. Because of the contract he’d drawn up with his lawyer, Daniel Crayton, Conyer was privy to Giselle’s post-hospital address. Once Giselle had signed the contract accepting the new car, Conyer had been given a copy by his lawyer.

  Having referred to the address on the contract, and having addressed the envelope, he placed the greeting card with the stack of other things to be mailed, mainly utility bills, insurance payments, and continued with the mountains of paperwork pertaining to his aunt’s businesses and their Living Trust. For a break at one point, he picked up the card to Giselle one more time. Staring at the envelope, he couldn’t help but wonder if they would ever be on a talking basis. He wanted so badly for her to know that he had nothing to do with her injuries. Also, he wanted so badly to share with her about his beloved Aunt Tierney.

  As Conyer was holding the envelope, he realized he hadn’t put a return address on it. He almost had the pen to the envelope, when he thought that perhaps it was better if he didn’t. He wasn’t sure if she had any knowledge of his new address, but he didn’t want to take the chance she might know it and seeing it, would refuse to open the card. Better just leave that information off. He placed the envelope back on the stack of bills and other important written communications.

  *****

  An outsider would have thought they were three little girls, if they could only hear them, and not see them.

  “Okay, close your eyes. Aws, you hold her arm on that side, and I’ll hold this arm.”

  Giselle reacted with some excitement. She was actually looking forward to seeing where she’d be living for… well, however long it ended up being.

  “Don’t let me fall!” Because her eyes were closed, she didn’t see Awsty and Doris look around her at each other. She already walked with a pronounced limp, and they just felt so sorry for her that they couldn’t help but look at each other with a sad, sympathetic poor-little-thing face.