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She hesitates before nodding. When she stands up, Dr. Tate hands her a set of crutches. That's when I noticed one of her legs was in a cast from her ankle past her knee. The blanket on her lap when I walked in had hidden it.
Remembering my time while I was healing at the hospital before Oakside was around, I know I hated having to explain my injuries. Even more so, I hated everyone trying to help me instead of letting me do things on my own.
So, while it pains me not to try to help her and do everything I can to make the walk to the dining room easier, I bite my tongue.
Leading the way with Atticus by my side, I glance at her a few times. I don't say a word, and she smiles when she catches me checking on her. Only once we hit the dining room do I offer help.
There are dining room assistants who help those who need it get their food, like Kassi, who is on crutches.
"I'll grab a tray. Just tell me what you want," I say, and she nods as I grab a tray in each hand.
After we get our food, she picks a table in the back so that she can stretch her leg out without it being in anyone's way.
"So, what is your story? Since you know a little about mine," Kassi says once we are seated.
"I was on a few missions I can't talk about. All dangerous. I saw things that would haunt even the devil himself. On my last mission, the building collapsed around us. Crushed my arm, and it didn't heal back the way they wanted it to, especially since it was my shooting arm. Add in a diagnosis of PTSD, and anxiety, so they medically discharged me." I shrug like it's no big deal. Even though it totally turned my world upside down.
"So, is Atticus to help with your PTSD?" she asks.
"Mostly, yeah," I say, leaving out the parts only Paisley, Easton, and my doctors know about.
"What made you join? You never talked about the military," I ask curiously.
I specifically asked her that question because I spent a lot of time with my twin brothers Brantley, Caden, and my youngest brother, North. During that time, Kassi dated Caden, and they spent a lot of time at the house with us and our mom. There were many family dinners and not one mention of the military from her.
"I hadn't thought much of it, but my parents split the start of my senior year and the divorce used up my college money. I didn't like the idea of starting my life in so much debt. Then I remembered what you had said about them paying for college, so I talked to a recruiter and ended up joining."
"How did your parents handle that?" I ask, knowing it wasn't good.
"Mom blamed Dad for it, saying if he hadn't cheated, they wouldn't have had to use my college money for a divorce, and I wouldn't have joined. All true. But I'd never tell her that because she has become insufferable to be around. I haven't even told them I'm here because I don't want them fighting while they’re visiting."
"They weren’t notified when you were hurt?" I’m shocked because the policy is to inform the family.
"I put it in my paperwork. They were to only be contacted if I died," she tells me, looking sad.
Ouch. This isn't just some small fight, then. She is really distancing herself from them. Just by how tense and stiff she is, it’s evident that she doesn’t want to talk about this much more.
“I get it. I didn’t want my brothers visiting either. They all took leave to come see me. But thankfully, Mom made them do it in shifts, so they weren't all there at once. The upside is I wasn't really alone while I was in the hospital."
"You weren't transferred here?" she asks.
"This place wasn't available then. It opened after I was released and on my own. Though I wish it had been open because it would have been better than rehab at the hospital for sure."
We talk some more about my brother and my mom and other safe topics. Then we go on to catching up on people we went to school with and happenings around town. Because she was only a grade behind me after skipping a grade, we knew many of the same people.
Talking was always easy between us. But I still can't wrap my head around the fact that this is the same girl that would kick my ass in basketball every weekend and sat across from me at dinner, talking to my mom like she had been part of the family her whole life.
That girl never made my heart skip a beat when she smiled at me.
That girl never made me feel this nervous around her.
And I sure as shit didn't have the kind of feeling for her as I do for the women in front of me.
Why the hell are things so different now?
Chapter 2
Kassi
