Three days later, on Saturday, the noise outside could not compare to the loud thumping of Belle's heart. She felt as if her heart were beating right against her ears. Her eyes twinkled with joy, a detail that did not escape Eli's notice when he walked into her room for his afternoon visit.
"Doc!" she greeted him happily the moment she laid eyes on him. "I can finally walk. I mean, they're allowing me to walk."
"That's great! I bet you can only do it for a few hours a day, but it's a wonderful start. I'll walk you to the garden next time."
"Hmph! Who wants to walk with you?!" she exclaimed. The outburst was entirely out of character, especially since she had been beaming with happiness just seconds before. "Let me use your laptop now. I want to continue searching for something."
Eli could only shake his head at this woman, whose mood swings were worse than those of a woman on her period. "Five minutes."
"Got it."
