Rafe winked and waved at the women sitting at the reception desk as he entered the hospital. The old ones cooed and the young ones blushed and giggled as they wiggled their fingers back at him.
The nurses who weren’t vying for his attention were constantly trying to set him up with one girl or another. They found it unbelievable that someone they considered “a great catch” had never had a serious relationship. Rafe couldn’t very well explain to them that Celestia Divisa didn’t just hook up with anyone. Most Celestia fell in love with the person for whom they did their first miracle.
Rafe used his gift of healing every day, in small ways, to help his patients — a touch here and there to bring down a fever or speed up recovery. He could do small things with little effort, and he did whatever he could to help his patients without being obvious that he was accessing something more supernatural than just modern medicine.
Practicing medicine exposed him to dozens of opportunities every day to use his gift of healing, and the temptation to work a miracle presented itself with nerve-wracking regularity. In fact, he’d thought seriously about doing so for the patient with whom he had his first appointment today — a girl who had spent her whole life suffering from kidney disease. It never felt right, though, even though Lissy McAllister was a charming and beautiful young lady.
He peeked in at her, sitting on the exam table, swinging her legs and smiling happily. She’d gotten her own miracle after all, facilitated by not one but two Celestia Divisa and her twin sister. Rafe grinned as he watched Lissy and her boyfriend, Cheydan, holding hands and whispering to each other. Their story was pretty incredible, even by Celestia Divisa standards, and Rafe envied their happiness.
But, so far, Rafe had managed to guard his heart against the temptation to work a miracle for just anyone. He was saving himself for that one special person — the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
CeCe’s blindness coupled with her striking beauty and engaging personality definitely made her a potential candidate. The fact that she didn’t consider there to be anything wrong with herself made her all the more intriguing.
Rafe had always assumed his first miracle would save someone from dying. Having her sight restored would be completely life-altering for CeCe, but yet, Rafe wondered if she would reject the help if she was offered it. She seemed quite content with her situation.
He stopped at his office to grab his lab coat and stethoscope, then checked in with his assistants. The small, primary care clinic located inside the hospital employed two nurses and two other doctors besides himself — his father and his sister, but the two ladies manning the office were the real bosses. All he had to do was show up and go where they told him to go; they handled the rest of the operation.
“Morning, ladies.” He smiled widely as he adjusted the collar of his lab coat then reached out his hand for the digital tablet Cynthia was holding out to him.
“Why do you look so happy?” Cynthia stared at him, pursing her lips, squinting her eyes, and pulling back the tablet.
Rafe put his hand on his chest and let his mouth hang open in mock offense. “I’m always happy, Cynthia! How could you imply otherwise?”
“Yeah, but today you look like you ate candy for breakfast.” The big-hearted but bossy matron laid down the tablet and put her hands on the sides of her round middle. The heavy scent of extra-hold hairspray and her strong perfume tickled Rafe’s nostrils and made his nose wrinkle.
“Even better,” Rafe leaned in closer and wiggled his eyebrows, “I met someone!” He took advantage of her surprise to snatch the tablet.
“You better get back here, boy, and tell me what happened!” she called as he strode away. Cynthia considered herself the executive director of Rafe’s love life. He knew he’d have some explaining to do.
“Maybe later — looks like I’ve got a full morning.” He turned back and grinned at her as he waved the tablet.
Rafe glanced at the screen, noting his patient’s vitals and nodding in satisfaction before knocking on the door to the exam room. Lissy and Cheydan drew apart as he entered, but the happy grins on their faces lingered.
“How’s my favorite kidney recipient today?” he asked, swinging a leg over the side of the counter as he sat on the edge of it. His pant leg rode up, exposing his lavender socks.
“She’s doing great! Please tell me she’s well enough to go on vacation.” Lissy’s boyfriend, Cheydan, answered for her, his face lit with excitement. The eager smile looked out of place on the tall, muscular body clothed in starched, business-casual attire. Cheydan was 19 going on 40.
Rafe chuckled at his out-of-character exuberance. “Got big plans, eh?” He shined a light in Lissy’s eyes and felt her lymph nodes.
“My family’s summer beach trip is coming up soon, and I want Lissy to go with us.”
“I want to go to the waterpark,” she mumbled around a tongue depressor.
“How are you feeling, Lissy?” Rafe stared into her bright green eyes, demanding honesty.
“I feel… amazing. I never knew it could feel so good to be healthy.” Her petite face and her long brown hair both shined with health, and her blood work agreed with her own assessment. He checked her incision and saw it had healed nicely.
“Your family always goes to Myrtle Beach, right? Are Maddock and Amanda going?” Rafe asked, tapping a few notes into the tablet.
Cheydan nodded. “As long as Amanda’s all better.” Amanda had donated a kidney to Lissy just a few weeks after meeting her twin sister. The two girls had been raised by different families, yet had managed to simultaneous start dating twin brothers Cheydan and Maddock Engel at the same time.
“Well, if she looks half as good as you do, I’d say you’re go for take-off.” Rafe ruffled Lissy’s hair and patted her back. “Come back afterwards and tell me all about it. I’m too busy for vacation — I have to live vicariously.”
Lissy hopped off the table and grabbed him in a giant bear hug, squeezing so hard Rafe thought his eyes would pop out. “Thank you, Doc Rafe, for everything.”
He hugged her back, chuckling. “You’re welcome, Lissy. I’m gonna miss seeing your face around here so often. You’re gonna have to come back just to visit sometimes, okay? Keep me in the loop?”
Lissy nodded, and Cheydan reached out for a handshake.
Rafe left the room, smiling, thrilled that their story had such a happy ending. He felt a touch of jealousy that both Cheydan and his brother, Maddock, had found their soulmates at such young ages, but he had faith that his time was coming. That, of course, brought thoughts of CeCe to mind, and his smile widened as he contemplated whether his lunch break would be too soon to call her.
His smile faltered when he walked into the next exam room and saw a fair, bronze-haired girl on the table, large plastic sunglasses hiding her eyes, and a middle-aged black woman in business clothes wringing her hands beside her. They didn’t look like they belonged together.
“Hi there, I’m Doc Rafe. You must be… Emily?” He glanced at the chart on his tablet.
The girl gave no response, but the woman nodded. “I’m Margaret Slabaugh. I’m a social worker with the Department of Social Services. Rafe’s eyes widened in understanding, and he quickly scanned the information on the tablet.
The nurse always collected the patient’s information and entered it into the electronic medical records system before Rafe got to the exam room, but he preferred to hear things firsthand, so he usually asked the patient to repeat their complaints to him in person. He found they didn’t always tell the nurse everything, and sometimes he could learn a lot just by watching how they said things.
Clearly, the child had suffered something traumatic, though, if the DSS was involved, and Rafe didn’t want to rehash it in front of her. He perused the chart quickly. The girl had developed sudden blindness. Rafe felt a jolt of strange coincidence.
He put down the tablet and approached the table slowly, speaking softly. “Emily? I’d like to take a
look at your eyes. I’m going to take off your sunglasses.” He reached out and removed them gingerly.
“We gave her the sunglasses because we thought her eyes were sore at first. She kept them scrunched together like the light was hurting them. Now she wants to wear them all the time.”
Rafe nodded. The sunglasses were a mode of escape for her. She could hide behind them. Once they were off, the girl quickly squeezed her eyelids together.
“Emily, I’m a doctor, and I need to look in your eyes for a minute. I need you to open them up for me. I promise I won’t hurt you.” He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and the girl stiffened. Rafe quickly removed it.
He waited a moment for the girl to cooperate, and finally her lids cracked open. “That’s a good girl. I’m just going to look at you for a minute. I need to open your eyelids up a bit more, but I’m not going to do anything.”
He felt her little body quiver under his fingers as he pulled open her eyelids. He didn’t notice any obvious problems, so he reached into his pocket for a pen light. “This is just a light, Emily. I’m going to shine it into your eyes for a moment. Keep them open, please.”
“Okay,” her tiny voice whimpered.
He waved the light in front of her and her pupils contracted, but she didn’t follow the light with her eyes or respond as if she saw it.
“I’ll be back in just a minute, Emily,” Rafe said, and waved the social worker out into the hallway with him, closing the door behind them.
“She’s seen an ophthalmologist?” Rafe asked.
“Yes, several. They couldn’t find anything wrong with her eyes, but I really don’t think she’s faking it. She hurts herself running into things like she can’t see them, and she won’t play with toys unless you hand them to her.”
“Why is she in your custody?”
“Her father shot her mother and then killed himself,” the woman murmured.
“Was she there when it happened?”
Margaret dropped her hands and rubbed them on her linen skirt, anxiously smoothing out the wrinkles. “The neighbor found her hiding in the closet two days later.”
Rafe gasped as he imagined the scenario. Had the girl witnessed the violence? He ran his fingers through his short, brown hair and tugged on the knot of his lavender tie, suddenly feeling strangled by it. He glanced at the girl through the small window, noticing the way she sat perfectly still as if she was afraid to move, and her eyes didn’t wander. She looked frail and undernourished in clothing that was too big on her, the bright colors garish against her pale, fragile body.
“The police officer who investigated suggested I bring her to you — Mercy Angeletta,” Margaret explained. “She thought maybe you could find something the other doctors couldn’t.” Rafe nodded in recognition. Officer Angeletta was a Celestia Divisa.
Rafe couldn’t see anything physically wrong with the child’s eyes, but her behavior made it obvious she wasn’t getting any visual input. In medical school, he’d been taught that when you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras, but Rafe knew a good doctor was willing to consider unusual diagnoses when traditional answers didn’t satisfy.
“Mrs. Slabaugh, I think Emily might have hysterical blindness. It’s a rare conversion disorder where the body exhibits unexplained physical ailments as a result of a psychologically traumatic experience. If Emily saw her parents die then stayed in the house with the decomposing bodies, her brain might have shut down the input from her eyes to spare her any more trauma.”
Margaret nodded slowly, contemplating the strange phenomenon.
“I know there are some exercises that have been shown to help people with this condition, but I’m going to have to do a little research. Can I contact you later?”
“Yes, I’m in charge of her case. I gave your receptionist my info. We’re looking for a more permanent foster home for Emily, but so far none of our foster families have been willing to take on this challenge. She’s staying in a group home with a lot of very troubled children, and it’s far from ideal for her. The sooner we can help her, the easier it will be to find her a new family.”
Rafe gulped, feeling the pressure of this little life weighing heavily on him. “I’ll do everything I can to help her,” he promised.
Chapter 3
The fresh, ocean scent of his cologne wafted past her once more as the door to the coffee shop closed behind him, and CeCe breathed deeply, inhaling it into her memory. She appreciated when people wore distinctive cologne; it helped her know when they were near, even when they didn’t say anything. Rafe’s scent was strong and masculine, but not overwhelming. It was soothing, like a tropical breeze, and it made her feel relaxed just sniffing it. She was disappointed when it faded, the rich scent of coffee overwhelming it.
CeCe ran her fingers through her service dog’s fur and patted his side gently as she finished her coffee. Her mind was churning anxiously as she analyzed the encounter.
Rafe’s voice was gentle but confident, a husky alto that vibrated like a perfectly-tuned instrument. Her heart fluttered a little as she recalled the sound of it. It was hard to narrow down a person’s age by their voice, but if Rafe was a professor, he couldn’t be much younger than 30. That meant he was at least five years older than she was. The skin of his hands had been smooth and supple, though, so she doubted he was much older than that. His steps were quick and light, and the muscles under his shirtsleeve were well-defined, so CeCe guessed that he was trim but fit.
CeCe wasn’t sure why someone who had so much going for him was interested in a blind girl. Her own self-confidence was high; she knew she was considered attractive, and she was proud of her accomplishments and the person she was, but most men didn’t bother to pursue her once they realized she had a disability. So what made this man different?
Her imagination got the best of her, and she contemplated the worst possible scenarios. Maybe he was already married and just looking for a fling with someone he considered an easy conquest. The thought made her chest squeeze with pain, and she channeled her worry into shredding a napkin. His voice seemed too kind and genuine for that, though, and he taught classes on religion. Didn’t that mean he valued religious morals?
CeCe shook her head, trying to clear out the what-ifs. She didn’t even know if she’d ever hear from him again. He’d left awfully quickly. He probably did have to get to work, though. It was early, and few people lingered in the coffee shop. Most of them grabbed their beverages and pastries and hurried on to wherever they were headed.
CeCe had a speaking engagement at an adoption agency today, but she wasn’t in a hurry. She always gave herself plenty of time to get wherever she was going. She’d been getting around the city of Indianapolis by herself for many years, but there were always unexpected challenges, especially when going somewhere she’d never been before.
New technology helped a lot, though. With the voiceover feature engaged, she had no problems using a touchscreen smart phone. She pulled out her phone and slid her finger around the screen, letting the computerized voice help her locate the navigation app she used to guide her when she traveled. It was similar to any other GPS program, but specifically designed for blind people walking through cities.
“Come on, Dexter.” She tugged lightly on the dog’s harness, and the Labrador jumped to attention.
Following the guiding voice of the phone app, CeCe strolled comfortably down the busy city streets till she reached the entrance to The Greatest Gift Adoption Agency. This was something new for her; she’d never spoken at an adoption agency before. She’d spoken at so many other places around the city, though, that word had gotten to the agency’s director. Babies born with disabilities were much harder to find homes for, and the agency thought CeCe could help encourage prospective parents to consider opening their hearts and homes to such children.
Confident in the app’s ability to navigate her to the right location, CeCe slipped her phone into her purse and opened the door to the agency.
“Welcome! You must be CeCe; I’m Sharon.” A body approached her, and a plump, warm hand engulfed hers. “And who’s this beautiful creature?”
“Nice to meet you. This is Dexter.” CeCe could hear Sharon’s fingernails scratching Dexter’s head and the dog’s tongue panting in pleasure.
“We have a conference room in the back where we’ll be meeting. I’m so excited; I’m expecting at least six couples today! Some of them are first-timers, and others have adopted before and are considering a second child.”
CeCe followed Sharon down a short halfway and into a large room dominated by a long, mahogany table surrounded by cushioned chairs on rollers. A table in the back held refreshments. CeCe could smell coffee and the yeasty sweetness of donuts and other baked goods.
“We have a few minutes before the others will arrive. Would you like some refreshments? The blueberry muffins are my favorite. The little coffee shop down the road makes them.”
“Not right now, thanks, but maybe later. I just had one of their macchiatos.” CeCe’s stomach was still full from the heavy coffee confection, and the sugar and caffeine combined with her nervousness was making her feel jittery.
She didn’t usually get anxious before one of her speeches — it helped that she couldn’t see the audience, but this was a small setting and a different kind of group, and she found herself suddenly worried. Meeting new people was always a little awkward. It seemed like, because she was blind, people often treated her like she was helpless or stupid. Sometimes they even spoke slower and louder to her, as if they assumed she was also hard of hearing. When she was on stage, she was in control of the encounter, and the audience quickly learned how capable she was, but a small setting like this meant she would be expected to talk with the attendees and not just at them.
Her mind flashed back to meeting Rafe, and she realized she hadn’t had a moment of discomfort in his presence. Somehow he managed to treat her like a normal person instead of patronizing her like so many others. A wave of pleasure washed over her at the memory, and her nerves settled.
Date with Destiny Collection: Angel Romance Series: Books 1 - 4 Page 45
