Two Hearts Find Christmas

by Tamara Ferguson

  Josh gripped the side of his plate and began slowly working on his bacon, which was easily identifiable by touch.

  She continued, “You’ll be able to count out your steps a little better and avoid any obstructions by knowing what’s ahead of you first. Not only will this be important when you’re finally able to walk outside of the this facility, but it’ll also be necessary when you’re out in public.”

  “I can understand that. What about the dog?” he asked, after carefully sipping some coffee and resting down the cup.

  He had a feeling Nina was smiling when she answered. “First, you’ll have to progress further with getting around on your own. It’s a two-way street with a service dog, and there are everyday duties your dog will depending on you for, so you need to be independent enough to care for him or her, along with caring for yourself.”

  Josh was disappointed until she continued, “But that doesn’t mean we can’t go and pick out a dog you’d like to work with and begin in the training program, over at the shelter, while you’re working on your independence.”

  “Cool.” Josh was smiling when he picked up his fork. Poking unsuccessfully into his eggs, he felt Nina pulling out the fork from his hand and replacing it with a spoon.

  Her touch sent an energizing jolt charging through him, and it took a moment for him to recover when he finally realized she was saying something else.

  “Don’t worry about proper etiquette,” she said softly. “It’s easier to use a spoon with looser foods like scrambled eggs. You notice how the plates are deeply partitioned to separate and make your food easier to eat? This wasn’t developed just for someone like you, but for many of the patients who’ve lost a hand or an arm, and may be trying to adapt to prosthetics.”

  “That makes sense,” he answered, spooning eggs into his mouth. “The one thing I’ve noticed? After eating that meatloaf dinner last night and these eggs, and getting a whiff of the smell of the blueberry pancakes that I can’t wait to try—the food here seems to be pretty darn good.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Nina answered with definite humor in her voice.

  * * *

  Nina spent most of the day with Josh, familiarizing him with the facility and introducing him to the people he’d be working with.

  She was having a little bit of trouble concentrating though, she realized, guiding him through the hallway toward the physical therapy center. It seemed like the attraction she’d felt for him all those years ago had never really gone away.

  And, if anything, it’d grown deeper, she decided, giving him a side glance. He was so good-looking with his dark brown hair and deep green eyes, their color reminding her of moss and pines.

  Nina frowned, noticing the patchy stubble on his chin. He probably couldn’t shave himself very well, but he seemed to be unusually independent. During this time of the year, he might just prefer to let it grow into a beard—maybe she’d give him a subtle hint.

  For someone who couldn’t see, Josh was walking beside her with an incredible amount of confidence, not acting clumsy or self-conscious at all.

  She grinned wryly. No one would mistake him for anything other than a soldier.

  When they entered the wing of the physical therapy center, Nina led Josh directly to the enormous gym which served as a multi-purpose rehab center, where work stations had been set up specifically for different purposes.

  “You’ll be coming here twice a day,” Nina said, guiding Josh to the desk that was setup as a check-in near the door. “Once you arrive here, whatever you do, don’t go wandering through the gym on your own. There’s a bunch of equipment set up throughout, so not only are you avoiding endangering yourself, you’re also sidestepping the possibility of an accident occurring with anyone who might be using the facilities. Whoever is here at the desk will take you into the locker room so you can change your clothes.”

  “Okay. Got it,” Josh answered.

  Nina continued, laying a hand over the small of his back. “There’s a bench here for you to sit down on and wait.”

  “One, two, three,” Josh counted out loud.

  “It’ll be easier with a walking stick.”

  “I like the idea of sneaking up on people,” Josh answered wryly.

  “You’re pretty good about moving around quietly,” Nina said, but couldn’t help grinning, thinking about how he’d appeared to be rattled earlier this morning when she’d entered the room.

  His thoughts must’ve been mirroring hers. “Except for when I hear your voice. You seem to have a strange effect on me, Nina Chandler,” Josh answered grinning. “Almost exactly like you did fifteen years ago.” He cleared his throat. “It still is Chandler? Right?”

  Nina blinked. Was Josh flirting with her? Somehow, she hadn’t expected to hear words like that from him. Back then, she’d assumed the attraction between them was one-sided, and now it was making her feel extremely flustered.

  Which was a first for her.

  “Uhhm, yeah, it is. I, yuh...” Oh, what the heck. It’s not like she was young at thirty-one years old. “I felt the same way.” Eh—why not just admit it? “In fact, I had a major crush on you back then.”

  This time Josh blinked.

  After a long quiet moment, he finally spoke. “Really?” He shook his head, looking dazed, straining his eyes like he was trying to see her face. “I wish I’d have known,” he said softly.

  Really? Nina’s mouth dropped open, staring at him in shock.

  Just then, Steve Ryder stepped up to them, introducing himself to Josh.

  “You must be Josh,” he said, reaching for Josh’s hand. “I’m Steve Ryder, and I’ll personally be in charge of your rehab.”

  “Nice to meet you Steve,” Josh answered, shaking Steve’s hand firmly.

  “Your brother Luke and I’ve become pretty good friends. In fact, I lived with him for a while when he came home from Iraq, and I helped him adjust to using a prosthetic. That was before this facility was built. I think that Luke was Jake Loughlin’s inspiration behind building a wounded warrior home here in Crystal Rock.”

  “Luke was my inspiration as a kid too. Most of the choices I made when I was a teenager were because of what I was afraid would happen to Luke under my father’s influence. Luke and I have a lot of catching up to do,” Josh answered quietly.

  Steve looked curious. “I gather he wasn’t even informed you were serving in the military until recently?”

  Josh sighed heavily. “He wasn’t too happy about me not letting him keep in touch when he thought I was in prison. What Luke didn’t know was that Jake Loughlin had created a new identity for me. It’s not that I didn’t want to keep in touch with Luke, but he was safer if I didn’t. And besides, I wasn’t where he thought I was.”

  Steve said, “Well, I’d be interested in knowing the details of everything you’ve been going through too, but I guess I’m not supposed to ask?”

  Nina was certainly becoming curious as well.

  “Nope. But I’d tell you if I could. I’m here because Luke is my next of kin, and it was time to bring him into the loop.”

  “Alright. Hopefully, everything is going to work out between you two?”

  Josh grimaced. “Hopefully.”

  Looking at Nina, Steve asked, “Do you need me to take it from here?”

  “Nah. Jake asked me stick around with Josh for the day,” she answered.

  Steve nodded agreeably. “Well, today I’m only planning on showing Josh around. We won’t begin our workouts until tomorrow.”

  Nina smiled. “Sounds good, Steve. Let’s get started.”

  * * *

  It was approaching six o’clock when Luke Bryant appeared in the cafeteria accompanied by his fiancé Kelly Callahan.

  Even though she knew Luke from his time as a patient in the psychological treatment program here at the wounded warrior home, Nina didn’t know Kelly very well. She’d been a beautiful little girl when Nina had left town to go into nursing school, and her mother had been Nina’
s mother’s best friend. Kelly had tagged along with her mom a few times, and Nina had enjoyed taking her for a walk along the nature trail leading to the beach at Dragonfly Pointe.

  After a quick glance around the room, Luke led Kelly towards the table where Josh was sitting beside Nina.

  Kelly was looking at Nina with a smile on her face.

  “Luke is here with Kelly to visit with you,” Nina said, when Luke and Kelly reached the table. “I should probably leave you guys alone to get reacquainted.”

  Josh reached out a hand, searching for hers. “Please don’t go yet, Nina.” He hesitated. “Unless you have something else you need to do?”

  Luke chimed in. “Yes, please stay. We’re not going to stick around too long. I know that Josh has to be tired.”

  Luke led Kelly toward Josh. “Josh, I want you to meet Kelly, my fiancée.”

  Josh moved to stand up, and Kelly rested her hand on his shoulder. “That’s alright, please don’t get up.” Reaching down, Kelly grabbed one of Josh’s hands and clasped it within both of hers. “It’s great to finally meet you, Josh. Luke talks about you all the time.”

  Josh grinned. “Nice to meet you too, Kelly. Luke tells me it was love at first sight.”

  Kelly laughed, and then answered dryly, “He sure did a good job of hiding it. Especially when I was a teenager chasing him around.”

  Josh and Nina began to laugh.

  It was hard to imagine Kelly chasing anyone around, Nina thought as Kelly sat beside her at the table. She’d been a pretty little girl, but now she was a stunning woman who’d worked as a model. Nina had heard that, supposedly, her looks were deceiving and, as a business major, Kelly had been a valedictorian of her Wisconsin graduating class. Now she and Luke worked for Jake Loughlin, coordinating the recent reopening of the Crystal Rock Airport for the public.

  Reaching out her hand to Nina, Kelly said, “I don’t know if you remember me, Nina, but I sure remember you. You used to tell the best stories. In fact, I don’t know how many times I’ve told my niece the one about the Princess and the dragon. Actually, I’ve been trying to find it in print.”

  Nina grinned. “And here I was thinking you probably wouldn’t remember me. Well, I used to invent those stories, so you’re probably not going to find them.” Nina became thoughtful. “Although there might be some of them written down in one of my notebooks stashed in the attic of my house.”

  Kelly looked startled. “Really? It’s amazing how, through the years, they’ve really stuck inside my brain. With as easy as it to self-publish a book these days, you ought to think about creating a line of kids’ books.”

  Nina shook her head dazedly. Talk about a whirlwind. She hadn’t thought about writing in years. “No wonder Jake Loughlin hired you,” Nina grinned. “I haven’t thought about those stories I used to write in ages. I’ve been working cross country as an R.N. where I was needed, and I finally returned to Crystal Rock last year when I was offered this job.”

  Josh appeared to be curious, but before he could speak, Luke said something that surprised Nina even more. “I bet Josh would make a great illustrator for children’s’ books.” But then he grimaced. “It’s a shame he...”

  Josh smiled wryly. “Can’t see? That’s alright Luke. I’m trying to deal with it the best I can. And besides, there’s still a chance my vision will return.”

  Although Nina couldn’t help but worry because day by day the odds were growing stronger against it.

  “You can draw?” Nina asked curiously, turning to Josh.

  “Can he draw?” Luke spit out emphatically. “He designed our tattoos. For me, he created an eagle...” Luke cleared his throat. “And Josh has a hawk.”

  “I’ve seen Josh’s.” Nina put her hand over Josh’s where it rested on the table. “I’ve never thought I’d be fascinated by a tattoo, but it’s beautiful Josh.”

  He smiled wryly.

  Kelly gave Nina a mischievous grin, before turning to Josh. “Luke showed me some of the sketches you did, Josh, when you were only a teenager. You were so good.”

  Josh said quietly. “I can’t believe you kept them Luke.”

  Nina saw Luke was becoming emotional

  “Why wouldn’t I?” Luke asked. “In fact, Jake and I cleared out your stuff after the arrest went down, and Jake put it all in storage.”

  Josh blinked. “He did?”

  “Yeah. So, whenever you’re ready to go down memory lane...”

  Josh’s expression turned grim. “Not for a while yet. But thanks for letting me know.”

  As curious as Nina was about Josh’s past, she knew it wasn’t any of her business.

  Josh continued, “But we’ll talk soon. It’s time for us to clear the air.”

  “Yeah,” Luke answered. “Right now, I just want you to concentrate on getting better and building up your strength. Maybe on Thanksgiving, you can come over to the house and spend the day with us?”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Josh answered. “How about inviting Nina too?”

  When Nina blinked, staring strangely at Josh, Kelly grinned. “We were actually planning on it.”

  Nina laughed, asking, “Not really?”

  “Sure, we were,” Kelly said. “We know you don’t have any family to celebrate with.”

  “Yep,” Luke chimed in. “We’d love to have you Nina. It’s an open house for friends and family, anyway. We do the same thing on Christmas Eve.”

  “In that case, I’d love to,” Nina answered.

  “Good,” Luke said. “So, I’m starved. What are we having for dinner? I love the food here. Let me take Josh through the line so I can tell him what looks good.”

  “That would be great.” Nina smiled at Luke. “I’m actually off duty now anyway.”

  Standing up, Josh was grinning smugly. “Ah, so I’ve worked my magic. You couldn’t stand to be away from me. Huh, Nina?”

  Luke snorted.

  Giving a rueful smile to Luke first and then to Kelly, Nina rolled her eyes upward. “Something like that,” she answered, dryly. “Your sense of humor seems to run in the family.”

  Kelly began laughing. “It does, doesn’t it?”

  Chapter Five

  After discovering Nina had been assigned as his nurse, Josh was disappointed to learn he’d only be around her a few times during the day. Not only did she work full-time as a nurse here at the wounded warrior home, but she also had patients to check in on at the Crystal Visions Special Needs School and Residential Center, located further down the street.

  He was put on a schedule during the next week. Nina would appear first thing in the morning and accompany Josh to breakfast after checking his vitals and making sure all the burns on his torso were healing properly.

  It’d been nearly two months since he’d had surgery, so Josh had already been through a limited amount of rehab in D.C. If his vision had returned, he’d still would’ve been required to go through the physical therapy treatment he was having here. But not only would his rehab have taken place over a shorter period of time and structured differently, he probably would’ve been able to attend his psychological treatment program as an outpatient.

  Ah, well, that’s the breaks, Josh thought making his way through the hallway exactly one week after his admission to the facility. But he might not have returned to Crystal Rock if his vision had been restored. It was the right thing to do, reuniting with Luke so they could confront their demons together. And besides, he’d missed Luke. Despite his disreputable upbringing, Luke had turned out even better than Josh had hoped after he’d made his decision to go to the police with information about his father’s criminal activities.

  Despite keeping busy and working out twice a day, he was getting bored. He’d made a few casual friends, but everyone besides him seemed to have something going on with family. This evening, he could do whatever he liked, but so far, he hadn’t been allowed out of the building on his own, and he was tired of being watched over like a little kid. So instead, he set
about memorizing every corridor in the facility, and making numerous trips to the library where there were audible books available for him to listen to on the notebook device he’d been provided with in his room.

  But it was Friday today and he was getting antsy—this rehab thing was taking too long. He’d gone through most of the books he was interested in at the library, and was still unable to order anything online without help. Part of his training every day included using a special computer which had raised letters on the keys. It was disconcerting to realize that even while attempting to type on the computer that was rigged for the visually impaired, he’d used his sight a heck of a lot more than he’d comprehended.

  He heard soft footsteps approaching through the hallway. It was kind of amazing to Josh that he immediately sensed her presence every time she was around.

  “Hi, Nina,” he said with a grin.

  “How’d you know it was me?” She sounded startled.

  “I’m not sure,” he answered. “Something about your footsteps.”

  “Yeah, but I’m wearing sneakers. I don’t know how you even heard me.” She laughed. “Are you ready for a road trip?”

  “Am I ever. I’m bored to death.”

  “You shouldn’t be, with as busy as they’re keeping you here.”

  “Yeah, well, Steve’s starting me out slow with my workouts, cause he wants me to build up my strength, and I’ve run through about every book I’m interested in at the library.”

  “You like books, huh? You never struck me as the type back in high school.” There was definite humor in her voice.

  “Yeah, I can only imagine. I probably scared you half to death with the long hair, earrings and Harley.”

  Nina laughed. “Truthfully? It all kind of made you seem interesting and mysterious.”

  “You must’ve had a pretty vivid imagination,” he said dryly.

  “Yeah, I did. I used to write stories. Remember?”

  He wasn’t sure what made him ask. “Hmm. So, was I in any of your stories?”

  There was long silence as they walked towards his room. Damn, he wished he could see her face.