Heroic Measures (continued)

She paused, checking the beat of his pulse beneath her fingertips, before leaning closer. Walter watched as her eyes surveyed Benny’s face, checking the hue of his complexion, and assessing other telltale signs of his condition that Walter could only guess at. Releasing her gentle hold on Benny’s wrist, she lifted his eyelid and peered into his eye that lay beneath it. She frowned slightly and then repeated the process with the boy’s other eye.

Completing that part of her examination, she touched the pads of the fingers of her hand to the boy’s forehead. They remained there for a long moment, resting so lightly so that Walter could not be certain whether or not they actually touched.

There was a subtle, but unmistakable shift in Isabel’s expression.

Walter knew she what she would say; he did not want to hear it. His son still breathed. His heart still beat. As far as Walter was concerned, he lived.

Isabel’s eyes met his.

Walter stared back and then looked away, unable to bear the truth of the message they carried. He felt an irrational swell of anger. It was unfocused, seeking a target, but Walter managed to hold it at bay. If he allowed it direction, he knew it would be aimed at Isabel, who was only trying to help. It would be deflection of it anyway, he knew, diverted from its real target: himself, for trying—for wanting to believe something other than what he knew was the truth.

There was only compassion in Isabel’s eyes. Despite her revelation of Benny’s condition, she seemed to understand the fraying thread of hope that Walter clung to. She said nothing, rising from where she sat on the bed at Benny’s side. Smoothing the blanket where she had disturbed it, she turned and looked again at Walter.

“I’m sorry,” she offered quietly.

Walter gave her a tight-lipped smile of appreciation, hoping to stop her before she said anything more.

She eyed the small collection of paperback books stacked on the side table.

“You must come here often,” she said.

It was merely a statement, not an accusation.

Walter nodded slowly.