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Jill covered her mouth with her hands, tears streaming from her face.
“Please,” Houghton said, turning to Daphne. “Please be kind, talk to him, get him to stop screaming… or I think Ortega might break too. I can handle it. I’ve dealt with it for years, but it’s too much when you are too close.”
“What’s this got to do with me?” Daphne whispered painfully.
“You are a stranger,” he hissed, a tear streaking down his cheek and disappearing into his bushy beard. “He needs to know he’s got someone on his side, someone he can trust to tell him the truth, and someone that doesn’t make him feel like a cripple but a man.”
“Babe, maybe now isn’t a good time…”
“Jill – now is the best time…” Houghton interrupted his wife and looked at Daphne. “I’m asking you for this favor – for that broken man. He needs help, security, and someone to be there for him. You do this, and you can stay as long as you need, come and go as you please, and I’ll even pay for all the truck repairs.”
“By just talking to him? Is he that bad?”
“I want you to marry him…”
“Babe, wait…” Jill interrupted.
“Wait – WHAT?” Daphne balked wildly.
“Men think differently,” Houghton began, looking at her and releasing her arm. “That was a once able-bodied man in there, and he cannot walk without a crutch or using a wheelchair now. He’s going to lose his job, his post in the Army, which means he’s going to be away from his friends there, his support group, and he will never trust any of us again – because we did the right thing to keep him from dying. He’s got to have someone at his side he can trust – at least for a little while.”
“I can’t marry some stranger.”
“He’s single – you’re single,” the man snapped hotly. “He’s crippled, you’re not and more than capable of helping him. He’s a man, and you are a woman, so yeah – you absolutely can marry him for a short while, and I suppose I’ll pay the divorce fees when the time comes, too.”
“He’s going to hate all of us – and he sure won’t trust me. I’m a perfect stranger to him,” Daphne said bluntly. “I wouldn’t if it were me in there.”
“Where’s he going to go then?” Houghton began. “When they discharge him, where’s he going to go? My thought was to shelter him for as long as he needs to heal, but if you won’t accept him – do you think he needs one more mental blow? No job, nowhere to go, and what if he finds out that the person that could help him refused…”
“Babe!”
“What?!” Houghton snapped angrily, lashing out – and covered his face with his hands. He was falling apart as well and needed someone to pull him back together, too. What kind of man focused on helping someone else first, before himself? Daphne saw the realization on the man’s face in that split second and the pain on Jill’s as she moved to his side, embracing him. The couple stood there hugging, and Daphne didn’t move.
Houghton was truly a decent person – and the stranger in the room had no one to bring him back down, no one to comfort him. No matter how scared Daphne was at being tied down – or being a part of this craziness spinning out of control, she couldn’t abandon an innocent person to suffer all of this alone.
Houghton had Jill to comfort him.
Lena was comforting Ortega.
Chris and Gideon were at home together – and married.
Everyone had someone here today – except her. She had no one. Just like the stranger – and heard the wretched moan from down the hallway followed by a shriek of anger that made her jump.
“YOU PSYCHOPATHIC BUTCHERS…” a man’s hoarse voice screamed wildly, and Daphne saw both Jill and Houghton look at her remorsefully. “I HATE YOU ALL… YOU HEAR ME?”
“That’s him?” she whispered, swallowing in awareness.
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
The screams turned into desperate wails and weeping as he called out still…
“No… please God no… help me…”
Daphne nodded and crossed her arms, pinning them under her to keep them from trembling as she looked away. She stepped toward the doorway – and felt someone touch her arm.
Houghton.
