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He glanced over to see Lancaster staring at him with such intensity that he instantly felt anxious in trying to answer her query. He could sense that she was counting on him to tell her it would be somehow okay, or at least not terrible.
“I didn’t have much time to make the transition, Mary. I woke up in a hospital and I was different. My mind was doing things it had never done before.”
“I, um, I guess you were scared.”
He glanced at her again to see the woman now staring at her hands.
“I won’t lie to you, Mary. It wasunsettling. But I got professional help and I was able to adapt. I won’t tell you that it gets any easier. I will tell you that I was able to manage it. To live my life.”
“It will be a bit different for me, I imagine.”
“There’s no cure for what you and I have, though they are very different things. But every day they make progress. In five years, who’s to say they won’t have beat what you have?”
She nodded but her look of anxiety remained. “If I live that long.”
Decker reached over and gripped her shoulder.
She looked startled by this personal touch. It was not something that Amos Decker normally would ever do. She knew he didn’t like being touched by others.
“You have Earl and Sandy and me to help you through this, Mary.”
“You don’t live here anymore.”
“I’m here right now. And you know I’m going to keep coming back to Burlington.”
“Because of your family.”
“And now, also because of you.”
This declaration caught Lancaster off guard. A small sob escaped from her lips and she suddenly seized his hand with both of hers and squeezed, as the tears, like released water over a damn, broke free and slid down her cheeks.
“You’re a good friend, Amos. Sometimes I have trouble remembering that.”
“You put up with me for a lot of years, Mary. Longer than anyone else other than Cassie. You probably deserve a medal for that. But all I can offer you is my friendship.”
“I’ll take that over any medal.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence.
