The Protector (42 page)
“He disabled the building sprinklers?”
“Either that or they never worked.”
“Please don’t blame yourself,” she whispered.
He touched the back of her hand. “Is this going to bring back all the memories of the nursing home?”
It was a worried question and it brought a lot of comfort that he would ask. “If it does, it will fade. How’s Cole?”
“He got caught by the second explosion and has some flash burns. He’ll recover.”
Jack walked back to the window.
Cassie watched him and sensed there was a lot more here than what he had said so far. “Are you going to tell me?” she asked softly.
He was prowling around the hospital room struggling to push down emotions. She’d seen it before.
He sank back down in the chair beside her bed and buried his head in his hands, raking his fingers through his hair. “Jennifer’s here. It’s so hard, Cassie. I don’t want to accept she is dying. I have no choice but to accept it.”
Her heart hurt at that broken admission from him. She knew how tight Jack held to his family, how close he was to Jennifer. He would do anything to protect her. “If you don’t accept it, you’re just going to hurt yourself,” she whispered.
“Jesus loves her as much as I do?”
Tears filled Cassie’s eyes. She felt the depth of those quiet words. “More.”
“I know Jesus is alive; I got past that hurdle tonight while I lay there helpless. It’s finally more plausible that He is who He claimed to be than not. I just resent not being the one in charge when it’s Jennifer we’re talking about.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, of relief that he had finally wrestled through the question of who Jesus was, of sadness that he was so deeply hurting. Cassie shifted her hand to his shoulder. “Being a follower isn’t so bad. Jack—” she waited until he looked at her—“when it’s time for Jennifer to go to heaven, let her go with grace. That’s the gift you most need to give her.”
He looked at her and in the silence Cassie finally saw if not peace, then at least acceptance.
“Jesus loves her,” Cassie whispered. “Really loves her.”
His hand brushed back her hair. She closed her eyes and relaxed into the touch. She was so thankful he believed. Where this was going now… He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Get some sleep.”
The one good thing about a hospital on a holiday weekend was that dawn came and lightened the room before a nurse appeared to interrupt the peaceful stillness. Cole could see the edge of pink in the dawn and could tell the coldness outside by the occasional brush of wind against the windowpanes. Cole heard footsteps in the hall and turned to look as the door was slowly pushed open.
“Cole?”
He raised his hand to warn Jack.
Rachel was asleep. He’d been watching her for the last hour. She was asleep in one of the hospital chairs, curled sideways, her legs drawn up, her head resting against the curve in the high back of the chair. It had to be the most awkward place to sleep. It was a tribute to her fatigue that she slept without any sign of movement.
Cole saw Jack’s expression soften and shared that reaction. Rachel had come up last night when they transferred him from the ER to a room, had helped in so many small ways to make the transition easier to accept. Just having her available to make calls for him had been invaluable. The burns weren’t too serious, but the smoke inhalation was enough to make him glad he was flat on his back. He thought they talked about her getting a lift home with Frank, but now that he thought about it, she’d just nodded as he gave her options.
“I’m going to take Cassie home,” Jack whispered. “She’s getting stir-crazy at the idea of staying.”
“Good. Thanks. You’ll keep her company tonight for New Year’s Eve? I don’t want her even thinking about going to the department party.”
“I will.”
Cole nodded toward Jack’s arm. “How’s the shoulder?” Cole still hated the memory of what he’d been forced to do to get Jack out.
Jack stopped at the side of the bed. “It aches but I’ll live.”
Cole raised his hand to his chin and looked at Jack enquiringly. “How bad’s my sunburn?”
“Enough Rachel will want to sympathize but not enough Jennifer will do more than suggest you swallow aspirin.”
“That’s what I thought.” He glanced at Rachel. “She stayed the night.”
“She likes you.”
“Yeah. I think so. It feels nice.”
“Do you want a lift home later today? I can plan to come back in.”
“I’ll call if I do. Before I make plans I want to hang around and see when Ash is going to get released.” He didn’t want to ask but he needed to. “Is Gage here?”
“Working on his follow-up piece,” Jack confirmed.
“If you see him, please ask him to come up.” Cole knew he needed to talk to the man professionally but also for much more personal reasons.
“I’ll ask him to come up.” Jack nodded to Rachel. “Take care of her.”
“I plan to,” Cole reassured, feeling it as a promise.
A
re you falling asleep before midnight?” Cassie leaned over the edge of the couch to look down at Jack. He was stretched out on the floor, his head resting against a pillow near the center of the couch, his eyes closed. She was now wide awake and headache free. He wasn’t in so good a shape. “The new year is eighteen minutes away.”
“Come kiss me awake in seventeen minutes.”
She blinked at that lazy suggestion, gave a quick grin, and dropped Benji on his chest.
He opened one eye to look up at her as he settled his hand lightly on the kitten. “That’s a no?”
She smiled. She was looking forward to dating him, but she was smart enough to know he’d value more what he had to work at.
He sighed. “That was a no. How much longer am I going to be on the fence with you?”
“Is that a rhetorical question or do you want an answer?” If this was the right relationship God had for her future, time taken now would improve it, not hurt it. She was ready to admit she was tired of being alone.
He scratched Benji under the chin and the kitten curled up on his chest and batted a paw at his hand. “Rhetorical. I’d hate to get my hopes up.”
She leaned her chin against her hand, looking down at him. “I like you, Jack.”
“You just figured that out?”
“I’ll like you more when you catch my mouse.”
“The only way we are going to catch T. J. is to turn this place into a cheese factory and help her get so fat and slow she can no longer run and hide.”
“Or you could move your left hand about three inches to the right and catch her.”
Jack opened one eye and glanced toward his left. The white mouse was sitting motionless beside the plate he had set down earlier. Jack closed his eye again. “Let her have the cheeseburger. You put mustard on it.”
“You’re horrible.”
He smiled. “I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Jack leaned over, caught Cassie’s foot, and tumbled her to the floor. “Oops.”
“That wasn’t fair. You scared my mouse.”
Jack set the kitten down on the floor. “Benji, go get her mouse.”
The kitten took off after it.
“You’re teaching her to be a mouser.”
“Working on it. Come here. You owe me a kiss for the new year.”
“Do I?” She reached over to the bowl of chocolates on the table and unwrapped a kiss. She popped the chocolate kiss in his mouth. “I called your bluff.”
He smiled and rubbed his hand across her forearm braced against his chest. “That will last me until next year.”
She glanced at the muted television. “That’s two minutes away.”
“Two minutes to put this year behind us.” He slid one arm behind his head, adjusting the pillow.
She patted his chest with her hand. “That shouldn’t take long.” She felt him laugh. “It ended up being a very good year,” she offered.
“Next year will be even better.”
“Really? Promise?”
“Absolutely.” He reached behind her ear and a gold coin reappeared. “What do you think? Heads you say yes when I ask you out, tails you say no?”
She grinned at the idea. “Are you cheating again?” She took the coin. “This one isn’t edible,” she realized, disappointed. And then she turned it over. “A real two-headed coin?”
“A rare find.” He smiled. “Like you.”
“That sounds like a bit of honey.”
“I’m good at being mushy.”
“Oh, really?”
He glanced over her shoulder. “Turn up the T V. There’s the countdown.”
She grabbed for the remote and hit the wrong button. The television came on full volume just as the fireworks went off. Benji went racing past them spooked by the noise to dive under the collar of the jacket Jack had tossed on the floor. The white mouse scurried to run into the jacket sleeve.
“Tell me I didn’t see what I think I just did.”
“I won’t tell you,” Jack agreed, amused. He watched the jacket move and raised an eyebrow. “Am I supposed to rescue the kitten or the mouse?”
Dear Reader,
Thanks for reading this book. I deeply appreciate it.
Fire has always fascinated me, even more the men and women who fight them and why. It’s a special person who stands guard to protect the public. I’ve had the honor of knowing such men and they are guys you can count on when trouble comes. In Jack and Cassie’s story, I hope I captured a slice of their lives and was able to convey the deep friendship that ties them together.
Jack’s story also offered an opportunity to ask a profound question: Who is Jesus? Cassie Ellis has found the real meaning of Christmas and Jack is still searching to understand. To Jack, Jesus seemed to be the serious myth that people believed in at Christmas, Santa Claus the childish one. Watching Jack with Cassie, with Jennifer and Rachel, as he searched for an answer, was a chance to see a man honestly asking why and not shying away from making a life-changing decision.
By the way, about Rachel…Cole and Rachel were an added bonus. I had no idea this man existed until I wrote the opening chapter of this book. I’m looking forward to telling Rachel and Cole’s story in
The Healer
.
As always, I love to hear from my readers. Feel free to write me at:
Dee Henderson
c/o Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
351 Executive Drive
Carol Stream, IL 60188
E-mail: [email protected]
or on-line:
http://www.deehenderson.com
First chapters of all my books are on-line; please stop by and check them out. Thanks again for letting me share Jack and Cassie’s story.
Sincerely,
The publisher and author would love to hear your comments about this book.
Please contact us at:
www.deehenderson.com
