Meeting Destiny Read Online Free PDF Page B

not at all for Seth. I needed to stop this.
     
    Seth’s smile faded away. He looked briefly to the ceiling as if he needed his composure before his mouth would cooperate. Then finally in a remorseful voice, “This has been the worst day of my entire life. I feel so powerless to help you. I need you to be okay. Do you understand?” Seth stared at me. His voice full of sorrow. He didn’t break his stare or pull his hand away from me.
     
    I nodded, but after feeling the intensity of his stare, I needed to calm him down, if that was even possible. “Seth, I’m fine, really. I’ve never been shot before, and honestly hope never to repeat it, but I feel okay. The doctor says I’m going to be fine.”
     
    I tried to switch gears on him and asked, “Where’s Mom?”
     
    “ Molly went home to get a shower. The doctor said you wouldn’t wake up for a while. She should be back any time. I’ll call her and let her know you’re awake again.”
     
    The nurse came in with a lunch tray, then rolled an odd-looking table over the bed in front of me. She adjusted the bed so that I was seated nearly upright, and the table was at exactly the right height. I peered at the unappealing tray of food she set in front of me. She filled my glass with water again and could see my disappointment. “Sorry Sweetie, this is the standard tray. I’ll bring you a menu so you can pick your meals for the remainder of your stay. You don’t have any dietary restrictions, so you can eat chocolate ice cream for every meal if you want.” She giggled a little and her less serious mood was exactly what I needed. I picked up the fork, “Well, thanks,” and pushed the food around a little. She gave me a half smile and disappeared out the door again.
     
    I was pretty sure the meat was chicken, but it had creamy stuff all over it. Peas were my least favorite vegetable and there was a near mountain of them on my plate. The biscuit was hard as a rock, and to top it all off – tapioca pudding. I can’t imagine who would want this meal – certainly not me. After poking everything, I realized no matter how hungry I was, I wouldn’t find this lunch appetizing. Without trying to sound pathetic, I asked, “Seth, do you think you could get me some real food?” I looked at him hopefully, knowing he didn’t want to leave.
     
    “ Sure, what do you want?”
     
    “ Chicken and French fries would be great, but at this point I’ll take anything with grease.” He rolled his eyes at me. Seth had never approved of my eating habits but made no effort to try to dissuade me this time.
     
    “ Your mom should be back anytime. I’ll go get you something as soon as she gets here.” Seth saw the disappointment on my face and smiled knowingly, “Okay I’ll go now. You’re right, I’ll probably beat her back here.” He delayed for a second as if he were arguing with himself.
     
    “ Seth, really, I’m okay. It’s okay to leave me. I’m just really hungry.” He nodded and started to turn around to leave, then stopped and stepped back toward me. He leaned down to kiss my forehead and whispered in my ear, “I’ll be right back, I miss you already.” He hesitated for just a second then walked out.
     
    I sat in silence for a minute. I was tired but not enough to nap again. I saw a television mounted on the wall and looked for a remote. There had to be one around here somewhere. I began to rifle through the drawer of the table the nurse had wheeled in front of me. The drawer’s contents included several old magazines, some hospital stationary, a couple pens, but no remote. I saw the table beside my bed and tried to angle my hand around the bed rail to open the drawer when a voice startled me.
     
    “ Is this where the town’s biggest hero is staying? I have to say I expected a little better accommodations for someone who single handedly foiled the town’s first armed robber in years. You threw yourself in front of a speeding bullet and everything. I