LITMIR.BIZ

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seemed to know instinctively who it was. Without opening his eyes, he said, “I’m not asleep. Thanks for helping out. I’m doing great, physically, but my parents insisted that I should have someone with me, and I didn’t want them. I’m out of sorts with them at the present.”

      Vicky laughed lightly as she put down the tote she carried, took off her denim jacket and hung it over the back of the chair placed close to his bed.

      “I understand that. I get out of sorts with my mom and dad sometimes, too.”

      “If I could go to sleep and forget about it, I’d be happier, but I’ve slept a lot today. Besides my head is spinning with all of the things I’ve heard in the past few hours.”

      She lifted his bed slightly and put a pillow behind his shoulders. She held a glass of water to his mouth and he took a few sips through the straw. She sat beside him.

      “If you want to talk, I’ll be happy to listen. If you clear your mind you can probably go to sleep.”

      With a slight grin, Chad said, “Well, you asked for it.” He hesitated, not knowing if he was willing to share his newfound knowledge with anyone. Still it would be easier for him to talk to a stranger—someone he probably wouldn’t see again.

      “I’ve known as long as I can remember that I was an adopted kid, and I didn’t mind at all. That is, until today when I learned that I’ve known my biological parents for a few years—have been good friends with them—but didn’t suspect who they were.”

      “And that bothers you?”

      “Perhaps it shouldn’t, but I must have been naive not to have suspected it before. My biological father is my kidney donor. My adoptive parents contacted him as soon as they knew how serious my condition was. He and my ‘real’ mother came right away.”

      “Why does that upset you?”

      “I don’t know,” he said. Then sighed. “I suppose I’m mad at myself because I hadn’t suspected before. My mother said that she suspected I was her son immediately because I look like my father. And it’s true. I feel like I should have noticed my physical resemblance to Perry long ago. I was really rotten to both sets of parents, and that bothers me more than anything else. And I’m not normally…like that.”

      “I’m sure they understand. You’ve had a shocking experience, not only physically, but emotionally as well. No one expects you to act like nothing has happened.”

      Now that he’d started talking, he couldn’t seem to stop. “I’ve never doubted that it was God’s will for me to play football. Now I wonder how I got the wrong direction. My dad didn’t want me to play football, but when I was so determined to play, he didn’t discourage me. That’s one reason I love my parents so much—they always put my welfare before their own. They adopted me because they wanted a child. Up to now, they haven’t had any reason to regret it, but I feel like I let them down today.” He sighed again. “It’s not easy managing anger and guilt at the same time.”

      “It will work out, Chad,” Vicky said, realizing that she had used his first name, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Maybe it was God’s will for you to play football for a while. He may have other plans for you now.”

      “Do you really believe that? I mean, has that been true in your life?”

      Vicky squirmed uncomfortably in her chair, thankful that the lights were dim in the room so Chad couldn’t see her expression. His problem and doubts had touched a sensitive place in her heart. At one time, she knew without any doubt God’s will for her life. But she had gotten sidetracked. She and Chad had more in common than he knew. Of course, her injury was an emotional one. She thought fleetingly that if she told him about her hang-ups it might give Chad a lift.

      “I’ve had problems with my directions, too, but they’re not as fresh in my mind as yours are. You talk tonight and I’ll listen.”

      Chad talked most of the night about his childhood. The early years in his parents’ home. The summer he had worked with the Jon Preston band and had met Lorene and Perry in a small Kentucky town. He had been drawn to them immediately, never dreaming they were his parents.

      “After they moved to California, I didn’t see them often, but we kept in touch by telephone and e-mail. All of that time, my parents…” He paused and in the dim light, Vicky saw pain cross his face. “…didn’t give any indication of my heritage, nor did Perry or Lorene.”

      “I have a feeling that none of your parents will expect you to change your relationship with them. I’m sure the Saunders won’t expect you to start calling them Mom and Dad. If they’ve kept the secret of your birth from you all of these years, they won’t expect any more from you than you’re willing to give.”

      “They tried to talk to me, but I brushed them off.”

      “That’s understandable. I know you’re not asking for advice, but why don’t you come to terms with your injury and the change in your future before you concern yourself with your family relationship?”

      Chad seemed not to have heard for he continued, “I should be grateful that Perry donated the kidney and saved my life. But that’s hard to do when I wish I had died. I’m only twenty-five and my usefulness on earth is finished. Anything will certainly be better than what I’ll face in the next few years. I’ve heard of too many professional athletes who lost all sense of purpose and headed down the wrong road when they couldn’t keep playing.”

      In an effort to steer his mind to more pleasant thoughts, Vicky said, “I’m sure you have some pleasant memories of the time you’ve spent with your biological parents.”

      With a slight smile, he said, “The best thing is that I now have a little sister. Amy was about six months old when I first saw her, and it was a case of love at first site for both of us. Lorene says that she’s always been shy with men, but she came to me right away. Maybe she sensed we were related. She’s a cutie! I hope you can see her.”

      He moved restlessly in bed. Vicky stood and straightened the sheets and gave him another drink of water.

      “When are they going to take all of this hardware off of my arms so I can do something for myself?” he complained.

      “It won’t be much longer,” Vicky said soothingly. She put another pillow under his shoulders and spread a blanket over the sheets.

      “Is that more comfortable?”

      “Yes, thank you. I’m sorry for being such a grouch.”

      “You aren’t being grouchy. Do you think you can sleep now?”

      “I’ll try. You won’t leave?”

      “Not until my shift is over. I’ll wake you before I go.”

      Vicky could easily understand why Chad preferred to have a stranger with him during this trauma rather than some member of his family.

      As Chad slept, she unwillingly recalled the most embarrassing time in her life. What she had done hadn’t been so terrible—she’d only fallen in love with the wrong man. A man several years her senior, already engaged to someone else. Vicky remembered as if it had been yesterday, when she and her friend, Amelia Stone, had been sitting in a church service in flood-ravaged Williamson, West Virginia.

      She had wanted to enter full-time Christian service, and her parents had always been strong supporters of the Red Cross. They had encouraged her to volunteer to help in the flood cleanup, suggesting the hands-on work with hurting people would give her insight into whether a humanitarian profession was the way for her to go.

      The experience had not turned out as they had hoped. Vicky had developed a huge crush on Allen Chambers, the pastor of a local church, whose members loaned their church for the Red Cross headquarters. But when the minister had announced the name of his fiancée from the pulpit and introduced her to his congregation, Vicky was devastated because she had made no effort to conceal her love, or perhaps

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