Page 9 of Hidden Truths

Mrs. Hibbert sat down in the rocking chair and waited while the nurse extracted the baby from the incubator, wrapped her in a warm blanket and carefully brought her, with her tubes, to Mrs. Hibbert. Mrs. Hibbert took her with precisely as much care and settled the baby on her chest. Together the nurse and Mrs. Hibbert slid the baby into a sling and secured it to her chest.

“There,” the nurse said. “You won’t strain yourself holding her.”

“As small as this tiny thing is, it wouldn’t be much of a strain.” Mrs. Hibbert began to rock. “Have we named this baby yet?”

“There’s no point in naming her until it’s clear the mother won’t return for her.”

“This little girl needs to hear joy every day, so I shall call her Joy.”

Nurse Bernice hesitated, then marked over “Jane Doe” on the chart, and replaced it with “Joy.”

The current tugged more fiercely at Kellen, and she rode it down the hospital corridors and back toward the entrance of her room. As she went, she began to recognize people like her, spirits who had escaped their bodies and wandered free. Some of them, like her, still had color and substance, but some, like the spirit she had first met, were fading into an insubstantial white. Some drifted. Some moved with purpose, as she had when she went to the nursery. Some struggled, fighting against death.

Could they succeed in avoiding the end of life? Perhaps they could, but to what end? Max wouldn’t allow her to be bound to a worthless body resting on a cold bed. She thanked him for that.

As she reached the corridor that led to her room, she again felt the void of emotion she had experienced before.

Harrison Benchley. He strode toward the nurses’ station, looking neither right nor left, passing patients and medical staff with the indifference of a man already dead. Yet he wasn’t ill, not really. Because of his strong constitution and robust lifestyle, he had survived the trauma of his accident and the loss of his arms. He should be happy to be alive.

The woman who walked beside him—Diane Sánchez, read the name on her badge—spoke in a low tone. Diane knew he was closed off, but she tried to get his attention. “I can tell you’re doing your exercises. I wish all my patients were as determined as you. But please, you’re driving yourself too hard. You don’t want to have another setback.”

“The last setback had nothing to do with how hard I work.” His voice was deep, commanding, impatient. “It was an infection. It’s the only reason I’m back here, in the hospital.” Ah! There was emotion in the way he saidhere. He loathed the hospital, loathed the weakness around him, loathed the illness, the death. Most of all, he loathed his own body. “As soon as possible, I’ll be gone.”

“You mean back to the convalescent center.”

He turned his head and looked at his physical therapist. “What else would I mean?”

She stopped.

He didn’t.

She hurried to catch up with him. “You can do this,” she said.

“I intend to.” He passed Kellen, entered a nearby room.

The therapist followed and in a moment came back out. She walked to the nurses’ station, met the head nurse’s gaze and shook her head. In a soft tone, she said, “I can’t make him want to live.”

The head nurse shook her head, too.

They both glanced at the woman leaning against the desk dressed in scrubs and wearing a surgical mask. She pushed the mask down, watched the door Harrison had disappeared behind with such longing…

In her thirties, dark curly hair, dark eyes, pretty. Who was she?

No matter. Kellen had an appointment to keep with her body and her bed.

And suddenly, she was in her room.

CHAPTER SIX

JUSTINSIDETHEDOOR, Kellen stopped.

Her body lay stretched out on the bed, thin, still, pale, her head shaved and sliced, her skin bruised. Death had marked her as his own.

But sitting in the chair beside her was her daughter, Rae Di Luca, seven years old, bright, smiling, intensely alive and leaning forward, talking to Kellen’s still body. “Mommy! Today was the first day of school. My teacher’s name is Mrs. Melon. She told us her first name was ‘Water.’ Isn’t that funny? Some of the kids said they heard she was mean, but Grandma said she didn’t believe it. She said I should do my best, see how Mrs. Melon reacts, and make my own judgment. So I’ll do that. This year, for our play, we’re going to put onAnnie. Do you knowAnnie? I’m going to try out for Kate. She’s one of the orphans. I was going to try out for Annie, but Grandma says I sing like she does so maybe I should set my sights a little lower. That’s okay, the girl who plays Annie only does it half-time because they don’t want anyone my age to strain her voice. Or his voice. Mauro is going to try out for the part. I heard one of the parents say he’ll get it just because it’s politically correct, but is that bad? I don’t think so. Are you missing Daddy? I’m missing him, too. Grandma’s mad at him for leaving you now, but I know God’s not going to let you die no matter what the doctor said so it’s okay. It would be great if you’d try to wake up before Daddy comes home. He’d be so excited…” Rae never drew a breath, never seemed to doubt Kellen could hear her.

But Verona… Verona sat on the chair behind and to the right of Rae, and she cried, a low drip of tears she didn’t bother to wipe away.

Kellen and her mother-in-law didn’t necessarily agree most of the time, but Kellen also knew Verona wanted her in their lives, if for no better reason than it would make Max and Rae happy. At heart, Verona was a good woman. She didn’t want Kellen to die, for Kellen’s sake as well as for the sake of the little family.

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