CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ben walked with Luca into the school, eager to see Amelia and find out how she was doing. It had become something of a necessity for him to know how she felt each day.
They were earlier than usual, but she was already seated at the table with her laptop. She glanced up as they approached the desk, her gaze dropping to what he held in his hands.
Smiling, Ben set the iced mocha latte and the bag with a chocolate chip cookie on the table in front of her. “Coffee delivery.”
She gave him a small smile as she reached for the cup. “Thank you. You’re going to spoil me.”
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Ben said.
She took a sip, then let out a sigh. “It’s perfect.”
“How are you feeling today?” he asked.
The pleasure she’d expressed for the coffee melted away, leaving her expression closed off.
“You don’t like being asked that, do you?” Ben said.
“Not really,” she admitted. “It’s just such a loaded question, and there’s no easy answer.”
“I have an idea.” He moved around the table to be closer to her, then lowered himself to the floor. His mother would be horrified to see him sitting on the floor, but he needed to be closer to Amelia’s level.
She turned toward him, her drink cupped in her hands. “What’s your idea?”
“I had a nanny once who had a paper with faces on it. Like smiley faces, except they weren’t all smiling. One was sad. One was mad. Another was frustrated. When I got home from school, she’d have me point to the face that best showed how I felt about my day.”
“You want me to use emojis to answer the question of how I’m feeling?”
“No, not exactly. As I got older, she moved from smiley faces to a system using one to ten, with one being a horrible day and ten being a great day.”
Amelia didn’t look convinced. “How would that work for me?”
“I was thinking maybe, instead of answering if you were fine or not, you could give me a rating of your symptoms. Like, what are your two most impacting symptoms? The ones that have the biggest effect on you.”
“Pain and fatigue,” she answered without hesitation.
“So, how about you give me two numbers whenever I ask how you are? One for your pain level and one for fatigue.”
She still looked skeptical. “So if it’s a bad day for pain but fatigue is only moderately bad, I would say ten five?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“If I have to give a number response, then I think you should too.”
Ben nodded. “I can do that. I’ll respond on a scale of one to ten for how my day is going. Like today, it was about a four until I saw you.”
Amelia stared at him. “Uh, why was your day a four?”
“One of the proposals I recommended that the Burke Industries Committee accept was declined.”
“How does that work?”
“I’m one of three people who read through the initial submissions, then we send the ones we think have potential for being supported, on to the committee, which then makes the final decision.”
“And these are people who want grants and such?”
“Yes. This division of Burke Industries was set up to help people with valid business proposals get their ideas off the ground.”
“And this committee didn’t like one of the proposals?”
Ben nodded, recalling the frustration he’d felt. At first with the committee, but then with himself. Their reasons for rejecting it were valid, but he’d thought they were rather heartless.
He knew that sometimes he made decisions less on whether the proposal had potential and more on the passion of the person submitting it.
“Do you enjoy what you do?” she asked.
“Most of the time. It’s fun to read the ideas people have. But probably the reason I like the job so much is that I can do it pretty much anywhere. I enjoy not being tied to New York City.”
Though he would have liked to continue the conversation, the arrival of the first of the teens for the next clinic arrived. Ben jumped to his feet and greeted those he recognized.
It seemed there were a few of the teens who planned to participate in several weeks of the clinic. That week there had been a middle school-aged clinic again in the morning. He’d used the break between the two clinics to grab coffee for Amelia.
There wouldn’t be any clinics the following week as Cole had said not enough people were available to run them, so it would just be downtime for him and Ben. Originally, Ben had planned to leave Serenity for that week, but now he thought maybe he’d stick around.
Giving Amelia a light touch on her shoulder, he headed for the gym.
The week progressed in much the same way as previous ones. Days at the clinic, with a trip to the café to grab coffee for Amelia during their lunch break.
Though he’d wanted to invite Amelia out for dinner each day, he also knew she was trying to take it easy in anticipation of the busy weekend that lay ahead. Instead, he’d taken to having dinner delivered to her, so she didn’t have to worry about cooking after working at the church.
She’d told him that he didn’t have to do that. She didn’t seem to understand that he wasn’t doing it because he had to. He was doing it because he wanted to. And because he could.
Each night, when she'd texted him to thank him for the food, he'd felt a rush of pleasure knowing he'd helped make her day a little better.
The night before they were due to leave, Ben sat in his room at the estate, going over the details for their trip. Julian had arranged for a car to pick up Amelia at her apartment once she was done with work for the day.
She’d be driven to the estate, and from there, they'd take the helicopter to the airport in Coeur d'Alene, where the jet would be waiting for them. They'd arrive in New York in the early morning hours.
Even though Ben had an apartment there, Julian had arranged for them to stay at a hotel near where Amelia was having the testing done.
On Friday evening, Ben helped Amelia with her small suitcase as they walked toward the helicopter pad at the edge of the estate. The sun was beginning its descent, casting long shadows across the manicured lawns. Julian walked ahead of them, his phone pressed to his ear.
"How are you feeling?" Ben asked, glancing at Amelia's face for any sign of discomfort. "On the scale."
She hesitated, then said, "Seven four."
Ben winced. A seven for pain was higher than he'd hoped. "Are you sure you’re up for this?”
"I'm sure," Amelia said, determination hardening her voice. "I've dealt with worse. And besides, this is too important to postpone."
Ben studied her face, noting the slight tightness around her eyes that betrayed her discomfort despite her brave front. He wanted to suggest they reschedule, but he knew how much she needed answers.
"Just promise you'll tell me if it gets too much," he said softly.
She nodded, her gaze meeting his briefly before shifting to the helicopter waiting ahead. "I promise."
The pilot greeted them as they approached, while the security team handled their luggage. Ben climbed into the aircraft, then turned to offer his hand to Amelia.
She gripped it tightly, allowing him to use his strength to help her up into the helicopter. Once she was seated, he helped her with the buckles of the safety belt, then handed her a headset so they could communicate during the flight.
It wasn’t long before they were all settled, and the whine of the blades spinning filled the air.
Amelia was seated next to the window, and as the helicopter lifted off the helipad, she leaned closer to it, watching as they rose above the forest.
Julian was off his phone, his gaze also directed out the window, though Ben doubted he was as fascinated by the scenery as Amelia seemed to be. It was a sight that both he and Julian had seen countless times over the years.
Ben’s favorite sight from the helicopter came in the fall when the forest was a patchwork of warm, autumnal colors.
They ended up spending most of the flight in silence, and Ben wondered what was going on in Amelia’s mind. But since Julian also had a headset on, there was no opportunity for a private conversation.
After they landed, it took them only a few minutes to transfer to the jet that was waiting for them. When they climbed onto the plane, Ben ushered Amelia to one of the more comfortable seats on the jet.
This wasn’t the same jet they’d had when he was growing up. They’d had this one for around five years, and it was an upgrade from the previous jet.
“Once we’re in the air, we’ll have something to eat, then you can rest in the bed in the back if you’d like.”
Amelia glanced around. “There’s a bed on the plane?”
“Yes. It makes travel easier for Mom and Dad. Though we’ve all used it at some point.”
“You or Julian won’t need it?”
“Nope. These chairs also recline into beds, so we’re fine.”
“Normally, I’d insist that you take it,” Amelia said.
Ben held up his hand. “Even if you weren’t struggling with your health, we’d both still tell you to take it.”
She gave him a slight smile. “Thank you.”
He reached out and covered her hand as the plane began to move. After a moment, she turned her hand over, and he interlaced his fingers with hers.
The warm pressure of her hand in his felt right somehow.
Ben gave her fingers a gentle squeeze as the jet accelerated down the runway, feeling the familiar push back against his seat as they took off.
He watched as Amelia's eyes drifted closed briefly, her free hand gripping the armrest tightly during the ascent.
When the seatbelt sign dinged off, Julian unbuckled and stood. "I need to make a few calls. The attendant will bring you something to eat shortly."
Once Julian moved to another set of chairs, Ben turned toward Amelia. "Are you doing okay?”
“So far, so good,” she said. “Though I have to admit I’m a bit nervous about the testing.”
“What concerns you about the tests?”
Amelia looked out the window, her grip tightening slightly on his hand. “It’s not the tests themselves. It’s just hard to not get my hopes up, but I don’t want to be disappointed again.”
“Have your prior tests not shown anything?”