redhead and focus on a new plan. She certainly wasn’t giving his project—or him—any second thoughts.
Plastering a smile on his face, he continued down the hospital corridor to his next patient’s room. Vases of flowers topped the dresser and nightstand. Peggy Williams was fortunate. Her husband had barely left her side since her arrival yesterday and it looked as though more family members had arrived today.
She smiled at him, only half her mouth lifting. He moved to the side of the bed. “Good morning, Peggy. How are you?”
She nodded slightly. “Um…ah…” She shook her head, frowning in frustration.
He glanced over her chart. “I see you ate better today. No problem swallowing?”
“Ah…um…no.”
“Good.” He paused to take her pulse.
“She ate a good bit of her lunch, though she had some trouble with the soup. Her hand was a little shaky and she kept spilling. I wanted to help her, but the nurse said that it was best to let her try on her own,” Brad Williams explained.
“Soup?” Mason glanced at the lunch tray that had been pushed to one side. “That’s great.”
“This is our daughter, Paige, and her two girls, Leslie and Sarah.” Brad gestured to the worried-looking brunette standing next to him and the two youngsters clinging to her sides.
“It’s a pleasure.” Mason smiled at the girls. A vibrancy and innocence that he saw in far too few children these days radiated from them. “I think it’s helped your grandmother’s spirits to have her family near. It’s wonderful she has you to cheer her up.”
He straightened and addressed both Brad and Paige. “The nurses were quite concerned yesterday that she seemed depressed. That can be tough on recovery. Having this kind of support can make all the difference to a patient.”
“So what can you tell us, Doc? Will she recover?” Paige smoothed her daughter’s hair.
“It’s difficult to say. I don’t want to give you any false hope, but the stroke was mild and it helped that your father brought her in right away. She’s weak and recovery will take time. I’m referring her to a physical therapist as well as a speech therapist for her aphasia.”
“Aphasia,” Mr. Williams repeated. “That’s her difficulty with her speech?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why she can’t tell us stories?” The smaller of the girls stared at him, wide-eyed.
“The language center of her brain was damaged, which isn’t unusual in these cases. Your grandmother is as smart as she ever was, but it may take a little time before her brain rewires itself and she can tell you stories again.”
“She has to learn to speak all over again?” Mr. Williams squeezed his wife’s hand.
“Yes, more or less. The brain is a remarkable tool, though.”
“She said ‘hi’ when we came in,” the older girl said.
Her mother smiled at her, then turned to Mason. “When can we take her home?”
Mason glanced at his watch. Much of the day had already passed. “Let me see if I can get the speech and physical therapists in to check her out. We also need the social worker to see her and talk to all of you.”
Mr. Williams glanced up. “Social worker?”
“It’s standard. We need to be sure Peggy has all the support she’ll require while she recuperates. We have to determine what kind of in-home care we need to supply. Once she’s home she’ll have a nurse checking on her—we’ll decide how often and for how long. It’s good that Peggy is eating without any difficulty.”
Her husband nodded. “Can we take her home today? I know she’ll sleep better in her own bed.”
“We definitely want to get her home as soon as possible.” Mason made a few notes, then returned the chart to its holder. “Let me see what I can do.”
“Thank you, Dr. Davies.”
As he headed to the nurses’ station, Mason couldn’t help but compare this family to the ones he met at the free clinic downtown. They were a world apart.
Regret flooded him. If only he’d been able to convince the women’s club to help Project Mentor. Obviously, April was holding a grudge and she held all the clout with that group.
It was a damn shame.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Nikki McClellan asked Tess Tuesday afternoon, as they strolled through the mall, shopping bags in hand.
Tess inhaled a deep breath. Why had she even mentioned Mason Davies to Nikki? Tess should have known her sister would react this way. Talk about ruining their time together.
“I’m sure he’ll find someone else to help him. It is a worthwhile project,” Tess said. “I’m not denying that, but it isn’t as though he doesn’t have resources of his own. He’s got a whole organization with who knows how many volunteers. I don’t see why he needed the DCWC anyway.”
“DCWC?”
“The Dade County Women’s Club.”
“Tess, this is not like you. You can’t walk by a homeless person without giving food or money. Are you telling me you sat there and said nothing while those women turned him down?”
“It wasn’t my place to say anything. Terry Whatsit, the membership chair, never showed up, so I haven’t even officially joined. How could I possibly speak for a group I’m not yet a member of?”
“For pity’s sake, those kinds of details have never stopped you before. And since when are you keeping your opinion to yourself?” Nikki asked.
“I just expressed my opinion. It’s a worthwhile cause.”
“I’m not the one you need to be saying that to. I really cannot believe you didn’t give the club an earful.”
Frustration swelled in Tess. She hated Nikki’s lectures, even when they were justified. “Maybe they know something about him that I don’t. Maybe they have a solid motivation. There was definitely something off between him and April.”
“For all you know they were having some kind of lovers’ quarrel, and what in the world has that got to do with the fund-raiser?”
“Nothing. You’re right. I should have spoken up, but…”
“But what?”
“They were women, okay? I’m used to women hating me. You know how it’s always been. Why would they have listened to me, of all people? I’m an outsider. For once I just wanted to be…accepted.” Even as she said the words, Tess cringed.
How pathetic was she?
Nikki crossed her arms and stared at her, eyebrows raised. “I hear that, Tess, but you know
