Love Inspired January 2016, Box Set 1 of 2 Read Online Free Page B

Ben’s other leg and arm,” Chloe said, setting Ben’s hand down beside his still body. “So I’ll have to ask you to come over to this side of the bed.”
    Just as Chloe came around the end of the bed, Cody whimpered, opened his eyes and started to cry.
    â€œI should get something for him to eat,” Mamie said, jiggling him as she dug through the large diaper bag she had been carrying. She looked over at Chloe as Cody’s cries increased. “I’m sorry to ask, but can you hold him a moment?”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œI can take him.” Grady shifted himself so he had his hands free.
    But Mamie had already set Cody in Chloe’s arms.
    She held the wiggling bundle of sorrow. His cries eased into hiccups. His dark brown eyes, still shining with tears, honed in on Chloe’s.
    A peculiar motherly feeling washed over her. This little boy, so sweet, so precious. She cuddled him close and he quieted as he lay his head against her shoulder.
    â€œYou have a way with him,” Mamie said, pulling a jar of baby food out of the diaper bag. “Just like his previous nanny, my niece, Eva, did.”
    â€œHe is a sweetie,” Chloe murmured, rocking him to keep him quiet.
    â€œI can take him back now,” Mamie said, taking the boy from her. “I should find a place I can heat this up.”
    â€œThere’s a microwave at the nurses’ station I’m sure you can use,” Chloe said, walking to the sink in Ben’s room to wash her hands again.
    Mamie walked out, leaving Grady and Chloe alone. She moved to the other side of Ben’s bed and started with his leg exercises.
    â€œDoes that do anything?” Grady asked. “I mean, he’s not participating.”
    â€œNo, but it’s important we keep his abductors flexed, his hamstrings from pulling.” Chloe glanced over at Grady, disconcerted to see him staring at her. She dragged her attention back to her patient. “It’s a type of stimulation, as well. And if we don’t do these exercises, his muscles will seize up and when he gets out of the coma, he will have a much longer recovery ahead of him.”
    â€œYou said when.”
    Chloe glanced up from Ben, thinking of the theories of coma patients being able, on a subliminal level, to hear what was said around their bed.
    â€œI said when and I mean when,” she said, her voice firm. “He will come out of this. We just have to do what we can for him while we wait.”
    Grady sat down in the chair, setting his crutch aside. “I like the sound of when. I have things I need to settle with my brother. Ben and I... Well, we had words before I left.”
    â€œA fight?”
    â€œA disagreement about his lifestyle,” Grady said. “I want to make it right.”
    Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw Grady drag his hand over his face. He looked exhausted. She was sure some of it was the burdens he carried, in addition to the pain.
    â€œThen, this is a chance for you to talk to him,” Chloe said, picking up Ben’s arm and stretching it gently above his head. “A chance for you to tell him what you feel. Tell him how you care for him.”
    â€œSo you think he can hear me?”
    â€œI’d like to think he can.” Chloe gave him a gentle smile. “Sometimes talking aloud can be as much for yourself as for him.”
    Grady nodded, then looked up at her, his expression growing serious. “You think it will help?”
    â€œConfession is good for the soul,” she said.
    â€œIn that case, I’ll wait until you’re gone. I don’t want you hearing all my deep, dark secrets.”
    â€œYou have those?” And how did that semiflirty note get in her voice?
    â€œDon’t you?”
    She held his gaze a split-second longer than she should have, thinking of the last time she and Jeremy had been together and the repercussions of that. The child she now