Page 84 of A Hero Comes Home

“That’s my second big concern. I’m becoming too comfortable here.”

“Oh, please! You’re too happy. Pity me. Boo-hoo-hoo!”

“I’m not looking for pity, asshole. I’m stating a fact. The longer I stay, the harder it’ll be for me to leave. And it’s not myself I’m concerned about, either. It’s Sally and the kids. I don’t want to hurt them.”

“Then don’t. Seriously, why would you even think that skipping town is any kind of solution?”

“Because I am not the man I used to be. I’m working out like crazy, but I have to be realistic. I will always have a limp, at best. Pain will be my best friend for the rest of my life. What does all that spell for a career, or me supporting a family? Do I go on disability, at my age?”

“There are other options.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged.

“Jake, where’s your usual self-confidence?”

Broken.

“It’s not like you to put yourself down this way.”

I wasn’t broken before.

“What did that motherfucker Nazim do to you?”

Don’t ask. Really. Don’t ask.

“There must be something other than the torture you’ve told us about.”

Uh-huh.

“Mind games of some kind?”

If you only knew! The things that psychopathic maggot made me do, to think! Suffice it to say, I am no hero.

But he couldn’t think about that now or he would go mad, madder than he already was. A change of subject was called for, quickly. “Can I confide in you without your blabbing to Durand or my wife or half of Bell Cove?”

Izzie put a hand to his chest and said, “I’m offended.”

Jake lifted the patch over his eye. “What do you see?”

“Uh . . .”

Jake glanced right and then left.

“Holy crap! Your eyeball moved! That’s something new, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure it means anything significant, but something happened when I glanced sharply to the side one day last week. There was a hard pulling sensation, and ever since then, I’ve noticed differences.”

“Has your vision changed?”

“No. Well, there is a slight change in shading. What used to be pitch black is now gray along the edges. And the border of gray has been increasing a bit every day.”

Izzie reached across the table and squeezed Jake’s forearm. “This is great news. No, you don’t need to warn me about being overly optimistic. Every change has to be promising.”

“Anyhow back to my concerns. I was at the diner the other night with Sally and the boys when that Kevin dude walked in. Man, you wouldn’t believe the kids’ reaction. You’d have thought God had walked in the door, or some superhero. They love the guy, and he clearly has affection for them, too.”

“Your point?”

“If I’m gone, they would forget me soon enough.”