On a paper taped to the wall, someone had writtenSSG Reynaldo Cruz, Salito, WAand a string of numbers and letters that must have meaning to army people.
Enough time passed with her studying the room and him staring wordlessly that any change felt awkward, but she tried again. “I’m Grace Kim. But you know that, don’t you?”
The disposable paper cap created a desperate urge to scratch her scalp, a feeling almost as sharp as the one that overcame her when her cubicle-mate talked about his kids’ headlice, but she kept her hands at her sides and waited for the man in the bed to reply.
He nodded, and his lips flexed like a ling cod until he managed to say, “Rey Cruz.”
“This is awkward, isn’t it?”
“No.” This time his voice was deeper and stronger than she’d expected, and he nodded, which confused her.
“You don’t think so?”
He closed his eyes and blew out a huff of air while he made a twisting gesture with his hand, as if screwing in a light bulb or flipping things.
“You meant yes?”
He nodded again.
She pulled a chair beside the bed and looked over the rail at his head and shoulders. The edges of a tattoo peeked below the sleeve of his blue hospital gown. “I had two flights full of babies, so let’s cut to the chase. Why’d you claim we’re engaged?”
“Long.” His lips moved, and eventually a word emerged. “Stor-stor-story.”
“I have a week off that I didn’t want. Go ahead and tell me.”
He rolled his eyes and lifted empty hands, palms up. “No.”
Idiotic laughter, as sudden as the tears she’d almost released downstairs, bubbled close to the edges of her control. Of course he must have some sort of brain damage. “So how are we going to clear up this mess if you can’t even tell me how it started?”
“Need. Pick.” His chin thrust forward and his eyes squinted at the ceiling as he struggled for words. “Pick. Her. Pick-her.”
“You need picture? Oh, you needed a picture.” His nod meant she must have guessed correctly. “Why mine?”
He tapped his temple, then pointed at her, and the flash hurtled her a decade into the past.
Chapter 4
“My brain? That’s it?All the women in the world, but you chose my picture for something, I don’t know what, because you think I’m smart?” The adolescent awareness of being brainy in a small town washed over Grace, the out-of-place feeling that had driven her to Seattle a dozen years before. She hadn’t endured that mix of self-aware humiliation and pride for a long time, and she didn’t like roiling in it now.
“You don’t even know me. Why pretend to be engaged?”
“Fit.” The word bounced in the pause between his wordless mouth movements. “You fit.” He shrugged as if apologizing.
The effort that lowered his dark eyebrows as he struggled to speak convinced her he hadn’t been playing a prank with her as the punchline, even if he couldn’t explain.
“Cruz, hey, you jerk-off.” The deep voice behind Grace made her jump in her seat. “Should’ve guessed that even flat on your back at Walter Reed you’d scout a beautiful woman.”
Rey’s face lit when he saw the blond man and dark-haired woman in the doorway. The newcomers sported the same papergowns over their civilian clothes, and their smiles seemed as tense as she suspected herself of looking. Grace slipped toward the empty end of the bed, allowing them access to their friend.
“Wu-wu-wu,” Rey struggled to speak as he grabbed the man’s hand, but to the woman he said “Doc” quite clearly.
“Reynaldo? How come I never knew your full first name?” She had his chart in her hand as she smiled at Grace. “I’m Theresa. This is my husband Wulf, and we’re old friends of Rey-nal-do’s.” She exaggerated the syllables until the man in the bed blushed.
“Grace Kim.” The other woman’s smile prodded her to continue beyond that simple statement. “I, ah, I grew up in Salito with Rey.” Momentary panic over whether her sister had used the correct nickname jerked her gaze to the man in the bed. His upward tilting lips and relaxed eyebrows reassured her that she hadn’t yet said the wrong thing.
Wulf stage-whispered to Rey, “We saw the photo. How long you been holding out on the team about a hometown girl?”
Rey made a hand gesture for a large distance, but when he intercepted her raised eyebrows, he shrunk the space between his thumb and first finger to an inch.
