Prologue

I opened the door to the examining room and there he sat. He was a big guy, well over 300 pounds and six feet tall, yet he had a gentle presence. I looked down at the chart.

"Ben Barker?" I asked.

"That'd be me," he replied. His low voice was pleasant, which immediately put me at ease. I'd been working in this office for only a few weeks and was still uncomfortable, so any time I could feel at ease, I was grateful. I glanced back up and him and smiled.

"Mr. Barker, I'm Emily, a nurse practitioner student working with Sarah. I hope you don't mind, but Sarah has asked that I meet with patients first just to go over the basics before she arrives. Is that alright with you?"

"It's only a problem if you keep calling me Mr. Barker. My name's Ben. You're here to discuss my health, which is intimate enough that we should probably be on a first name basis."

I could make out the slight humor in his voice, and I knew from his half-smile that he had no problems with my presence. You'd be surprised how many people do. I liked this big guy from the get-go. He had a disarming nature. We chatted about his health—he was in to get a prescription change. Looking back over his charts from the past three months, I noticed he'd shed nearly 20 pounds. I decided to comment on that.

"Well done, Ben. Are you on a diet?"

He shrugged, sheepishly. "Not really. Just trying to do a little portion control. I try not to eat unless I'm really hungry."

"That's good. What's motivated you to do that?"

"Lots of things. I'm tired of being winded when I play ball with my friends. And I have a toddler, so I'd like to be able to keep up with him if I can."

I noticed how his eyes sparkled as he talked about his son. "That's great. So you exercise?"

"Not much. Racquetball or basketball once a week. I go on an occasional hike and I work in my yard. That's about it."

"Well, if you can keep up the portion control and maybe ramp up the frequency of exercise, I'm sure you'll be happy with the results."

"I'm not too sure about that." I glanced back at him to try and read his comment, and he had a nice, big grin on his face. "Won't be as much of me to love."

I laughed at the comment, and then Sarah burst through the door. She went over his prescription situation, changed his drug and recommended he return in three weeks for a follow up.

"It was nice to meet you, Ben," I said as I reached out my hand to shake his. His hand swallowed mine in a warm cocoon.

"Nice to meet you, too." I watched him head down the hallway and around the corner before moving to the next patient.

My mind was on Ben the rest of the day. Gentle Ben, I kept thinking. I was surprised that he dominated my thoughts. However, there was just something in the way he talked and smiled that radiated goodness. It just made me happy thinking of him. I realized that it's not every day you come across people like that, and whenever you do, you just have to take a moment to mark it.

Chapter 1 »