The Embattled Road (Lost and Found Series) Read Free

this.
    He looked down at his motionless legs. It was probably a hell of a downer for the party girl to think she was going to have to take care of him the rest of her life.
    The fact that feeling had begun to return to his legs didn’t matter. It wouldn’t change the outcome tonight, so he kept the information to himself.
    His ex -fiancée continued to weep beside the bed. Her audacity spiked his fury.
    “Ok, Melanie, you can stop with the water works.”
    She looked up at him from tear-drenched eyes that did nothing for him. She’d chosen her path.
    “I’m sorry, Duncan. I wish things had turned out differently.”
    He wasn’t interested in her platitudes. “Yeah, well, drive safe back to Ohio. Ship my stuff to my parents in Colorado.”
    Her eyes widened at the dismissal, and she opened her mouth as if to argue. Instead, she snapped her jaw shut, turned on her heel and disappeared from his life.
    The amount of relief he felt that she was gone surprised him. They’d been a little rocky to begin with, before he ever left for Iraq, but he didn’t think she’d betray him with such a flourish. He was a little regretful that he didn’t have anybody to share his news with other than his parents, who were on the other end of the country.
    Lacey walked in just then, as if she’d heard his thoughts. She gave him a cautious smile. “I saw your honey leave. She didn’t look happy.”
    He snorted. “She’s not my honey anymore. Guess she got tired of waiting for me. She’s pregnant.”
    The nurse winced. “Ouch. Nice. Let me guess, she was lonely and needed companionship?”
    Duncan looked at her, surprised. “How did you know?”
    Lacey shook her dark head. “Sad to say, but it happens a good bit in here. You guys are long term, and a lot of people just can’t deal with the way their lives have to change.” She shrugged. “I’ve been doing this several years, and the ones that hang around the first few months post-injury will likely be around for a long time.”
    He mulled that over as she fiddled with his IV. Some of the guys had family at the hospital day and night. Others didn’t have anybody. One Marine down the hall hadn’t had any family visit. Ever.
    His parents had just left for home in Colorado. They’d been here for most of his recovery, until he’d told them to get back to their lives. They’d been reluctant at first, unwilling to leave him alone, but he’d persuaded them, promising that he’d relocate back there. It was the first time his father had left the family print shop for any length of time. Sam, his brother, was running it while they were gone.
    He had to be honest with himself. The Marines had no use for a grunt in a wheelchair. Even a career man like himself. The thought of trying to find a job while restrained this way absolutely nauseated him, but no other option was available. His father had reassured him that there would always be a job available at the shop, but that would be the same as taking welfare.
    It made him that much more determined to get out of the chair.
    Lacey paused beside his bed, an earnest look on her young face. Her pretty eyes were soft with understanding. “You need to know that when they walk out like that, it’s not the patient’s fault. It’s a failing in them, not you guys. I’ve been a nurse here for six years, and it always happens the same way. But the Marine always conquers and adapts.”
    Duncan snorted at the way she dropped her voice and puffed out her chest for that last part.
    “Well,” he admitted. “I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m not that upset. I think I kind of knew it was coming.”
    Lacey grinned and nodded her head. “I thought not. Besides,” she said as she turned to leave, “you’ve got much bigger things to think about.”
    She wiggled his blanket-covered toes before walking out the door.
     
    A week after he started getting sensation in his feet, they moved him out of the single unit room into a double occupancy.