Free It Had To Be You by Kathryn Shay Page B

wasn’t true. An ache radiated from the back of
his skull, but he hated to admit his weaknesses.
    She slung an arm under his and helped him
sit. She got up, put on gloves and examined the back of his skull.
He flinched. “A goose egg. The skin isn’t broken, but we should put
ice on it.” Her tone was matter-of-fact. Professional.
    “ How come you never get upset here when
something like this happens? Alotta people walk on eggshells around
wounded veterans. Especially me, with the hoof-and-mouth
thing.”
    “ Very funny.” She stood and offered him
a hand.
    “ No thanks. There’s a trick to this.
Get me a chair, will you?”
    As she watched him brace his arms on the
chair and drag himself to a standing position, she answered his
question. “I was over there, Nick, remember? I’ve seen worse than a
fall.”
    “ I guess.” When he got to his feet, she
bent back over to pick up the syringes, which were each wrapped
tight in paper. He couldn’t help her because his minor fall had
exhausted him. Another thing he hated.
    Just as Lela stood, Julie, the woman who ran
the center, appeared at the doorway. Her bright red hair framed a
face that was smiling. “Hey, there, buddy. You got a visitor.”
    Nick stilled. “Who?”
    “ That pretty little wife of yours. She
wants to take you out to a romantic lunch.”
    Romance wasn’t part of his life now and never
would be. He didn’t even think about it anymore and wished Amy
didn’t keep reminding him. “Tell her I’m doing chores.”
    “ I did. She said she’d wait for you in
the courtyard.”
    “ I don’t wanna see her.”
    “ Nick…” Lela began, but Julie cut her
off.
    “ Your choice,” the director told Nick,
“but then you have to have a one-on-one with Ken.” The staff
psychologist.
    Anger built inside Nick. But he had to make a
choice. Through gritted teeth, he said, “All right. Tell her I’ll
come down in ten minutes.”
    “ Thataboy.”
    When Julie left, he faced Lela. “I don’t want
to see her.”
    Pulling up a stool, she sat down and faced
him squarely. “I was very hurt when Len came back and didn’t want
to be with me. I’d waited so long for him, and it cut to the quick
that he didn’t want to spend time with me after we were apart for
years.”
    “ No shit?”
    “ No shit. Being ostracized from your
suffering spouse is hard on us.”
    “ So you think I should go out with
her?”
    Often Lela stayed neutral. “My opinion, as a
spouse. Yeah, go somewhere and talk to her honestly about what
you’re feeling.”
    Ten minutes later, he limped into the
courtyard and found Amy sitting at a table near the garden. God she
was small. Delicate. His hands fisted. Breakable.
    “ Hi.”
    When she turned, the expression on her
heart-shaped face was so full of joy it took his breath away. She
never got that repulsed look on her face that other people did.
“Hi.” She tucked her blond hair behind her ear. “I’m so glad you
wanted to see me.”
    He dropped down adjacent to her. “The nurse
here is the wife of one of us, you know, who has it. She said she
hated when her husband cut her out of stuff.”
    Amy straightened her shoulders and said
simply, “I do, too.” Her blue eyes mirrored her hurt.
    He swallowed hard. A part of him wanted to
fling himself into her arms and forget the world. But a larger part
wouldn’t let him. “I’ll remember that, Ames.”
    The corners of her mouth turned up at the
nickname only he called her. Actually, it was a pet name, murmured
in intimate times.
    “ So, will you go out to lunch with
me?”
    God, please let me do this. Please.
    But then she moved, and her sleeve pulled up.
He saw the remains of a yellowish-purple bruise he’d given her in
the throes of a flashback the last time they were alone. “No, I
can’t do that.”
    Swallowing hard, she looked away. God, the
last thing he wanted was to hurt her. He needed to do something to
show her how sorry he was. Slowly, he leaned in close, reached