Wounded Souls

by R J Nolan

  The warmth in Dale’s voice and in her eyes was almost Logan’s undoing. Her gaze dropped to Dale’s lips.

  Casey cleared her throat, once again reminding them of her presence. “So are we good to go?”

  A blush heating her cheeks, Logan took a hasty step back. She busied herself with Drake, hoping the color would rapidly fade from her face. “Um… Yeah. Let’s get to work.”

  “Come on. I’ll walk with you to the elevator,” Dale said.

  When they reached the elevator, Dale gently patted Drake’s shoulder, surprising Logan. “Good luck, big guy. Go make lots of people happy.” Drake pressed his head against Dale’s hip, eliciting a smile from her. “See you guys later.”

  Logan watched her walk away, once again marveling at what an incredible woman Dale was. If only things could be different. Refusing to give in to the depressing thought, she forced herself to smile. “You heard the woman. We have work to do.”

  Logan followed Casey and Drake as they moved to exit the patient’s room. So far, their visits had gone very well. Even with a two-year hiatus, Drake had easily stepped back into his role as a therapy dog. And Casey was a natural at handling him.

  “Please bring him back again for another visit,” the patient called before they could step out of the room.

  “I will. If you behave and don’t give the nurses a hard time.” Casey wagged an admonishing finger at the man. “I will hear about it if you do.”

  He grinned and put his hand over his heart. “I promise. Take care of that big boy.”

  “Good man.” Casey gave him a thumbs-up.

  “Bye, Drake. See you soon.”

  Casey smiled as they headed down the hall. “Drake is going to be a popular guy around here, not only with the patients but the nurses. Bill spends a lot of time hospitalized, and while he may only be thirty-two, he can be a real curmudgeon at times. If the prospect of seeing Drake again puts him on his best behavior, the nurses will be forever in your debt.”

  Logan laughed and patted Drake’s side. “We’re happy to help.” And surprisingly, that was the truth. After all the anxiety she’d had prior to arriving, it felt good to see the smiles on patients’ faces. And she couldn’t help being moved by their heartfelt gratitude.

  Casey stopped at the end of the hall. “I want to talk to you about seeing one last patient before we give Drake a rest. This one will be very different than any we’ve seen so far.”

  “How so?” All the patients they had visited up until now had been on the orthopedic ward.

  “I’d like to take him onto the general medical ward. The patient I want him to visit suffered a head injury in a helicopter crash last year and is wheelchair bound. He’s here being treated for pneumonia.” Casey ran a hand through her hair. “I’m not sure he’ll even react to Drake; he’s been so depressed lately. If he does respond, he has very poor motor control, so he might be a little rough trying to pet Drake. And the other thing is, he doesn’t speak. Do you think Drake will be okay with all that?”

  Logan’s thoughts immediately went to Emily and the work she did with Drake and her TBI patients. “He’s worked with that type of patient before. He’ll be fine with everything.”

  Casey glanced down at Drake. “He has?”

  Of course Casey would be curious. Logan struggled with her reluctance to talk about her sister. But this was different. If not for Casey, Drake wouldn’t be getting the chance to continue the work her sister had trained him to do. She had seen today how happily he had greeted each patient, his head high and his tail wagging enthusiastically. He clearly loved the work.

  Logan’s hand went to her chest and pressed against a spot just above her breast. She swallowed past the lump in her throat that thoughts of Emily always brought. Blowing out a breath, she stepped close to Drake and hugged him, drawing strength from his presence. It still took two tries to get her voice to work. “My sister was a neurologist. She trained Drake specifically to work with people who had suffered a traumatic brain injury. She always believed that those patients would react positively to an animal when they wouldn’t to anyone else.” This was the most she had spoken of her sister to anyone outside of Dale in over two years. Keeping her gaze locked on Drake, she braced herself for all the questions that were sure to come.

  “That’s great. I can’t wait to introduce Drake to Ben and his wife, Amy. Let’s go.”

  Surprise rippled through Logan. Her head came up, and she stared at Casey for a moment before looking away when her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. It was clear from the compassion on Casey’s face that she hadn’t missed the significance of Logan referring to her sister in the past tense. Clearly, Casey understood a lot more than just emotional triggers for panic attacks. Her silent support allowed Logan to push past the sadness and focus on helping the patient. With an acknowledging nod in Casey’s direction, she followed her to the elevators.

  Logan stood next to Amy as Casey and Drake approached Ben’s wheelchair.

  “Hey, Ben. Look who I brought to see you. This big boy is Drake.”

  Ben’s gaze flickered to Casey for a moment, but otherwise he didn’t react.

  Casey released the Velcro strap that kept Ben’s arm secured against the armrest of the wheelchair. “He sure would like it if you petted him. Wouldn’t you, Drake?”

  Drake moved closer and with no prompting from Casey, slowly and carefully laid his big head in Ben’s lap.

  Ben’s gaze remained distant, and he made no acknowledgement of Drake or anyone else in the room.

  A disappointed sigh escaped from Amy. Logan’s heart went out to her. She’d been ecstatic when she met Drake. It turned out that Ben’s family had a Great Dane when he was a child. She had hoped the sight of the dog would draw him out of his deepening depression.

  Drake lifted his head from Ben’s lap, bringing himself eye-level with Ben. He woo-wooed, making everyone jump.

  “Drake. No.” Casey quickly tugged him back.

  Damn it, Drake. What are you doing? Logan sent Casey an apologetic look. She had told her Drake would be fine, and now he pulled a stunt like this.

  Ben’s attention locked on Drake. “Da…” He flailed his arm as if trying to reach for Drake.

  Casey froze in place. She shared a stunned look with Amy.

  Drake pulled away from her and put his head back in Ben’s lap.

  Logan winced when his arm landed heavily on Drake’s neck, but Drake never moved.

  “That’s right,” Casey said. “This is Drake.”

  “Da…ka…da…ka.”

  “Oh my God. He spoke.” Tears flowing down her face, Amy rushed to her husband’s side. Drake lifted his head. She guided Ben’s hand so that he could stroke Drake’s neck and chest. “Isn’t he beautiful?” She hugged Drake and then pressed Casey’s hand. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  Logan choked up at the emotional scene. She glanced at Casey, whose eyes were just as watery, and they both grinned. She was so proud of Drake. She sent a thought to Emily. You did a great job with him, Sis. It was the first time in over two years that thoughts of her sister brought pleasure, not pain.

  “That was amazing,” Casey said for the third time.

  Logan laughed. “Yeah. It was.” She glanced down to where Drake lay stretched out on a blanket in Casey’s office. “Although I have to admit that at first, I was ready to strangle him.”

  “Me too.” Casey leaned down and patted Drake’s side. His tail thumped against the blanket. “My bad, boy. Obviously Drake knew what he was doing. People don’t give dogs enough credit. They are masters at reading body language and emotions.”

  “You did great handling him today. We’ll need to set up a schedule so I can drop Drake off here one morning a week.” After seeing how well Drake had done today, Logan realized that he was more than ready to come home.

  “What do you mean
?”

  Logan sighed; she couldn’t miss the trepidation in Casey’s voice. While she was happy at the prospect of having Drake with her again, she also knew how attached Casey had grown to him and how hard this would be on her. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for Drake…and me. He’s doing great. Thank you for that.” She met Casey’s gaze. “It’s time for him to come home.”

  For a moment it looked as if Casey was going to protest, then her shoulders slumped and she said, “I understand.” She turned away, but not before Logan saw the tears in her eyes.

  Damn it. Drake was her dog, and she wasn’t about to give him up, but that didn’t make her feel any less bad for Casey. She stared at Casey’s back, torn between reaching out to comfort her and letting her have some space.

  Drake took the decision from her when he stood and stepped between Casey’s legs and laid his big head over her shoulder. Casey wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his neck.

  “Um… I think I’ll go see if Dale’s almost done in PT. Why don’t you and Drake join me after he’s rested a little while longer?”

  “Okay. We’ll meet you there,” Casey said without turning around.

  Knowing that Drake was doing a better job comforting Casey than she could, Logan made her retreat.

  It wasn’t until she was halfway down the hall from Casey’s office that it dawned on Logan: she didn’t know where the PT department was located. She couldn’t bring herself to go back and ask. After wandering around for a several minutes, she gave in and asked a passing staff person.

  Logan hesitated at the entrance to the PT department. Should she just go in? Or ask someone where to find Dale?

  “Can I help you?”

  Logan started at the voice coming from behind her. She turned to face a heavyset, middle-aged woman who regarded her over the silver frames of her half glasses.

  “Is Dr. Parker here?” When the woman frowned, Logan realized her mistake. “I’m Logan. A friend of Dale’s.”

  The woman continued to regard her skeptically.

  “I’m here with Casey and my therapy dog,” she added. As they had made their rounds with Drake, everyone seemed to know Casey.

  A smile softened the woman’s features, and she reached out to touch Logan’s arm. “That’s your big boy? Drake?”

  How did she know Drake’s name? Logan didn’t remember meeting her earlier. “Yes.”

  “Where is he?” She looked around as if he might be hiding just out of sight.

  “He’s with Casey. They’re going to meet me here in a little while.”

  “Well, in that case, follow me. Dale’s in the back, working with one of the boys, but you can watch until she’s done.”

  Logan trailed after the woman as she led her deeper into the huge PT department.

  “Dale’s in there.” She pointed toward a room off to the right.

  “Jayne,” someone called out.

  “Be right there,” Jayne said. She made a shooing motion. “Go on in. I’ll let Casey know where you are when she gets here. I can’t wait to meet Drake,” she called back over her shoulder as she walked away.

  Left to her own devices, Logan approached the door and peered inside. The far side of the room held a rack filled with various free weights, several large exercise balls, and other miscellaneous equipment. The area closest to the door sported two low, wide, padded platforms. One was freestanding; the other was against the wall. The platform alongside the wall was where Dale was located.

  Logan couldn’t help but stare. Dale wasn’t wearing her prosthesis, but that wasn’t what grabbed Logan’s attention. It was the first time she had seen Dale in shorts. The form-fitting garment hugged her muscular thighs and ass. She wrenched her gaze away and focused on the man next to Dale.

  Although man hardly seemed appropriate. He was just a kid, looking barely out of his teens. He was also missing one leg below the knee. Unexpected anger at the grave harm the men and women she had seen today had suffered gripped Logan. She forced away the unproductive emotion. Her anger wouldn’t help anyone.

  She moved just inside the room and leaned against the wall. Dale and the young man were the only ones in the room. While she could clearly see what was going on, she could hear only an occasional word of their conversation. Her gaze was drawn back to Dale, who was on her hands and knees demonstrating an exercise. She arched her back as she tucked her chin toward her chest. After a few moments, she lifted her head, letting her back relax and bow inward slightly in the reverse of the previous position. She repeated the moves once more, rose up on her knees, and motioned for the man to try.

  Once he finished, Dale got back down on her hands and knees. Logan watched with avid interest. Dale lifted her bent leg, like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant, and repeated the action several times.

  Drawn as if by its own accord, Logan’s gaze latched on to Dale’s flexing glutes. She swallowed heavily, barely resisting the urge to fan herself. The room seemed to have gotten uncomfortably warm all of a sudden. She frowned when Dale returned to a seated position and the man took up the exercise.

  He only did two repetitions before rising up onto his knees and pointing to his groin.

  Dale moved closer and put her hand against his hip on the side of his body with the missing limb, then ran it down to the junction where his leg met his body. He nodded at something she said before moving to the edge of the platform, out of the way.

  While facing the wall, Dale lay down on her back, extended her legs, and propped them on the wall. Once in position, she scooted closer to the wall.

  What the heck was she doing?

  Dale slowly let her legs spread wide open and held them there for several moments, closed her legs, then spread them again.

  Heat rushed through Logan and pooled low in her belly. She bit back a groan.

  When Dale moved aside to let the man try the exercise, she breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she should just wait out front for Casey?

  But she remained in place as if her feet were glued to the floor.

  After a brief attempt at the exercise, the man once again shook his head. He gestured at his leg. His sharp hand movements conveyed his growing agitation.

  Dale calmed him with a hand on his shoulder. She spoke to him for several moments, too quietly for Logan to hear anything.

  He repeatedly shook his head, then laughed. “A frog?” he asked.

  Frog? Logan tipped her head, wondering if she had heard right.

  Dale clapped him on the back and grinned. She turned slightly so that her back was fully toward Logan. Moving back to the center of the platform, she returned to her hands and knees. This time, she lowered herself so that her weight rested on her bent forearms and knees. She spread her knees wide as she flowed into the stretch that did resemble a frog.

  The sight of Dale in that position shot Logan’s pulse into overdrive. It’s just an innocent exercise. But her brain refused to cooperate. All she could picture was herself kneeling behind Dale’s spread thighs and… Searing arousal set Logan’s blood on fire. A whimper escaped before she could stifle it. She ruthlessly slammed the door shut on those images. It could never happen.

  Unable to take any more, she bolted from the room and ran right into someone just outside the doorway. Strong hands latched onto her biceps.

  “Whoa. Where’s the fire?” Casey’s gaze swept Logan. She glanced past Logan into the room where Dale was and smirked. “Never mind. I see it.”

  The heat of her blush matched the fire raging through Logan’s veins. Drake pushed forward to greet her. She sidestepped him and Casey. “Be right back. Need the restroom.”

  Casey’s laughter filled her ears as she fled.

  Dale looked up at the sound of raucous laughter. Casey stood in the doorway with Drake. She thought she’d caught a glimpse of Logan for a moment too, but then
she was gone. She quickly sat up and tucked her residual limb underneath her.

  Jeff whistled. “Wow. That’s one big-ass dog.”

  Distressed by the thought that Logan might reappear at any moment, she ignored his interest in Drake. “We’re done here. Work on the exercises over the holiday, and we’ll start again next week.”

  Appearing crestfallen at the abrupt dismissal, Jeff reached under the platform and retrieved his forearm crutches. “Okay.”

  Dale cursed herself for letting her own anxiety spill over onto Jeff. She stood next to him and clasped his shoulder for a moment. “You did fine today. Don’t let a setback get you down. It’s happened to all of us. Just remember how far you’ve come. You’ll get back to where you were before.” She motioned toward the door. “Get going. I’ll see you at the New Year’s Eve party.”

  His smile reappeared. “Thanks. See you tomorrow night.”

  As soon as he reached the door, Dale scrambled for her prosthetic that she had left propped against the wall next to the platform. With her back to the door, she grabbed the liner from the socket of the prosthetic and began to put it on.

  “Hey. All done for the morning?”

  She spared Casey barely a glance and returned to applying the liner. She cursed under her breath when she had to roll the liner down and reapply it because she’d wrinkled it in her haste. Blowing out a breath, she finally stood and pressed the now-covered stump into the socket of the prosthetic until it locked.

  Casey put Drake at a down/stay before walking over. “What’s wrong?”

  “Was that Logan with you?”

  “Yeah. She needed to…” Casey smirked. “Take a break. She’ll be back.”

  Dale scowled. “Damn it, Casey. How much did she see?”

  “Huh?” Casey’s brow furrowed. “See of what?”

  “I had my damn leg off. You should’ve warned me you were bringing her down.” The thought of Logan seeing her uncovered stump made her feel sick to her stomach.

  Casey put her hand on Dale’s arm. “I thought we agreed earlier to meet. Logan came down ahead of me.” She glanced at her watch. “About half an hour ago. I just got here. Why are you so upset? She’s seen you without your leg.”