Victor

  Hathaway House, Book 22

  Dale Mayer

  Books in This Series:

  Aaron, Book 1

  Brock, Book 2

  Cole, Book 3

  Denton, Book 4

  Elliot, Book 5

  Finn, Book 6

  Gregory, Book 7

  Heath, Book 8

  Iain, Book 9

  Jaden, Book 10

  Keith, Book 11

  Lance, Book 12

  Melissa, Book 13

  Nash, Book 14

  Owen, Book 15

  Percy, Book 16

  Quinton, Book 17

  Ryatt, Book 18

  Spencer, Book 19

  Timothy, Book 20

  Urban, Book 21

  Victor, Book 22

  Wesley, Book 23

  Hathaway House, Books 1–3

  Hathaway House, Books 4–6

  Hathaway House, Books 7–9

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  About This Book

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  About Wesley

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

  About This Book

  Welcome to Hathaway House. Rehab Center. Safe Haven. Second chance at life and love.

  Victor found it hard to stay upbeat when faced with a life of pain and a body that seemed more broken than whole. Adding to his depression is that his injuries were deliberately caused by “friendly fire” during a joint training session. It was hard to feel his way through the fog, until one of his therapy sessions brought up the concept of finding joy in his life.

  As a pastry chef, Dawn loves to play with food. It makes her happy to see others smile. Only in Victor’s case the smiles were far between and too few to count. She made it her mission to find little ways to make him smile—only to realize that she was far too attached, considering he’d be leaving soon.

  Can he find a way forward, without leaving her behind?

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  Prologue

  Victor Westridge studied the website. He’d heard so much about this place that it was becoming like the best-known secret around. But he’d applied a long time ago and hadn’t heard back. And then, all of a sudden, out of the blue, he’d gotten a response, and now he had paperwork to fill out, if he was still interested? He was definitely, still interested, but can you believe it?

  As he looked at the computer screen and saw the glowing accolades, he wondered if it was even possible. Could something be that good? He wasn’t so sure. And yet he knew several people who had been there and had made it through rehab, and he still wasn’t exactly sure if they were all lying and making this up or what.

  Just then one of the VA nurses, Gerry, walked in to check his blood pressure. Something that he was constantly being hit with. From beside his bed, she glanced at the website casually and said, “Oh, now look at that. That’s a place for you to get into, if you can.”

  “Why is that?” he asked her.

  “I’ve heard nothing but great things about it,” she told him. “And I have had previous patients contact me afterward, telling me what an absolute delight it was to go there. If you get a chance, go.”

  “I just got an acceptance,” he shared, with a wry look, “but I don’t know if my doctors will let me travel.”

  “Your blood pressure’s high, and we do have some problems stabilizing some of your medications,” she noted, as she looked down at his stump. “And it depends on the healing on that leg.”

  “You mean, on the lack of a leg,” he clarified, looking down.

  She nodded. “It’s pretty fresh, and you have a long way to go in that healing department. But they would help you a lot.” She added, “You also lost a lot of muscle and volume on that one hip, and that’s something else to be of a concern.”

  “Meaning the fact that I won’t sit much.”

  “Or ever,” she noted. “If these guys take you on, give them a shot. They’ll do an awful lot more for you there than we can here. Here they’ve done the rough work, but that special physio is what you need next.” She shook her head. “I don’t know that you can get what you need here.”

  “They’ve got a ton of paperwork for me to deal with,” he complained, “and that’s kind of next on my list.”

  “Do it,” she urged. “And let me know how you make out.”

  “I can try. Do you know anybody who works there?”

  “Yes, one of my friends works in the kitchen.”

  “Yeah? As a cook?”

  “She’s a line cook or something like that. She works for somebody named Dennis.”

  “Interesting. You can always let her know that I might be coming.”

  “I tell you what,” Gerry suggested. “You fill out your paperwork, and I’ll tell her that you’re coming. When you get there, you tell her that I sent you.”

  He chuckled. “In other words, you just want the credit for my going.”

  “I would love to have the credit for your going,” she admitted. “I know it would be a great place.”

  “So why are you still here?”

  “Because they don’t have staff turnover,” she shared. “Otherwise I would be there in a heartbeat.”

  “I can always put in a good word for you too.”

  She stared at Victor in surprise. “Now that’s a deal, and thank you for that.”

  He shook his head. “You’ve looked after me for how many months now?” he began, “and very selflessly too. So I have no problem recommending you for work there.”

  “Good, I would absolutely love to end up there. However, in the meantime, we have to get you there first.”

  “Okay, I got another deal.” He grinned. “I’ll get this application in and completed, if you can help me with this mess of paperwork I have to fill out.”

  She burst out laughing. “It’s a deal. I’ll come back on my coffee break.” And, with that, she disappeared.

  And he stared down at the website, grinning. “Maybe it is my lucky day after all,” he murmured to himself. “If Gerry’s willing to go to bat to get me there, maybe there’s something to be said for this Hathaway House place.”

  He could hope so. It seemed that he’d come as far as he could here, and, even now, as he stared down at the mangled end of his stump, it wasn’t looking great. He probably couldn’t travel for a while, but he sure wanted to. Anything to get out of here, anything to get away from the memories. Yet the thought of the trip was enough to make his blood curdle too. But, hey, change didn’t come without pain, and he was prepared for pain—if it meant improvements.

  So he opened up the forms again. And winced. “I’ll be here all night,” he muttered. But there was no time like the present to get started, so he got down to work, grabbed a pen, and started getting the information together that he needed to fill out these forms. Hopefully this would be the change that he needed in his life. Now and forever.

  Chapter 1

  Victor stared around him at his private room, which was pretty impressive in itself. He also had a great view of the land surrounding this facility, and he marveled at the well-kept grounds, the fences, the barns, and then the animals that came into view. Any place that took on humans and animals had to be a good company with good people running it, right? It was way more than he had expected and so much more than he could have even hoped for. He was here finally, and it seemed so long ago when he and Nurse Gerry at the VA Center had looked at the Hathaway House website and then had done the paperwork to get him here.

  First he had dealt with a waitlist, then the testing and then getting needed permissions from his old doctors, and then all kinds of messes to get through before Victor made it here. His horrific journey had been painful, but it got him here. And now? Now that he was here in his own room, he was starting a new path.

  Just knowing that his rehab here would be so different from where he’d been gave him a bad case of nerves. Not that he would ever show anybody. Once he’d received the confirmation that he was being shipped off, Gerry had been so ecstatic that she had contacted her friend Dawn, who worked in the Hathaway House kitchen. And that’s when Gerry found out Dawn wasn’t a line cook but was the bakery chef.

  Victor had to smile at that because who didn’t love baked goods? It also meant that decent food must be here if they had a chef just for baking. Victor was beyond exhausted after the painful trip to Hathaway House and yet hyped up and stressed on the inside. When a knock came on his open door, he rolled his head to the side and smiled at the young woman who stepped in. He immediately knew she would be someone he could trust, someone who had his best interests at heart. Kinda like Gerry, only it had taken him longer to warm up to her. Victor murmured, “Hey. I hope you don’t need me to do much. I’m too tired and exhausted just getting here.”

  She smiled and nodded. “How about just say hi?”

  “Hi,” he replied.

  She chuckled. “I’m Dawn. Glad that you finally made it.”

  He stared at her for a moment, then his face lit up. “You’re Gerry’s friend.” No wonder he had instantly connected with
Dawn. They shared the same heartfelt persona toward the patients. She seemed too young to be a pastry chef though, considering how she had to be trained and take classes, right?

  “Yeah, Gerry and I go way back,” she shared, “and she tells me that you’ve been a great patient.”

  “Is anybody a great patient?” he asked, with a shrug. “None of us want to be in this situation. I can tell you that she’s been a great nurse to keep my mood up, as I tried to get in here. The waitlist was deadly.”

  “There’s always a waitlist to get in here,” Dawn admitted. “I’ve already had several texts from her to see if you’re here and if you’re okay.”

  He nodded and then smiled. “That’s the thing. Gerry doesn’t belong back there. She belongs someplace where people care. … She was never really appreciated there by her coworkers. We always got along great, and the other patients loved her too.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Dawn noted. “There is a chance of a job coming up here, and I could put in a good word for her.”

  “And I will too,” he noted. “That was part of the condition for her helping me get the paperwork done for this place,” he said, with a laugh. “We were a pair, take one, take both. Yet I honestly would not have a problem recommending her regardless. Even the fact that she’s checking in to see if I arrived safely shows you how much heart she has.”

  “And heart is something we always need,” said someone from the door.

  Victor twisted and then shuddered at the pain and closed his eyes, gasping.

  “None of that. Don’t move your neck,” the woman stated, stepping forward. “Hey, Dawn. How’re you doing?”

  “I’m doing good. This is the friend of a friend I told you about.”

  “Ah, I remember. This is Gerry’s friend, isn’t it?”

  “Gerry looked after me at the VA Center,” Victor murmured, when he could. “It’s just a sign of how much heart she has that she was checking in to see whether I’d made it or not.”

  “We always need people with heart.” She chuckled. “So we’ll definitely take a look at her résumé.”

  “That would be good,” Victor said. “She could really use a place like this to work in.”

  “You haven’t been here long enough to know that personally,” She noted in a teasing voice.

  “Maybe, but it doesn’t seem as if anybody has anything bad to say about it.”

  “Some people will always have something to say about events that you wish went another way,” she acknowledged, “but, as a general rule, I find most of the people here are happy with their rehab program.”

  Victor nodded. And then winced again.

  “Stop moving that neck,” she chastised him.

  “It was fine, but I kinked it on the way here.”

  “I can have one of the physios come and take a look, or do you need a painkiller for it?”

  “No,” Victor replied, “it’s not that bad.”

  She laughed. “Of course not. It’s never that bad.”

  His stomach growled at that moment. “Hey, sorry,” he said, embarrassed.

  “No problem,” She replied. “I understand that you made the journey without a lot of food.”

  “Yeah,” he responded in a dry tone. “The upset bowels are not fun when traveling.”

  “Nope,” She agreed, “but you’re here now, and you have your bathroom right here. If you need any assistance, just tell us.” She stepped forward and handed him an e-tablet and then held out some paperwork.

  “More paperwork,” he mumbled, with a groan.

  “Always paperwork,” She stated, with a laugh. “It’s just part and parcel of life.”

  “I get it,” he muttered, as he held out a hand, and she gave him the sheaf of papers. “I always wonder why we’re supposedly so digital and yet still caught up in paper though? Why can’t we do this all digitally?”

  She shrugged. “I can do this digitally. Would you prefer that?”

  “I would,” he replied. “Digital signing, or whatever that latest system is, sounds much more user-friendly to me.”

  “Good.” She nodded. “I like to see progressive patients. I’ll send this back to you tonight, if I can. Otherwise watch for it tomorrow morning. Regardless, the paperwork has to happen, and fast.”

  “Then do it tonight,” Victor stated, “if it’s not too late for you.”

  She checked her phone for the time. “I should get it done tonight. And I’m Dani, by the way,” she muttered, as she walked out the door again.

  He stared at the empty doorway. “Dani? That’s Dani?” he asked Dawn in a low whisper.

  At that, Dawn chuckled. “Yes. Now, I am from the kitchen, so if you want me to go get you something, I’m quite happy to.”

  He stared at her. “I hate to put that on anybody.”

  “And you also know that, in times of need, that’s what we do,” she stated, with a smile. “I don’t plan to get you anything super fancy to further upset that stomach of yours, but, if you can’t make it to the dining room for dinner tonight,” she explained, “we still don’t want you to go without a meal.”

  “I understand that.” Victor nodded. “I don’t even know if I’m allowed to go down myself.”

  “And that’s another good point,” she said. “It is late, and you have just arrived, so it might be better if I just go get you something.”

  He shrugged. “If you think so.”

  “I do,” she said, seeming to make a sudden decision. “The question is, what do you like?”

  “Food,” he replied instantly.

  She burst out laughing. “Good enough. Beef, chicken, or are you just okay for me to get anything? Do you have any food issues?”

  “No, thankfully I eat almost everything I like. Some things don’t necessarily like me though.”

  “I think that goes for all of us,” she agreed, with a bright smile. “I’ll get you a selection and come back.”

  “Doesn’t need to be a selection,” he pointed out. “Just get me a plate of food. I promise I’ll be a good boy and eat it.”

  With another bright grin, she took off.

  “Wow,” he muttered, “that was easy.”

  He also felt really happy about Gerry’s prospects here. She’d worked tirelessly to make him comfortable all the time, so he had absolutely no problem recommending her to Dani.

  “And wasn’t Dani something,” he muttered to himself. So young too. Or at least she looked young. A place like this had to age people quickly though. He wasn’t exactly sure how that worked, but, as far as he was concerned, so far everybody he’d met here had been great—even the front-desk staff when he had first arrived, and it had been total chaos out there at that time. Yet the receptionist had smiled and had done what she could to get Victor to his room.

  Now here he was, settling back. Although he had absolutely no wish to go anywhere or to see anything at this point in time, he could see that maybe tomorrow—after a good night’s sleep—he could have a completely different state of mind. When a knock came on his open door, he was expecting to see Dawn. Instead a man held a small dog. Victor shook his head. “If you’re lost, I am the last person to direct you. I just got here today.”

  At that comment, the man raised his eyebrows. “Wow, not bad timing then for me, if you’re here, and you’re on day one,” he said. “We’ll just come in, and I’ll introduce you to Racer here. I’m Stan, and I have the vet clinic downstairs.”

  “Oh, wow,” Victor replied. “Animals inside and outside? That’s great to hear.”

  Stan nodded. “I keep an awful lot of animals for therapy, and you’ll see this guy out and about quite a bit,” he noted. “The wheels are important for him to be mobile on his own, which he doesn’t do very much of. He’s usually carried around by the patients a lot. A word of warning, though, that I have to give everybody. Do not in any way feed Racer. He has a very sensitive digestive system, and he can get quite sick.”

  “I won’t do that for sure. I have my own sensitive stomach issues, so I can relate to the little guy.” Victor gently patted him. The tiny Chihuahua’s tail went crazy. “He’s friendly, isn’t he?”

  “Absolutely he’s friendly. He loves people, and lots of people love him,” Stan stated, with a smile. “I didn’t mean to disturb you on your first day here. I’m sure you’re tired and confused over all the new procedures.”