One Glance

Chapter 5

"When someone loves you, the way they talk about you is different. You feel safe and comfortable." Jess. C. Scott, The Intern

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Chapter Five

Mary Smith had always led a simple life. She had never been one to reply upon others. She was a nurse. Others were supposed to rely upon her.

Mary enjoyed the dependence of others. She enjoyed feeling useful. There was something satisfying in being the barrier between the doctor and the patient. More often than not, she was the most trusted person in the hospital room in the eyes of the patient.

Mary had found this utter pleasure in caring for blind patients. Their complete dependence on her was so fulfilling. They trusted her more than any other person. They needed her to survive. She essentially re-taught them how to live.

And then they would leave her.

The part that always broke her heart was when they went home to their wives or their children. They did not need her anymore.

That was why Captain Cassidy was different. He was special to her. He was very special.

At first, their interaction had been like any other patient. He was a poor man learning that he was blind. Mary had been there to support countless patients in his position before.

But Captain Cassidy's helplessness combined with macho determination and stubbornness had completely won her over. He needed her, but he was still a man about it. That combination was irresistible to Mary.

She and Captain Cassidy had bonded throughout his recuperation in London. Mary helped him learn how to cope with his new condition and she blocked out the countless hours he spent talking about his wife and son.

That was the one downside in Captain Cassidy. He was married, and happily, it seemed. Captain Cassidy wanted to better himself, he wanted to be as normal as possible, so that this Isabella would still love him the same way.

Mary did not know how to tell him that she could love him the way he was if Isabella could not. So she showed him in the only way she knew how. She nursed him tirelessly, and she fell in love with him effortlessly.

Mary had honestly thought that Captain Cassidy had started to love her too. He had asked her to return to Somerset with him as his private nurse. He had been away for such a long time that Mary was certain that perhaps his wife would have grown indifferent to him.

But it seemed not. Mary would never forget stepping out of the carriage and seeing Isabella for the first time. She knew immediately which of the women Mrs Cassidy was. She was the woman holding the little boy that looked just like his father.

It hurt Mary's heart to see the expression on Isabella's face. She looked so concerned, but it was evident that she still loved him.

How could she ever compete with such a woman? Isabella was beautiful. It was very obvious why Captain Cassidy had fallen in love with her. She looked exactly like every other rich, blonde debutante that Mary had seen traipsing through London.

But Captain Cassidy was different now. Mary could imagine what he was like exactly before his injury. He would have been the suave type of man to attract a woman like Isabella.

But he was different now. He needed someone different; someone who could understand his pain. He just did not know it yet.

But still, Mary found herself standing before the nursery door, willing herself to knock so that she could invite the wife of the man she loved to visit with him so that they could mend their bridges.