“Close. I like teaching about names, drinking coffee, and studying blonde angels. And how do you know I’m handsome?”
“One of the benefits of being blind — I can create my own reality.” She chuckled, and the sound made every inch of Rafe’s body tingle. He sat in the parking lot, surrounded by darkness, but he glowed in her presence, practically illuminating the car’s interior.
“I’m sorry for calling so late. I was thinking about you all day, but this was my first free moment.”
“I wasn’t sleeping yet. I was hoping you would call me.”
Optimism bubbled up like a fizzy lifting drink inside him, and he was grateful the tiny space kept him from floating. The word ‘yet’ made him wonder if she was lying in bed as she spoke to him. He wished he had FaceTimed her instead of calling, so he could see her. He wanted a glimpse into her world. “What did you do today?”
“I spoke at an adoption agency, encouraging prospective parents to consider adopting special needs children.”
“Wow, that’s so great, CeCe. How did it go?” Everything about her was incredible.
“It went really well. I think I inspired several of the couples.”
The topic made him think of Emily, and he wondered if social services would be able to find a home for her. He was hopeful that she would eventually recover, but it might take a while, especially if she was in a stressful environment.
“How often do you give these speeches?”
“It varies, but I’ve been giving more and more lately. I have another one in a few days at the hospital. There’s a support group for kids who’ve had serious injuries or have life-threatening illnesses.”
Again, Rafe thought of Emily and wondered if something like that would be beneficial to her. He wanted to mention the girl to CeCe, but he knew privacy laws forbade him from discussing patients.
“So, how do you go about arranging these speaking engagements?”
“It’s word-of-mouth, mostly. Every one I give seems to lead to another opportunity. Like this one, for instance. I spoke at a homeless shelter, and one of the volunteers told his brother about me. His brother works at the adoption agency.”
A lightbulb went off in Rafe’s head. “Wait a minute, are you talking about Maddock and Cheydan Engel?”
CeCe chuckled, and the sound warmed him once again. “Yeah, do you know them?”
“Since they were kids. They go to my church. Great guys.” He was about to mention that their girlfriends were his patients, but quickly stopped himself. Maintaining patient privacy had never been a problem for him before; what was it about CeCe that made him want to tell her everything?
“Wow, small world, huh? I wonder if we have any other acquaintances in common?”
“Maybe we should get together and talk about it,” Rafe suggested, and CeCe gave another one of her spine-tingling giggles.
“I’d like that, Rafe.”
“I’m free Saturday evening. Can I take you to dinner? The Engel family actually owns this great little Italian restaurant called Luciana’s.”
“That sounds perfect,” CeCe said, and made plans to meet him there instead of letting him pick her up at her apartment, her one concession to her sister’s admonition.
Feeling energized after his conversation with CeCe, when he got home Rafe decided to spend a few minutes researching treatments for Emily. He logged onto his laptop and read half a dozen scientific journal articles and jotted down ideas from each of them. Eventually, he made his way to the hospital website and found a page about the support group CeCe had mentioned. Sure enough, the events calendar showed a meeting coming up with her as the guest speaker. He stared at her picture on the screen for a few minutes, reliving the memory of seeing her in person. The headshot captured a glimpse of her beauty and happy nature, but not the full essence of either. Still, he couldn’t resist saving the picture and forwarding it to his cellphone.
He typed out an email to Mrs. Slabaugh, Emily’s social worker, explaining some of the techniques she could try with Emily and inviting her to the support group meeting.
It was late, but he spent a few more minutes googling CeCe. He found several mentions of her giving speeches, and he clicked on each of them, just to read what they had to say about her. None of them mentioned the cause of her blindness, though, and Rafe’s curiosity flamed the more he read about her. He couldn’t wait till he could see her again and ask her all the little questions that were tickling his curiosity.
Pressure pounding through her head and pulsing behind her eyes woke CeCe, and she cried out in panic as a long shiver radiated down her body. Her heart began to race as she grabbed at the covers and pulled them tighter around her chilled, aching body, tense with anguish. Her mind spiraled out of control as she descended into a terror-induced fugue.
“Jessie, Jessie, Jessie!” The name rattled from her mouth in a mindless mantra, her voice hoarse and frantic, and tears poured from her tightly-pinched eyes.
“I’m here, it’s okay, you’re okay.” Jessica rushed to her sister’s side, her own voice a soft, soothing caress. She rubbed her hand gently along CeCe’s forehead, smoothing back her hair.
“I think you have a fever. Are you feeling sick?”
CeCe nodded, Jessica’s comforting presence gradually pulling her back from the brink of hysteria. CeCe considered herself strong, a survivor who had managed to thrive despite a history of trauma and abuse, but even a common cold could incapacitate her with terror, flooding her with the memory of one terrible day.
Jessica wrapped her arms around her sister’s shoulders and rocked, her hands running softly through CeCe’s hair until the rivulet of tears staining her red cheeks dried. “I’m going to get the thermometer; I’ll be right back, okay?”
She extricated herself from CeCe’s tight grip and grabbed the thermometer from the bathroom. Two minutes later, a beep announced the results.
“It’s pretty high; I think you probably have the flu. You never got your flu shot, remember?”
CeCe didn’t have the energy to roll her eyes at her sister’s motherly reprimand.
“Sissy, if you go to the doctor, you can probably get some medicine to nip it in the bud before it gets too bad. Will you go if I make you an appointment?”
CeCe’s lip quivered and the tiny tremor radiated throughout her whole body as she shook her head back and forth. “Nnnnooo. I’ll be fine. I’ll just take some NyQuil.”
Jessica sighed and went to fetch the medicine. There was no sense pushing. CeCe hadn’t been to see a doctor for at least seven years, not since she’d become an adult and could no longer be forced to. Jessica didn’t really blame her. Some of her own demons wore white coats.
Chapter 5
Let me put some concealer on your nose; you look like Rudolph,” Jessie teased as she dabbed makeup on her sister. Jessica wasn’t too into her own looks, but she enjoyed playing dress up with her sister. Not that CeCe really needed much help; she was naturally lovely with flawless skin, bright blue eyes, and long blonde hair that curled in soft wisps around her delicate face. The makeup Jessica applied for her every morning just enhanced her natural beauty. It was a bonding ritual more than anything. They’d been doing it ever since Jessica was old enough to experiment with makeup.
CeCe trusted her sister to pick out nice clothes for her and make sure her hair and makeup looked good, and Jessie got to enjoy the girlish ritual without compromising her own purposely off-putting appearance. If CeCe knew how little effort Jessica put into her own looks, she would probably pitch a fit, but what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. They each had their own coping mechanisms, after all — CeCe hid from the world through blindness, and Jessie pushed the world away with her looks.
“Do you think they’ll be able to understand me with my nose all stuffed up?”
“Take some medicine. I don’t think you’re contagious anymore, but they might not appreciate it if they know you’ve been sick.”
CeCe sighed but took the
capsules Jessie laid in her hand. She wasn’t quite as averse to medicine as she was to doctors, but since medicine usually came from doctors, she still had an unpleasant gut reaction to it. She was scheduled to speak at the hospital today, though, and her sister was right. They wouldn’t appreciate it if she showed up sniffling. Thank God it had turned out to be just a cold and not the flu, or she’d still be in bed.
“I was thinking I might go with you today, sis,” Jessica said as she put the finishing touches on CeCe’s makeup.
“I don’t need a babysitter, Jessie. I can make it just fine on my own.”
“I know! I’d just like to hear your speech, that’s all. I’m so proud of you, CeCe. It’s really amazing how inspirational you are to people. I’d just like to see you in action.”
CeCe’s face softened and she opened her arms to embrace her sister. Jessie stepped into the hug, burying her face in her sister’s hair. “I love you, sissy, don’t ever forget it.”
A few minutes later, CeCe hitched Dexter to his lead and the three climbed in Jessica’s tiny car, Dexter and the giant stuffed elephant she used for an object lesson when she spoke to children sharing the back seat of the hatchback.
Jessica led the way through the large, busy hospital, and CeCe was grateful for her guidance. With Dexter and her phone app she could navigate pretty much anywhere she wanted within the city, but maneuvering inside large buildings was still a challenge, especially those teeming with crowds of people that didn’t have a clue how to behave around a blind person. With Jessica by her side, others were much less likely to call out to her or, worse yet, grab ahold of her in their eagerness to assist her, and Jessica knew just the right way to lead her through the maze of hallways.
The medical environment sent shivers up her spine, even though she knew she wasn’t there to see a doctor, and she started second-guessing her decision to speak there. She knew her fear was irrational, so she shoved it down, hoping once she was around the children it would disappear. Kids always made her forget her own worries.
Though CeCe couldn’t see the brightly-painted walls or the pictures of cartoon animals, she could sense the difference in atmosphere when they entered the children’s wing of the hospital. It was noisier, for one thing, with the sound of children’s voices echoing in the hallways, punctuated by the beeps and whirs of electronic toys. She smelled fruit punch and popcorn and wondered if someone was having a party. A gust of wind tickled her legs and she heard the rumble of plastic tires as a child on a tricycle pedaled past her, and she gasped then chuckled as she realized what it was.
The room where she was speaking was a large playroom painted in a circus theme, and CeCe held onto Jessica’s arm as they navigated around the chairs and toys.
“Hi CeCe, I’m Janet.” A voice called from a few feet away, and CeCe recognized the woman who’d invited her to speak at the hospital.
“Hi Janet, it’s nice to meet you. This is my sister, Jessica.” The women exchanged handshakes.
Janet took a few minutes to tell CeCe about the different kids who would probably be attending today’s meeting, and CeCe’s heart broke over and over again at their sad stories. Leukemia, cystic fibrosis, 3rd degree burns — each trauma seemed worse than the last, but CeCe spine stiffened and she clutched her sister’s arm like a vise when Janet mentioned sudden blindness.
“It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” Janet exclaimed. “This poor child watched her father kill her mother, and she was so traumatized, she went blind! There’s nothing wrong with her eyes; her brain just won’t take in the stimulus. I’ve never heard of such a thing, but her doctor says it’s a real phenomenon.”
CeCe struggled to keep her face a mask, devoid of emotion, as Janet rattled on, oblivious to CeCe’s inner turmoil. She could feel her heart pounding in the fingers that dug into her sister’s arm, and she wondered if Jessica could feel her pulse accelerating. Jessica’s hand covered hers, her fingers rubbing gently.
“Anyway, I’ll introduce you to her after the meeting. Maybe you can help the poor thing. She lost her home, her family, and her sight, all in one day. I can’t imagine what she’s going through, but maybe you can.”
CeCe only nodded, her voice buried under the depth of her emotion. It would be hard to concentrate on her speech with the girl’s story playing in her mind like a familiar nightmare, but all of a sudden her words had a clear target — one little girl who desperately needed to hear from her.
The children and their parents began to trickle in, and CeCe forced herself to smile and chat with them, pushing her anxiety to the background. She was good at pretending. When it was time to start, CeCe lugged her oversized elephant to the front of the room and sat on a chair next to it.
She didn’t wait for the room to quiet, just started telling her story in a loud whisper. “Once upon a time there were six blind men who’d never seen anything, let alone an elephant, but one day they came across one.”
The children quickly ceased their chattering and shuffled into spots on the floor around her, heads leaning forward.
“The first man ran his hands up a tall, round leg and said, ‘This is a pillar!’ The second man grabbed the swinging tail and said, ‘No, this is a rope.’” CeCe moved one hand up the toy elephant’s leg and used the other to wiggle its tail, inciting a chuckle from the group.
“The third man smacked the elephant’s thick side and said, ‘This is a wall,’ and the fourth man stroked its ear and said, ‘This is a fan.’” She flapped the furry ears and lifted the elephant up like a flying Dumbo.
“The fifth man followed the elephant’s raised trunk up towards the sky and said, ‘This is a tree branch,’ and the last man touched the smooth, hard tusk and said, ‘This is a pipe.’” CeCe paused a moment to let the story sink in before setting the elephant aside.
“Now kids, which of the six men was right?”
“None of them!” a chorus of voices cried out.
Just then, the smell of the ocean tickled her nostrils, and CeCe breathed in deeply. A wide smile lit her face as she recognized it.
“That’s right, kids, none of the men understood what an elephant was even though they had touched one. They only felt a tiny part of it. God’s plan for your life is just like that elephant, and we’re all like the blind men, even if we think we can see. All we see is the part we’re going through right now, but we can’t see the whole picture yet. Some parts of the elephant are nicer than others.”
CeCe stroked the elephant’s soft ear then turned it around and shook its rear. More giggles bubbled up around her. “But all the parts are important — even the not-so-nice ones.”
“Everybody’s life has some yucky bits, some yuckier than others, but even the yucky parts help make us into the people we need to be. I’m blind, but my life is still good, and being blind isn’t always a bad thing. For instance, since I’m blind, I never have to cover my eyes during scary movies, and ugly people don’t bother me at all!”
The giggles increased as the children snuck mischievous looks at each other. One deep laugh in the back of the room reverberated through CeCe like a cue ball ricocheting around a pool table, and she swallowed her pleasure like the eight ball sinking into a pocket.
She spoke for a few more minutes before wrapping it up, then stayed in her chair to allow the children to approach her. The fresh scent of the ocean grew stronger, and CeCe tingled in anticipation. The children crowded around, asking questions and begging to pet Dexter, who flopped onto his back and wiggled under their belly rubs like a drug addict on an acid trip.
“CeCe, this is Emily, the girl I was telling you about earlier,” Janet said, leading the little girl towards CeCe once the others had dispersed. Emily’s hands were out, and she stopped when she ran into CeCe’s knees.
“Hi Emily, it’s so nice to meet you!” CeCe reached for the girl and drew her in, wrapping her arm around her. Emily flinched a little, but CeCe ignored it. She couldn’t see the haunted look on her face, but she coul
d feel her tremor. CeCe smoothed Emily’s hair and patted her back gently.
“Miss Janet told me that you lost your sight just recently. That must be kind of scary, huh? I remember when I lost my sight. I didn’t know how to do anything. Do you sometimes feel that way?”
Emily nodded, but then realized that CeCe couldn’t see it. She forced out a quiet answer.
“It gets better, I promise. You’ll figure out how to do most everything eventually, but in the mean time, maybe I could help you? Maybe we could hang out sometime and I could teach you some tricks I’ve learned. Would you like that?”
“Uh huh.” Another tiny whisper.
“I’ll talk to Miss Janet and see what we can set up, okay?” Suddenly, the girl’s arms wrapped around CeCe in a tight hug, and CeCe returned the favor. They held each other for a few seconds until Emily started to pull away, and CeCe released her.
“I just knew you’d be good for her! I’m so glad you came; the children loved you,” Janet cooed. “Please tell me you’ll come back again sometime?”
“I’d love to,” CeCe beamed. “Thanks for inviting me. Do you think you could get me Emily’s contact information so I can visit her?”
“Absolutely. I’ll email it to you.” Janet gave a curious look to the man lingering nearby. “I think you have one more guest who’d like to talk to you.”
“Hi Rafe.” CeCe grinned up at him, and Jessie’s eyes widened as she recognized the name.
Rafe gasped. “How’d you know it was me?”
“I recognized your cologne; it smells like the ocean.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure if that’s creepy or romantic.” Rafe chuckled, but his insides warmed at the thought that she could recognize him just by his scent. He wondered if his breath was okay and wished momentarily for a breath mint.
“Sorry, I have to rely more on my other senses than most people.”
“Don’t apologize, it’s kind of amazing, actually.” Like you, he thought.
Date with Destiny Collection: Angel Romance Series: Books 1 - 4 Page 47
