Xavier (Hathaway House #24)

Chapter 1

X avier Hortense stared around his room. It wasn’t even his room. It was a temporary room. Apparently one of the beds that was supposed to be empty and ready for him wasn’t . He looked back at the woman who was busy trying to give him an explanation. He just held up a hand. “It’s fine. I gather you guys are busy.”

“An ambulance didn’t arrive to transfer our patient, which is to be your room,” she added, with a nod. “So this is your room for the moment. I’ll get you into your assigned room as soon as I can.” She gave him a gentle smile. “Sorry. This isn’t the way we normally operate.”

He shrugged. “I’ve waited a long time, so I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

“It matters,” she stated. “And it’s still not the way we normally do business. So, as soon as I can, we’ll get you into your own space.” And, with that, she disappeared.

But he didn’t get a chance to do much of anything before another woman walked in, a notepad in her hand, looking up, smiling at him. “Hey. I understand you just got here, and we don’t have a room for you.”

He smiled at her. “That’s what I understand. Glad it’s not a big deal.”

“No, and it doesn’t happen often,” she shared, “but we have hundreds of people here at any given time, so, when things like an ambulance doesn’t show up or Patient Care doesn’t show up or whatever the case maybe, it can have a domino effect.”

He nodded. “And who are you?”

“Oh, sorry.” She flashed him a smile. “Talia Sweetling. I arrange some of the programs here. I’m a coordinator.”

He nodded. “So you’re trying to coordinate me a room?”

“Nope, Dani’s off doing that right now.”

“Dani?”

She nodded toward the door. “The woman who just left.”

“Ah.” Xavier nodded. “She did tell me that she would get me into my room soon.”

“Oh, you have one slotted. It just didn’t get emptied,” Talia stated, with a sigh. “We’re working on it.”

He nodded. “And what do you coordinate?”

“All kinds of programs, including yoga, day trips, horseback riding, blah, blah, blah .” She grinned good-naturedly at him. “If you want to do anything, and we don’t offer it, just let me know. I’ll see if I can find somebody to teach it.”

He stared at her. “Did you say yoga?”

“I did, indeed.”

“Wow, I don’t think I’ll be anywhere close to doing yoga for a very long time.”

“You never know,” she said, studying him. “I teach yoga. So, if you want to take a class, I would be happy to have you there.”

“I don’t think so,” he replied, with a headshake. “I want to sleep through the night and get through the day like a normal person, not with my legs going out from under me or my back giving way and crumpling me to the ground.”

“Ah.” She nodded. “So, in other words, health first.”

“Exactly,” he agreed. “And now you’re supposed to tell me that they aren’t mutually exclusive.”

“They sure aren’t,” she confirmed, with a big grin. “Yet you aren’t the first one to think that. Priorities in your world basically come down to health and fitness before yoga.”

“I guess not too many people want to do yoga, huh ?”

“Lots of them do,” she clarified, with a bright smile. “The ones who don’t are the ones who have never done it before and don’t understand its benefits.”

He stared at her. “So yoga has benefits?” She burst out into peals of laughter that found an answering tug on his lips. “Well, you’ve given me something to smile about today, which I wasn’t so sure would happen.”

Immediately she frowned at him. “What’s the matter?”

“You mean, outside of the fact that life sucks?”

“Yeah, outside of that.”

“In the VA Center I just left, I had to leave behind my best buddy. We went through two tours in Iraq together,” he began. “I wasn’t even sure about coming here without him, but he wanted me to come ahead anyway. Then he got really sick just before I left. I still don’t even know if he’s survived.”

She stared at him. “I am so sorry, and, of course, it’s worse now that you’re here because you feel cut off.”

He nodded. “I do.”

“What’s his name?” she asked, clicking her pen.

“Why? You’ll phone the VA Center and see if he’s okay?”

“I presume you’ve already tried to call him directly?”

He nodded. “No answer.”

“So then, yes, I’ll phone the VA Center and see if we can get an update.” When he frowned, she shrugged. “That’s just the right thing to do, so you can expect us to go the extra mile here.”

“I’m surprised, but, yes, please call. His name is Zander Tolston.”

“It’ll take me a little bit to get through,” she began, “so do you want a cup of coffee or anything while we wait for your room to be ready?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know that I could keep anything down right now.”

“Fine. Let me get you some updated information on Zander, and then we’ll go from there.” And, with that, she darted off.

*

Talia raced to her office, ignoring all the chaos going on around her. Some days were like this. Most were not. But they had enough problems and logistical issues that only so much could be done, and it would take a little time to solve them. However, confirming Zander’s status was something she could solve right now. She made the phone call, and, when she got patched through to the admitting office, she asked them about the health status of this Zander. She quickly explained who was asking and why.

“Ah, right,” replied the lady on the other end. “Xavier just left the VA today.”

“Yes, that’s correct, and he’s arrived here at Hathaway House, but he’s pretty worried about his friend Zander.”

“The two of them were inseparable,” the woman shared.

“ Were ?” Talia asked.

“Sorry. He’s not dead. That’s a turn of phrase because Zander isn’t right here. Let me see what I can find out.”

Talia was put on hold and stood here waiting and waiting and wondering if everybody’s life was as chaotic as theirs. At that moment the woman came back on the phone.

“He’s been taken to Emergency,” she declared. “I don’t have an update from this afternoon, but this morning Zander was breathing on his own. Yet he does appear to have a bad case of pneumonia.”

“Xavier told me that Zander had pneumonia already.”

“He also has compromised lungs, so any case of pneumonia is a big deal.”

“Right,” Talia agreed. “What hospital?” Writing down the name of the hospital, she ended the call with, “Thank you.” Then she headed back down to where Xavier still sat, staring out the window.

He looked up when she walked in, took one look at her face, and replied, “It’s not good news, is it?”

“It’s not terribly bad news either,” she clarified, “so let’s keep that in mind. Your friend’s been taken back to the hospital for pneumonia.”

He nodded at that. “He had pneumonia before.”

“Seems his lungs are compromised.”

He winced at that. “I was really hoping that he could beat this. He’s been trying to come here for ages but always has a health setback.”

“Just because he’s got pneumonia doesn’t mean he can’t come here. It just means he’s probably not strong enough to make the trip.”

“Exactly,” Xavier noted, resting his head back. “I told him that I would wait with him until he was stronger, but he wanted me to come ahead.”

“And that sounds like a good thing. We can’t do everything for everyone, the way what hospitals can do. Yet obviously he wants you to be here to get whatever benefit you can in the meantime.”

“Maybe. Did they say what hospital?”

She nodded. “I wrote it down for you, and I’ll check again later today,” she offered. “Now that we’ve got that little bit of news—and it’s not enough yet, but we’re working on it—can I get you a cup of coffee?”

He nodded. “That would be quite nice, thank you. I appreciate it.… I would get it myself, but I don’t know where I’m going.”

She smiled at him. “Would you like to see?”

He nodded. “It’s better than sitting here and doing nothing.”

She handed him her notepad. “You hang on to that, and we’ll head to the dining room, and see if you want something else to go with your coffee.”

“I’m not very hungry,” he replied.

“That can change as soon as you see the food here.”

“I didn’t eat much at the other place either,” he shared. “Food doesn’t generally appeal anymore.”

“Well, let’s see.”

As she pushed him down the hallway, he looked around and muttered, “It’s a big place.”

“It is a big place and getting bigger all the time.”

“You guys are expanding?”

“We are. We just seem to be in a constant state of growth here.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“Yes, but the logistics of catching up on the staff requirements while we add more patients can be a struggle.”

“And more beds,” he noted, with a sigh.

“We’re getting your bed ready, and housekeeping’s in there right now. I figured we could get you a coffee first, and then I’ll take you to your room, where you can relax in your own space.”

“Thank you.”