Second Chances(78)

"Nothing else unusual?"

Sarah finished with the table and turned to face her. "Unusual? Like what?"

Julie shrugged. "I don't know. After yesterday I was a little worried so I decided to play hooky from work this morning and come join Jason for lunch."

"Well you know he is always happy to see you." Her tone was pleasant, but Julie could tell that Sarah was not pleased by the unexpected visit. She patted Jason on the shoulder. "Give me a second to go grab his lunch."

Julie pulled another chair next to Jason and sat down. She watched Sarah disappear and then turned her attention to him, reaching out and taking his hand, she almost let out a scream by the firm grip she was greeted with.

"Jason? How are you?"

She watched his eyes flick onto her, sharp and focused. He gave her an almost imperceptible shake of his head. She understood the meaning of the gesture and was flooded with a mix of relief and fear.

She opened her mouth to say more, but saw Sarah returning. She waited for her to join them. Sarah placed his lunch down on the table. A bowl of soup and a glass of water.

"Why don't you take a break, Sarah. I'd be more then happy to feed him."

Sarah looked as if she wanted to protest, but in the end she merely nodded and left them alone.

Julie picked up the spoon and slowly began to feed Jason.

"I've prepared as best I could. The tricky part is going to be getting you out and into the car. I hope I can do that fast enough. I also hope I don't hurt you too much doing it."

He looked at her again and then down at his legs, he lifted his left leg up just a fraction. Julie did her best to hide her smile. She nodded, understanding that not only did he intend to try and help, but he might actually be able to. She began to feel a bit more hopeful about their chances.

"Well, two days in a row. How wonderful."

Julie turned and saw Doris coming up behind them.

"Good morning, Doris."

"I suppose you heard about Jason? Nothing to worry about. The doctor said his chest was perfectly clear. Sarah thinks it is the change in the weather. I think it might be dust and told housekeeping to give special attention to Jason's room.

"Thank you so much."

"I hope these visits aren't going to get you in trouble with your work."

Julie shook her head. "No. I have a fair amount of freedom. Besides, Jason is my priority.

"I wish all our residents had someone in their life as devoted as you. Of course Jason is so young. Most of our residents don't have...." She stopped and put her hand over her mouth. She looked around to see if anyone else was near enough to have heard her, but the rest of the room was now empty. "My goodness. Please don't tell anyone I said a thing. Last thing my resident's families will want to hear is that I am some kind of gossip."

Julie laughed. "They won't hear a thing from me."

"Well I better let you and Jason get back to lunch. I just wanted to make sure you knew that he was okay."

"Thank you, Doris."

She watched the woman retreat back to the front desk and out of sight.

"Okay. I am going to get a wheelchair. I will tell them I want to take you for a stroll, like yesterday. Hopefully no one will be outside and we can get you into the car and out of here before they even realize what is happening."

As she began to get up, Jason reached out and grabbed the spoon from the bowl and tossed some soup onto his shirt. Julie was amazed at the speed of his movements. He looked down at the spreading stain and tilted his head ever so slightly upward

"Oh dear," she said loudly. Both Doris and Sarah came at almost a run.

Julie waved her hands to indicate nothing serious had happened.

"I'm so clumsy. I spilled some soup on his shirt."

Doris put a hand to her chest, visibly relieved and Sarah just smiled and shook her head.

"That's not a problem. We can get him changed and be back down here in no time," Sarah said. She went around the corner and returned with a wheelchair.

"Please," Julie said. "Allow me. I made the mess. The least I can do is get Jason cleaned up." She reached out for the wheelchair. Sarah looked to Doris, who smiled and nodded.

"Sure, why not. You know the way?"

Julie nodded. She helped him up and into the chair. She could tell Jason was struggling to not do too much. She wheeled him to the elevator and a minute later they were on the second floor and she was wheeling him into his room. She closed the door behind them and then turned to Jason. She started to open her mouth, but stopped when he pushed against the armrests and stood up. He reached out and placed his trembling hand over her mouth. She was not sure if she was more surprised by the speed with which he had moved or the action itself. She looked at him with wide questioning eyes.