My forehead creases, and I shake my head. "No, I don't think she cares about that. I mean, all of this happened in the last week, and I'm not in the Army now."
She nods. "Okay. So she's with you because she wants free rent on her apartment."
My blood starts to boil at what she's insinuating. "Of course not. She's not like that. She's caring and compassionate."
"Well, if that's the case, is she with you because she wants to be then? She doesn't care if you are unable to continue your career with the Army?"
I don't answer her. All I do is stare. It all starts to come together in my mind. But just in case it doesn't, the therapist continues, "I mean, she comes to the hospital as soon as she finds out you're there. She insists on staying with you. She's taking care of you this whole week. She makes you feel safe and cared for. Sounds to me like something you don't want to mess up. Am I right?"
I feel a headache coming on, and I lift my hand and rub it across my head back and forth. "I know you're right. And I know what you're trying to do here. But the point of the matter is she deserves more."
She takes her clipboard and sets it on the table next to her, and then scoots to the end of her chair. She leans forward, her elbows resting on her knees. "Don't you think that's her decision?"
She stares at me, waiting for it to sink in. When I don't say anything and don't give her an answer, she blows out a breath and then picks up her clipboard again, scooting back into her seat.
We talk about my injuries and the medications and what to do if the nightmares return. When my time is up, I'm out the door and back into Tommy's car quickly. I'm a little anxious to get back to my house because I know that I need to have a conversation with Ella. It's time. We almost get to the house before Tommy asks me, "What's going on with you and Ella?"
There's no way I'm going to go into detail with him. But I do feel I should tell him. "She deserves more than me, Tommy. I'm just going to leave it at that." He pulls into the driveway and shuts off the car and looks at me.
He wants to say something, but I hold my hand up. "It's the truth. I'm a shell of the man that I used to be. Look, man, thanks for coming to get me."
I'm out of the car and waving at him through the front of the windshield before even realizing that there’s another car in my driveway. I don’t recognize whose it is, and it makes me wonder if there’s someone here visiting Ella. As soon as I open the door, I look around, hoping to see her, but I'm floored when I see Harper sitting on the couch.
"What are you doing here?"