Caleb's Dream. (Book 3 Of The Arlington Series)(Complete)

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

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Caleb brushed past Ruth and spun around demanding; "I thought you said Jasmine was responding! I went to see her and she's no different than she was the first time that I saw her!"

Ruth put her finger to her lips and pointed toward the babies who were sleeping. Then she told him to have a seat and they would discuss it quietly.

When he had done what she asked she said; "So, it was you that went to see Jasmine. I wondered if it was."

"Yes, it was me. I happened to find a doctor's lab coat in a buggy and put it on. I was able to walk right by the nurses and to Jasmine's room to see her. I was so glad to hear that she was responding that I closed up early and came straight over but she's no different." Caleb leaned forward with his arms on his knees, covering his face to hide the tears that were welling in his eyes.

"You're right, she isn't any different. What you didn't know is that her heart rate went up when you went to see her. The doctor did some tests because of that and has come to the conclusion that she can hear us and her heart rate proves it. You will never know how grateful we are that you did it. It has given us hope."

Caleb looked up then, half hopeful, wanting to believe Ruth, but after seeing Jasmine, found it hard to.

"Caleb, I suspected that you might have feelings for Jasmine that day in the diner. You were looking at the picture of the two of you playing with Elijah so tenderly, but then I dismissed the idea. Why didn't you tell her how you felt before they left?"

"Do you think I haven't asked myself that a thousand times? My dad told me to, but I was a coward. I kept hearing the voice in my dream telling me; "She's too young, she's too young!"."

Ruth said; "Ah, your dream. Caleb, she was too young when you first met her, but she's going on twenty now. Besides, there's only five years between you and Jasmine, there's eight between Adam and I. She's a grown woman; you need to get that through your head."

"Don't worry, if she wakes up I'm going to tell her and if she'll have me I'll tell her every day for the rest of our lives."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

Adam walked in about that time and asked; "What are you going to hold him to?"

Ruth helped Adam unload his arms and answered him saying; "That he's going to tell Jasmine that he loves her everyday for the rest of their lives, if she will have him, when she wakes up."

Adam turned to his brother in surprise and asked; "Jasmine's the woman in your dream? I should have known that. You were always around her when she was here."

"Yes, and remember that day we were walking by the creek, that spot where you chose to stop and kiss Ruth is the spot in my dream. And Jasmine resembles Ruth from the side and it was as if I was watching my dream in reality, only it wasn't me with her, it was you. When I came to and realized that it was you and Ruth I had to get away. Every time I see Ruth I see Jasmine."

Ruth gasped at that. "All my maneuvering to get you alone with those girls, trying to figure out who it was, and she was under my nose the whole time."

Adam laughed; "I knew you were up to something that day. Every time I turned around you had him with a different girl under one pretext or another."

"I was only trying to help. You didn't hear how tragic he sounded calling out in his sleep like that and you saw how much weight he's lost. Someone had to something."