Chapter 13 #4
“I need your help. Maybe it’s a crazy idea and she’ll hate it, but I had to do something.
” What Brandon had done was as crazy and kind as he was, had taken a great deal of time, and was expensive.
Edward listened and doubted they’d get away with it, but Brandon was so passionate about it, Edward didn’t have the heart to turn him down.
It meant that Devon would know that Brandon knew of her accident, which she might forgive him for.
She desperately needed cheering up after nearly two months in a hospital.
The hospital was going to be the stumbling block, but Edward was willing to help.
There was something endearing and innocent about Brandon that reminded him of Devon.
And Edward was used to crazy artists, although most of theirs were staid, and very serious.
But there were a few who were flamboyant and zany.
And Edward always liked them. Tom Kingsley was less amused by the crazy ones.
“So what do we do?” Brandon asked him.
“Leave it to me. I’ll make some calls. I made a big donation last month, and Devon just made one.
That should help. I’m going to call the head of the hospital board and beg.
Begging usually works. Groveling is a good skill to have too.
I’m willing to try both. If they say yes, I’ll meet you at the hospital later today.
In theory I don’t like the implication that her current problem is forever, but since you say it’s versatile, then I’m all for it as a spirit booster. ”
“It’s Valentine’s Day,” Brandon reminded him.
“Exactly. I’ll remind the head of the board of that between groveling and begging.”
“I hope it works,” Brandon said earnestly, praying for victory. And Edward was an excellent partner in crime, better than he had expected.
Brandon waited all day for Edward’s call and was losing hope when Edward called him at four-thirty and gave a whoop of victory.
“We won! We’re in. They said to come after visiting hours end.
That’s eight o’clock on her floor, when they give the patients their meds for the night, and all the conditions you listed for me have to hold.
If there is any slippage, we’re out, but they won’t throw Devon out.
So it’s worth a shot.” Brandon had made all the arrangements and covered all the bases.
He had promised Edward it would work, and if not he would keep the gift he had planned for Devon until she got home.
He was so excited he could hardly stand it.
“I’ll meet you at the side entrance at quarter to eight. The head of the board emailed me a letter I’ll carry with me, guaranteeing us safe passage.”
“Terrific! We’ll be there,” Brandon said. It was better than an espionage mission in a movie, and he thought Devon would love it.
—
At a quarter to eight that night, they met with military precision at the side door to the hospital, and were ready to go. Brandon had a bag of supplies with him, with more to be delivered the next day, and Edward looked at his companion and was shocked.
“Oh my God, it’s a horse, not a dog.”
“My dog is much bigger,” Brandon assured him.
“Wendy was the runt of her litter.” She was a sleek, elegant, dark chocolate brown and perfectly behaved bullmastiff who sat at attention and offered Edward a polite paw.
“Right paw is thank you,” Brandon explained.
“Left is hello.” She was holding out her left, and she was wearing a guide dog harness, and was a licensed service dog.
She was a bullmastiff like Thornton, only much smaller.
She was still a very large dog, but not compared to him.
Brandon had scoured the country for her and had found her in Kentucky.
She was an experienced guide dog whose previous owner had had cornea transplants and left for college, so she had been retired and returned to the breeder.
She was four years old and responded to voice commands.
The harness was more to identify her as a service dog than to control her.
Edward had a letter with him from the head of the hospital board allowing them to enter with a service dog.
Edward and Brandon walked into the hospital nonchalantly, and a security guard glanced at the dog, saw the harness, and nodded them through. The same happened at the metal detector, and people in the elevator smiled at them, as they rode up to Devon’s floor.
They walked past the nurses’ desk with an air of authority, and the nurses were all busy measuring out meds and paid no attention.
They walked to the Governor’s Suite, opened the door, and slipped through, and Edward spoke immediately so Devon would know he was there.
But she always knew anyway. She said she could recognize the faint smell of the cologne he wore, and his soap.
“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Edward said as he walked in.
The private duty nurse opened her eyes wide in surprise and he put a finger to his lips, and she nodded.
“I brought a friend to visit you,” he said, and she frowned.
She didn’t want visitors, but she didn’t want to be rude, and then she cocked her head to one side as though sensing something.
Brandon unhooked Wendy’s leash then, and she went straight to Devon, sitting in a chair, and nuzzled her hand.
Devon had been listening to a podcast about Leonardo da Vinci on her iPad.
She had found a series of them, about the greatest artists in history.
Devon looked confused for a minute, and then she felt the sleek coat, and the cold nose, and Wendy gave her the hello paw, and Devon laughed and looked in Edward’s direction as Brandon’s eyes filled with tears.
Devon was just as beautiful as before but he could tell that she couldn’t see her visitors.
“Oh my God, Edward, it’s a dog, how did you get it in here?”
“I got special permission. And I groveled to get it,” he said, and she laughed. “Her name is Wendy, and she’s a gift, you can keep her if you like.” Wendy had put her paws on Devon’s knees and was licking her face.
She was grinning. “She’s big.” And then she felt Wendy’s face carefully, and said in a tone of surprise, “I think she’s the same kind as Brandon’s dog Thornton, only she’s smaller.
” And then she looked around, straight in Brandon’s direction and sniffed the air.
She had developed all of her other faculties in the seven weeks she’d been blind.
“Brandon, are you here too? I can smell your cologne—Givenchy. Where are you?” She looked happy when she said it.
“I’m here, baby,” he said gently. “I came with Wendy.”
“She’s a guide dog, right?” Devon felt the harness and looked in his direction as he approached, even though she couldn’t see him. She could feel him in the room. “But what if I don’t need her later, if…you know?”
“She does regular gigs too, she’s very versatile. Cooks, does dishes, tap dances, sings,” he said, as the nurse wiped tears off her cheeks. It was such a sweet scene. Devon wrapped her arms around Wendy’s neck and held her, and the dog kissed her again.
“Can I keep her here?” she asked the room in general.
“You can, as long as you keep her in your room,” Edward said. “She can’t wander the halls.”
“She has a dog walker who’ll come three times a day, a trainer who’ll work with you and her, voice coach, drama coach, hairdresser, colorist, you know, the usual,” Brandon said, and she laughed and held her arms out to him, and he walked toward her and gave her a hug.
She seemed so fragile he was afraid to hurt her.
“My arms aren’t broken, I’m fine.” But she looked pale and frail to him, and she’d lost weight.
Her bright red hair was in a braid and there were no bandages on her eyes—she had taken them off to air her eyes for a while.
Wendy was staying close to her, and already knew who she belonged to, and then she trotted across the room to check out the bed, stood up on it and got down, as Devon stared in her direction.
She kept staring and didn’t talk, and then she whispered, “I can see her…Oh my God…I can see her…not her face, her shape.” Wendy was standing on the bed again, in profile.
Devon stood up so she could see her better and then she looked in Brandon’s direction.
“I can see your shape too. You have something on your head…a baseball cap…and I can see Edward…I can’t see your faces, but I see your outlines,” she said in a stunned voice.
It was the first progress she had made in weeks, and it was major.
Both men were crying and hugged each other, and the nurse was crying and Devon was too, as Wendy watched them, got off the bed and came to stand next to Devon.
“I can see shapes,” she said again. “I see my bed.” She looked around the room at the outlines she could make out.
It was an incredible Valentine’s Day gift, as was Wendy.
After they recovered from the shock of the quantum leap she had just taken, Brandon showed her and the nurse Wendy’s food, her treats, a rolled-up soft bed in the bag, and some toys.
“I’ll send you more stuff tomorrow.” And Edward said they should leave soon before they got thrown out. He left Wendy’s permission letter with the nurse. Both men hugged Devon, and were shaken when they left, as Devon sat on her bed with the dog, stroking her.
“It’s a miracle,” Edward said to Brandon as they walked down the hall, and he wiped tears off his cheeks again.
“I told you, meditation and fasting, it never fails,” Brandon said, as Edward realized what had just happened. She was starting to see again. It was coming back.
“I’m starting to fast tomorrow,” Edward said, and put an arm around Brandon’s shoulders. Both men were smiling broadly. Mission accomplished. With a Valentine’s Day miracle thrown in.