Chapter Five
The sound of boots impacting the ground brought Paul awake. He knew he wasn’t overseas on the battlefield. There was no smell of burnt carbon from gunfire, or sulfur from explosives, or iron from fresh blood. The place he was in smelled of antiseptic cleaners. Because he was in a hospital room. The last place in the world he wanted to be.
His immediate response was to hit the ground and run. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t even lift his legs to move from the bed. The pins and needles pain was gone. Laying in the bed, Paul felt nothing below his waist.
He didn’t open his eyes. He wasn’t ready to face the possibility that he might never walk again. The very notion felt like a lie to him.
Something in his heart told him he would walk. That he would walk right past this trial. It
