Jensen looked to his mom, who nodded. He stepped forward and took her hand. “Hi,” he said with a brief smile.
Jackie nodded approvingly, then motioned up. “This is Michael.”
The young man looked up at the man in the officer uniform and waved a hand. “Hi.”
Michael smiled. “Nice to meet you.” Jensen shuffled by them in a too-big outfit his mom had assured him he would grow into.
“Jensen,” Charlotte said. “I’d like to introduce you to my friend. This is Clay.”
“Hi, Jensen, nice to meet you,” Clay said.
“Hi, Clay,” Jensen said. “Mom told me you do art.”
“Sort of,” he replied. “For my designs.”
“I do too, sort of,” Jensen replied. With that, he slid the backpack off his shoulders, set it on a nearby chair, and pulled out a sketch pad. Clutching the pad, he looked up to his mom.
“It’s okay, go ahead,” she said and motioned to Clay.
Jensen set the pad on the bed between his mom and Clay and leafed through it. “I like to draw plants and flowers,” he said.
𓂓
Michael and Jackie had excused themselves to go for coffee in the cafeteria. Jensen sat back in a nearby chair, looking up at a vase of tiger lilies, then back down to his pad, drawing furiously. Charlotte smiled his way, then turned back to Clay. He patted a space on the hospital bed and she sat down, taking his hand in hers.
They enjoyed the peace and quiet for a moment, then continued their conversation.
“So, he’s still here?” Clay asked.
“He’s here morning and afternoon,” Charlotte replied.
“Still not able to speak?” Clay asked.
“No. The doctors did say her voice box will take time to heal,” Charlotte said.
“Probably better for Baldwin,” Clay quipped.
Charlotte smacked his hand, mouth agape with a look of surprise. “Clay Thompson!”
They shared a laugh. “No, really, I’m glad she’s okay,” Clay said. “But Baldwin seems like he’s here out of a sense of duty, rather than...”
“He does seem cold toward her. I wonder what happened between those two?” Charlotte asked.
“Jackie filled me in a little. She basically drove him off,” Clay replied.
“Well, she seems grateful now to have him here,” Charlotte said.
“I am too,” Clay replied. “He’s much easier to work with, very reasonable. You know... like a normal person.”
“Be nice.” Charlotte patted his hand again. “He does seem pleased with Sean’s work though.”
Clay shook his head. “Sure does.”
After he had awoken from his coma, Sean started running Sally’s job while Clay recovered. Michael had been dropping him off each day to get Clay’s truck. Sean had been picking up the day’s helpers at their designated meeting spot each morning. The project was coming along nicely. On his way to see Sally, Baldwin had stopped by Clay’s room several times to discuss the project. Sean usually met up with them to get updates and tips on how to handle various challenges with the project.
Charlotte looked over to Jensen and sighed. “I’m glad to see him so focused.”
Clay caught her attention with a motion of his hand. “I got something here.” He reached to the nightstand and grabbed a small box. “I asked Jackie to pick them up.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“A pencil set for Jensen.”
Charlotte blushed. “Thanks, Clay, that’s really nice.”
“Open it up,” he said.
“Oh, that’s okay. It’s just pencils, right?”
Clay gave her an insistent look. “Didn’t you mention that you loved the ballet but had never seen a live performance?”
Charlotte chuckled. “No. You must have dreamed it.”
“Well,” he said. “You sure move graceful, like a ballerina.”
Charlotte gave him a warm smile. Then, with a quizzical look, she popped the lid off the box of pencils. Inside were tickets for the ballet at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. Charlotte looked up and gave him a warm smile.
“For us, when I get out of here,” Clay said.
