Show Time Read Online Free PDF Page A

almost collided. “Razi, come over here. You need to watch where you’re going, buddy.”
    “No problem,” the man said. “I’m told I’ll be able to do that someday, too. But for now, I’m more tippy than tappy. Sergeant Pinkham, at your service. But you can call me Sarge.”
    “Good to meet you, Sarge. Fred Carter. And these are my children Keisha and Razi.”
    “Is Razi our little Fred Astaire?”
    Razi looked up at Sgt. Pinkham. “I’m not Fred Astaire. I’m Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson and I’m practicing my stair dance. Do you want to see?” Razi didn’t wait for his audience to decide; he ran ahead to the real steps at the entrance to the hospital.
    “If you don’t mind, I’ll sit down for this.” Sgt. Pinkham brushed off one of the benches that flanked the walk and sat down. Keisha could see that it hurt him to move from the way he pressed his lips together when his bottom found the bench seat.
    “It’s not so much the walking but the uneven ground. I’m waiting for a better sleeve.”
    “I’m sorry.” Daddy took a seat beside Sgt. Pinkham. He patted the space beside him, but since Keisha didn’t have her snow pants on, she stood next to Daddy at the side of the bench and leaned on his shoulder.
    “I’m not quite following you,” Daddy said. “A sleeve to help your leg feel better?”
    “That’s the word they use for the fitting between my real leg and my artificial one. When I try to walk on the snow, this one rubs against my skin … it’s like … well, like a shoe that doesn’t fit right.”
    “How long since …,” Daddy started to ask, but then his voice trailed off.
    “I got hit by an IED—that’s an improvised explosive device—while delivering supplies outside of Kabul last March. Four pieces of shrapnel lodged in my lower leg. They’ve tried to save it. I’ve had twelve surgeries. But a couple of months ago, the docs decided my only two options were to fuse my ankle together or to take off the lower leg entirely. It was a hard decision to make, but I decided to have my leg removed. With all the new prosthetic technology, I’ll be able to do a lot more with an artificial limb than a damaged real one. It’s only been a month since that surgery, so the stump’s a little tender.”
    “You had it removed.…” As he talked, Daddy pointed at Sgt. Pinkham’s knee, which caused the man to flinch to avoid being touched.
    “Funny thing,” Sgt. Pinkham said. “Even when it’s not there, I try to protect my injured foot from getting hurt.”
    “I’ve read that amputees can still feel the limb that’s been removed.”
    “You mean the phantom toes?” Sarge reached out as if he was going to massage his foot, but rubbed his thigh instead. “I sure can. Sometimes I wake up at night because of the itching. Other times, I feel like the toes are all twisted together. It’s really strange.”
    They stopped talking for a minute and watched Razi as he rocked back and forth, tapping the step with his toe, jumping up two steps, down one, then tapping across.
    “Those little foot movements seem like such a miracle to me now,” Sarge said after watching a minute. “I guess I took all that for granted until, well … until I couldn’t anymore.”
    “Sounds like you’ve been here awhile,” Daddy said. “Did you grow up in Grand River?”
    Sgt. Pinkham laughed. “Nosireee Bob! I grew up in the mountains of Colorado. My mom and my sister fly out once a month to see how I’m coming along, but I miss them
almost
as much as I miss the mountains.” Sgt. Pinkham winked at Keisha to show he was joking.
    A rustling sound in front of them caused Keisha to jump in surprise. A fat, bushy squirrel holding an apple core was perched on the edge of a garbage can just across the sidewalk.
    Keisha pressed into Daddy. The squirrel was so close she could see little huffs of warm breath coming out of its mouth.
    “Familiar little guy,” Daddy remarked. “In fact, that’s why