Casey's Courage by Neva Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

relief.”
    Two days later, Vera, a female version of her brother, settled Casey in J.D.’s RV. Sedated to ease the pain of travel, Casey remained docile and drowsy for the trip, but when Brad and Vera helped her out of the RV at the ranch, she became anxious. Tres and Mattie Lou came down the sloping driveway to greet her. Mattie Lou’s voice caught Casey’s attention. She stopped, leaning on her walker. She looked long and hard at the older woman. “Pauline told me to not be a bother to you.”

    Mattie Lou smiled. “Tres didn’t put it quite that bluntly, but he said about the same about my not bothering you. Do you think we could just visit with each other when you feel like it?”
    A sad shadow passed across Casey’s face. “I don’t know much. Pauline said I forgot everything she taught me.”
    Mattie Lou didn’t bat an eye. “That’s all right. Maybe if we visit, you can learn new things.”
    Casey’s anxiety subsided. She looked at Tres. “Is this where you said I could stay?”
    Tres let out the breath he’d been holding. “It is. Come on in and see how Mattie Lou fixed your suite of rooms.”
    Every step Casey took hurt Tres, but he didn’t offer to carry her. He and Mattie Lou ambled along, talking about this and that, while Vera and Brad stayed on either side of their patient holding firmly to the wide strap around her waist.
    Mattie Lou looked over at Casey and grinned. “Brad won’t recognize the place. I redecorated to make it into a young lady’s suite. I found just the right colors to go with your pretty auburn hair and green eyes. Lots of greens, blues, and gold.” She talked on as if Casey understood every word she said.
    Inside the French doors, Casey eased down onto a gold brocade satin Queen Anne chair. She stared in awe at her surroundings, unconsciously smoothing her hand back and forth on the chair arm. “This is like some of the pictures in a magazine at the hospital. It’s pretty. Do I get to live here?”
    Mattie Lou thought her heart had suffered all the hurt it could bear while J.D. struggled for life in these rooms, but she felt it twist and bleed again as she watched the once self-sufficient Casey sitting helpless and childlike studying her with questioning eyes. “This is all yours; a sitting room, bedroom, kitchenette, and bath. Brad and Vera have an apartment through that door, so they will be close when you need them.”

    Brad watched Casey’s reaction to each new stimulus and felt hopeful for his new charge. He turned to Mattie Lou and smiled. “You’ve been reading my books. Colors in all shades with sizes, textures galore, hardwood floors, no rugs to stumble on, and lots of natural light.” Turning his attention back to Casey, he said, “Right through those doors, across a patio, is the swimming pool I told you about.”
    “The one where I can walk in the water and it won’t hurt?”
    “Yes, Ma’am.” He grinned, pleased at her short-term memory.
    “Can we do it now?”
    Brad stood close as Casey struggled up from the chair and said, “We can, if you’re not too tired.”
    Vera spoke as she came to Casey’s side. “We need to put on our swim suits before we get into the water.”
    Casey sank back down in the chair. Big tears slipped over her dark lashes trickling down her cheeks. “I don’t have a swim suit.”
    “Yes, you do. I bought you one,” Vera said in a happy singsong voice, and then added, “See the little house out by the pool?”
    Casey nodded, still looking sad.
    “It is a bathhouse that is sometime called a cabana where we can change our clothes. Brad can go out there with you while I run get our swim suits.”
    Tres and Mattie Lou slipped away in the confusion, knowing therapy was in session as the three newcomers started building a working rapport.

    Vera got into the pool and waited for Brad to put Casey in the lift-chair, so he could let her down into the water. Knowing their patient’s fear would probably resurface, Vera