With the past couple of days extending into the evenings with Ben, she’d had less time to give her body the break it usually had. She hated that the craziness with her body was so limiting for her.
Though the pain made her want to stay home in bed, she knew she couldn’t. It was going to be a day when she’d need to put on her strongest front.
Slowly, Amelia pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. She sat there, eyes closed, just praying that God would ease the pain.
She didn’t expect Him to. After all, He hadn’t answered any of the prayers she’d prayed since her health had begun to fail her. Why would He answer this one?
Feeling a familiar sense of frustration building, Amelia got up and made her way to the bathroom to begin her routine for the day. She took some painkillers, well aware that they would barely put a dent in how she felt.
By the time she got to the church, Amelia had her pain mask firmly in place, the one that had been in her life, even prior to her deteriorating health.
No matter what she’d been feeling off ice, whether something was hurting her or she was upset about something, when she skated onto the ice, the only thing on her face was a smile.
Everything is fine.
The ability to portray that emotion had stood her in good stead over the past couple of years. And it would get her through that day.
She sat down on the chair behind the table, flipping open the folder to find the labels that she’d hand out to the teens when they arrived. At this point, it was likely the kids all knew each other’s names, but they still handed out the sticky name tags.
The sound of basketballs bouncing on the gym floor was subdued for the moment. She knew that Ben was there, but she didn’t look toward the gym, choosing instead to focus on getting her laptop set up for the church work she needed to do that day.
“Hey, Amelia!”
Hearing Ben’s voice, Amelia steeled herself before looking away from the laptop. “Good afternoon.”
“How’re you doing today?” Ben asked.
Thoughfinewas on the tip of her tongue, she also experienced a strong urge to be honest with him. However, she couldn’t.
“I’m okay.” That was as honest as she could be with him that day.
Ben stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. He didn’t seem to really buy into her response, but thankfully, he didn’t push for more.
“How are you doing?” she asked. Not just because she wanted the focus off herself, but because she really did want to know how he was doing.
“I’m doing good,” he said. “Ready for another day with the teens who make me feel old.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, you don’tlookold.”
That got a grin out of him. “Is that your way of saying I look good?”
Amelia rolled her eyes and gave a huff of laughter. “Like I need to say that.”
“Well, let me say that you look very nice today.”
Amelia looked down at herself. That day, she’d chosen her outfit for comfort. That meant she wore a loose-fitting dress with light gathering across the bust. The flutter sleeves were elbow-length. It was cream-colored with a tiny print of flowers in blue, purple, pink, and yellow.
“Thank you.”
“Do you have plans for after work today?”
Excitement and disappointment shared space inside her. She knew there was no chance that she could handle a third day out. If she was lucky, one day would be enough to get her pain under control. But there was no guarantee.
“I do,” she said.
“That’s too bad,” he said, his smile fading. “The kids decided that today would be a great day for a pool party at the estate.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’ll be fun.”
