Page 18 of Beneath Her Hands
“I really wish I knew,” he answered honestly. “I’m not in pain, but I just have this feeling… I can’t explain it, like this is it, my last chance.”
Jane nodded as he spoke. It was something of a medical anomaly, there was no real explanation, but almost as often as not, people understood that their body was shutting down and that they were not going to be around much longer, though a situation as strong as this one was rare.
“Rosalind seems very taken with you,” Robert said.
Caught off guard, Jane blinked a few times at the chart she was pretending to look at.
“She didn’t exactly say as much, but she’s always looking for you, always lookingatyou,” Robert said with a chuckle.
“Well, I, um… that’s flattering,” she finally managed to squeak out.
“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Robert said, seeming to forget that he’d almost made her choke.
“I don’t guess I know her that well, yet,” Jane answered and started fiddling with the machines.
“I wish I could take credit for raising her, but I was always working. I wish I had spent more time with her when I had the chance,” Robert said.
“I know she cares about you and looks up to you,” Jane said, finally looking at him.
“I know; she’s never made that a secret,” Robert said.
“She’s something else, that’s for sure, I think she has a hard time fitting in sometimes,” Jane said.
“She does. She always has,” Robert said. “I think that’s why she joined the military; she was always too big for this city.”
Jane narrowed her eyes at the man.
“I had all these ideas, you know,” Robert said, “and she blew them all away.”
“I don’t understand,” Jane said. She wondered if his mind was starting to slip again.
“I guess as a parent, especially as a father, I just had this idea of what my child was going to grow up to be, and it was never intentional, but she never went the way I expected,” he continued. “Don’t misunderstand—I’m so glad I was wrong about so many things. Rosalind turned into something amazing. She’s fought so hard for people who had no one to fight for them, without any personal stake in it. She just did it. She nevercomplained, she never let the fight die, she always kept going after what would likely have destroyed anyone else. She’s seen so much, been through so much, and still, she shows up every day.”
Jane could only nod her head; the emotion in Robert’s voice was almost overwhelming.
“I hate that she had to come home for this, for me,” he finished in almost a whisper.
“She loves you—and your wife,” Jane attempted to reassure him. “She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t want to be.”
“I’m not completely sure I believe that,” Robert said and shook his head. “She was always too big for this city.”
“Maybe so, but she never felt too big for you, or her mother,” Jane said.
“Thanks for that,” he chuckled again and shook his head. “So, what’s your story?”
“I’m sorry?” Jane blinked again. This conversation was giving her whiplash.
“I’ve never seen Rosalind quite like she is with you,” Robert said and grinned. “I’m sure she won’t admit it, but she’s fascinated by you, at the least, and since I know I don’t have much time left, I’d like to know a little more about you,” Robert said.
“Oh… well, I’ve uh, I’ve always been around,” Jane said and furrowed her brows. “My parents were from here, and I never really left, I guess. I have a lot of siblings and mostly take care of my parents now. I’m pretty boring compared to someone like Rosalind.”
“Boring is in the eye of the beholder,” Robert said.
“I don’t think that’s how that saying goes,” Jane said with a smile.
“It’s true, you and Rosie are very different, but I bet on some level you’re not so much,” Robert said. “She just has more mileage.”
Jane furrowed her brow at him.
