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plate with snacks on it.
    He looked at it dubiously. “What is it?”
    “It’s a cracker with marmalade on it. It’s one of my favorite treats.”
    He tasted it. Immediately he had chills down his back. “I‘ve had this before.”
    “Really? Are you remembering something?”
    “Yes, my Grandmother used to eat this. I can’t recall her name. I remember the taste, though. It tastes like Grandma’s house.”
    “Wow, not only have you had your first memory, but you also have a grandmother with very good taste.”
    John laughed and laughed and Susan joined him.  They ended up leaning against each other. John enjoyed the warm feel of her shoulder against his. She didn’t pull away at first, savoring the moment, then she got a little red faced and got up. “I need to cook dinner,” she said on her way to the kitchen.
    “Can I help?” John asked.
    “Yes, you can help; just keep your distance until I can cool down.” It was hard having a friendly, good looking man in the house. She was having a little bit of trouble with it suddenly.
    “Sure, no problem.” He smiled to himself. ‘She does like me after all,’ he thought.
    Dinner that night was a meatloaf. John loved it, but he did notice that Susan was keeping an arm’s distance from him. She even sat in the chair with the broken spring that night while watching television. He wondered if he had blown it by making her uncomfortable in her own house.
    He went to bed early that night so he could get out of her way.
     

Chapter Twelve
     
    When Susan got to work, even more casualties from Vietnam had arrived. The retaking of the highway was costing more than expected. A group of them had run straight into an ambush and gotten decimated. Those lucky enough to be still alive were filling up the wards of the hospital.
    Susan started in right away changing bloody bandages. It was an all day process. The next day would come the operations where they would patch up the soldiers as best as they could. It would be someone else’s turn for changing the bandages.
    She was dead on her feet by the time lunch came around. She sat down next to Mary, one of the other nurses. On bandage changing day Susan would not eat because the sight of mangled flesh upset her stomach. She thought that she would adapt over the years, but, if anything, it was getting worse.
    With just a cup of coffee, Susan’s tray looked empty compared to Mary’s, who always had a large appetite. No one could figure out why she stayed so petite.
    “I hear you went on a date with Doctor Ralston.”
    “Oh, yeah. He probably dates all the nurses,” Susan replied.
    “I wish. He’s so debonair, a real gentleman. No, silly, he only has eyes for you.”
    Susan blushed a little. She had no idea. “What makes you say that?”
    “I hear him and the others doctors talking when I am in the back. He is just head over heels for you. He’s really jealous that you are living with that amnesia guy.”
    “His name is John, and we are not living together. He’s just there until he gets on his feet.”
    “Sure, sure.” Mary replied. “But you know what they say about temptation. The closer it is, the easier it is to fall. I wish I would have offered him a room at my place. He’s a hunk.”
    Susan got up. She didn’t like how the conversation began and she sure wasn’t comfortable with where it was going. “I need to get back to work,” she said as she headed back out onto the floor.
    The second half of the day didn’t go much better and by the time she got home she was exhausted. As she entered her front door she could smell something wonderful cooking on the stove. “What is that?” she asked John as she entered.
    “I found a recipe in your cook book. It’s Texas Chili. I hope I didn’t make it too spicy.”
    She grabbed a spoon and dipped it right into the pot. She blew on it to cool it and then tasted it. “Yum, that is amazing. I will have to mark that recipe.”
    “I’ll get some bowls,” John