Free Christmas Miracle: A Family by Dianne Drake

yours to worry about, am I?” she said, jerking her arm away from him.
    “That’s not going to stop me from worrying, Fallon. One minute you don’t ever want to step foot in the emergency department again, and the next you’re working like a woman possessed. I understand the dynamics here. Everybody depends on you…the staff, the volunteers, even the patients. But what about you? Who do you depend on, especially when everything’s going crazy the way it is?”
    “I depend on me,” she whispered. “Look, I appreciate your concern, but I got along fine before…” Before theaccident, before James. Before so many things in her life had changed in ways she hated.
    “Before me?” he asked.
    “Yes,” she said, trying to be defiant about it. But there was no defiance in her. “This is what I’ve always done, it’s who I am.” Rather, who she’d once been, and who she wanted to be again. Right now, she was play-acting her way through it, but someday, maybe…
    “Not who you are, Fallon,” he said, raising his hand to brush her cheek. “It’s only a small part of you. There’s so much more. So many things I’m not sure you even see.”
    For an instant she didn’t flinch, it was as if she’d forgotten she was supposed to. Then, suddenly, she did. Flinched, pulled back. Cleared her throat to throw off the tension. “Look, Emoline will call for transport when you’re ready to send Mr. Chambers to the burn unit. And I need to—”
    “Don’t overdo it, Fallon. That’s all I’m saying. If you need help, you know where I am. Just ask me, will you?”
    Just ask… So hard to do, because she wanted to separate from James, not draw closer or become more dependent. Except her heart wanted to meld so badly with his…
    “Edith,” she said, stepping into the quiet room a minute or two later. It was well away from all the activity, its window with a lovely view of the Older Sister. Safety for a moment. Away from James. “How are you feeling?” she asked, pulling up a chair to the old lady’s bedside.
    “I know you have more important things to do than sit with me,” the woman said.
    “There’s nothing more important than sitting here with you for a few moments. And if anybody needs me, they know where I am.”
    “It’s so good to see you working again. It’s not too much for you, is it?”
    “They need me, and I’m doing fine.”
    “Or you need them. Because you do need this, Fallon.” Edith turned her head to the window. “It’s a lovely sight,” she said, “and I think it’s true what they say about the Three Sisters protecting everyone in their shadows. I’ve lived a blessed life here. Wouldn’t have changed a thing about it.”
    “It’s an amazing place,” Fallon agreed. “I missed it when I wasn’t here.” Wanted to get home. Ached to get home. “It was good to get back.”
    “Good to have you back,” Edith choked out. “But you don’t look happy, dear.”
    “I’m fine,” she said. “It’s been difficult, but I’m getting better.”
    “No, I don’t think you are. Fine is OK, happy is better. You need to be happy again. The way you used to be. You don’t smile now, and I miss that.”
    If only it was that simple. “I’m building up to…well, my old life, I suppose.”
    “You’re blocking it out,” Edith argued, then smiled. “Stubbornness. Good when you use it wisely, bad when you use it against yourself. And that’s what you’re doing, you know. You’re denying what you want. Denying that you want.”
    “Can I get you something to drink, Edith? Some tea, or juice?”
    “Ignoring it won’t make it go away, Fallon.”
    “Where were you all those years when I needed a mother?”
    Edith laughed. “You still need a mother, dear. We all do sometimes. And mothers come in so many forms, don’t they?” She turned her head to the window. “Isn’tit beautiful? I want to see the view while I still can.” She drew in a wistful breath. “You need to see the