Shane got herself out of bed and into the bathroom. It was time to shower and get ready for the day. It would take her just over an hour to do it herself. She was lost in thought and she began adjusting the bath chair to transfer easily.

Should I today? Maybe I'll go back on Monday. I'll have Oliver pick me up and walk in with me and…

No, that didn't feel right. I need to do this alone. She sighed. As the water hit her left leg she gasped slightly. Too cold. Wait...she had felt the temperature! She turned it to warm and then back to cold, paying close attention. The water hitting her skin also felt slightly different, almost painful. She reached to rub her leg. This was progress!

Maybe I will wait until I can walk in myself, thought Shane. Her mother's words from the day before played through her mind. "Don't hold the parts of your life hostage that you do have control over…." Shane sighed again.

As she got dressed she purposely put on sweats and a hoodie. She wasn't going anywhere. Not today. How much could she actually contribute in her condition anyway? Not very much, probably. Yes, it was better to wait.

She wheeled herself out to the breakfast table, expecting to see her mother, but she wasn't there. Confused, she looked at the clock. Only 6AM! She thought about going back to bed, but she heard the shower turn on in the guest bathroom. Her mom had done so much for her, perhaps it was time she made breakfast for a change.

But how would she stand at the stove? She spotted her unused walker sitting in the corner. The nurse had left it there for her last week, for use when Shane was "ready." She flexed her right leg and with a determined look on her face, got to work.


Heather walked into the kitchen an hour later, completely surprised. There on the table sat two plates with eggs, toast, and sliced fruit. There was even hot coffee brewing. She stared at Shane who was at the table, in her chair, breathing hard.

"Are you okay, honey?" asked Heather.

Shane nodded. "It was just a...a little harder to use that than I thought." Shane said as she gestured toward the walker in the corner.

Heather raised her eyebrows and with big eyes looked at Shane. "You stood up? And made breakfast? I didn't know you could do that yet."

Shane chuckled. "Neither did I. But I did it! Please don't tell Oliver though. I nearly fell once and he specifically asked me to only attempt using it with supervision." She smiled again, "But mom, I did it."

Heather smiled at her daughter while shaking her head. "Yes, you did. I've always admired your tenacity." Heather paused and put on what Shane called the 'mom face.' "Now, you must promise to never, ever do something like that again! What if I had walked in and found you hurt on the floor?!"

"I know," said Shane sincerely. "I'm sorry."

"Well, thank you for breakfast. It looks lovely. How did you support yourself to stand and manage eggs at the same time?"

"Well," said Shane, "you haven't seen the mess I made on the stove yet. I may need some assistance with the clean-up."

They both laughed as they began eating together.

They were almost finished when Heather asked, "So, what's the plan for today?"

Shane sat there a moment, thinking and with a determined look on her face asked, "Would you be willing to drive me to work today? I can handle the rest of it, but I am not allowed to get behind the wheel just yet."

Heather grinned. This was good news! "Of course! Thank you for not trying to drive on your own too. My heart can only handle so much in one day."

Heather stood and began clearing the table. She paused and looked at Shane. "Does Oliver know you're coming back today?"

Shane smiled and shook her head. "I guess I will be the one to surprise him this time!"


Heather pulled into the parking lot of the Denver branch of the Post Office. Shane's handicap parking sticker came in handy as they were once again re-striping the parking lot, not leaving many available spaces.

"Oh, diagonal!" exclaimed Shane. "I knew Oliver would win them over."

"Should I even ask?" chuckled Heather as she unbuckled her seat belt.

"Post office problems." said Shane with a wink. "Things can get pretty intense around here."

"Are you ready?" asked Heather.

Shane checked her hair and makeup in the mirror. "As ready as I'm going to be."

Heather brought Shane's chair around and helped her into it. She handed Shane her purse and placed the tray with 4 cups of coffee on her lap. She saw the look on Shane's face and suddenly had a flashback to dropping her off on her first day of kindergarten.

"Do you want me to walk in with you?" asked Heather. "I do want to see the famous DLO."

Shane shook her head. "Not this time. I need to do this alone."

"Okay," smiled Heather, understanding. "I'll have to drop by sometime next week. Have a great day, honey."

"Thanks, Mom." said Shane with an unsure smile. She began to wheel herself toward the entrance.

She reached the first set of doors and looked for the handicap button. It was right within reach. How had she never noticed it before?

She could feel her heart beating as she entered. She was about half an hour late, so maybe Oliver would be out on the floor for some reason and would come to her rescue.

A few people yelled out a "Hi, Shane!" and waved, continuing their work. She could see the last corner before the DLO doors up ahead and decided to get there as fast as possible.

Just then, Hazel spotted her, gasped, and dropped the mail she was sorting. Before she could say anything, however, Andrea came around the corner. Shane nearly plowed right into her.

"Hey! Watch it!" Andrea exclaimed, her face registering who Shane was. She folded her arms in front of her chest and said, "Well, well, well...fancy pants! You really do still work here, eh? I thought by now you'd be on to bigger and better things."

Every shred of embarrassment and hesitation left Shane as she was filled with pride for her work in the DLO. She sat up as tall as she could.

Her voice took on a sweet sincere tone, "The Denver DLO happens to be the best place I have ever had the privilege of maintaining employment."

Andrea scoffed slightly as Hazel walked up. "And she and Oliver are engaged!" squealed Hazel.

Shane grimaced. Hazel was always so...helpful. Her work at the DLO was fulfilling, regardless of her relationship status, but there was no way Andrea was going to believe that now.

"Do you work at all or is the DLO a matchmaking service?!" Andrea asked with an exasperated tone.

"You'll have to telephone Washington to get a thorough answer to that question." Shane answered sweetly.

"Oh yes!" said Hazel, "You should see the results from our last evaluation! The DLO…"

"I have already read it, thank you." said Andrea tersely. "I think it is time for both of you to get to work. Especially since you are late, Ms. McInerney." she glanced at Shane's chair, "Absolutely NO excuses for tardiness. I am glad you are back, though…"

Shane raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Perhaps you can help your coworkers catch up on their workload. They have been consistently behind." With that she walked toward the sorting floor.

Hazel leaned in towards Shane and in a whisper said, "Do you think she's going to fire me?"

"No." said Shane. "Being temporary, I doubt she has the authority to make those kind of changes, except under extreme circumstances."

Hazel sighed. "She still scares me."

Shane patted Hazel's arm. "It will be okay. I think she has a soft spot in there somewhere." Hazel looked doubtful. Shane remembered Oliver's words and said, "We've survived much worse."

Hazel bent over and gave Shane a huge hug, nearly crushing the coffee in her lap. "I'm so glad you are back, Shane!"

"Me too." said Shane, sincerely, as she struggled to keep the cups upright.

Hazel leaned in close and whispered with a giggle. "I'll have to update you on Lester and I later! We're not speaking right now, but he bought me flowers, so I'll probably forgive him and…"

Andrea looked over just then and Hazel, giving Shane a wave and a wink, quickly returned to her station.

Shane finally arrived at the DLO doors, only to realize she had no way to open them. She sighed. So much for a grand entrance, she was going to have to knock.


Oliver, Norman, and Rita all let out a sigh of relief as the DLO door stopped swinging after Andrea's departure.

"Well, she was in a good mood this morning." observed Norman. "She didn't yell at anyone."

Rita looked thoughtful. "I wonder what makes her so...so... unhappy with life?"

"I don't know," said Oliver, "but I'm glad she didn't see this."

He pulled out a large piece of paper with several columns of writing. "Now, we only have 5 minutes before we must return to our duties. Where are we on flowers?"

"Flowers are a go!" exclaimed Rita, as she sat down with a hand subconsciously resting on her belly. "They said it was no big deal making the switch."

Oliver looked pleased. "The reception location literally had a cancellation yesterday and was able to move our reservation as well. I can't believe this is all falling into place!"

"When things are meant to be, everything falls into place." said Norman, crossing off another item on the list and throwing a quick smile Rita's direction.

"Very true, my friend. " said Oliver as he gave Norman a pat on the shoulder. "Thank you for your help. The hardest part is going to be keeping this from Sh…"

Just then there was a knock at the DLO door. Oliver looked at Norman and Rita, who had begun frantically placing papers into an obscure drawer. Who in the world would be knocking?

Oliver straightened his vest and tie and calmly made his way to the door. He cracked it open to see Shane sitting there, dressed for work, coffees to share, and a huge smile on her face. He couldn't have been more surprised.

"It's you." he said.

Shane's eyes danced with humor, remembering their first meeting like it was yesterday. "Mr. Steamboat. Incredible." Oliver stood there for a moment grinning, remembering as well.

"May I come in?" Shane asked politely.

Oliver quickly realized why she had knocked. He moved to hold the door open. At the last second he paused and awkwardly called over his shoulder, "Norman, Rita, it's Shane!"

Shane heard some commotion and then Rita walked towards her as she entered.

"Shane!" Rita exclaimed. "You're in work attire! Does this mean…?" Shane nodded with a grin as Rita practically squealed and rushed in for a hug.

Oliver quickly glanced at Norman while Shane was occupied. Was any evidence out of sight? Norman gave him a quick nod and Oliver felt himself relax.

"It's good to have you back, Shane," said Norman. "We were like a three legged chair without you here."

"Thank you, Norman. It feels good to be back." said Shane. "So, I have 3 skinny vanilla lattes and 1 steamboat Americano." Shane glanced around. "Looks like we have a lot of mail to sort today people."

They all chuckled, remembering Shane's first week of work. It felt right when she chose to stay instead of transfer. Their team was complete. It felt similar today.

Oliver hadn't said much since he opened the door and saw Shane sitting there. He found himself watching her quietly as he sipped his coffee. Norman was showing Shane the modifications he made to her desk. She was smiling and asking questions. It all felt so...normal.

He knew he would be absolutely thrilled when she returned to work. He did not expect to feel so emotional about it though. He had stood in the same spot waiting for Shane to call or walk through the door on the night of her accident. The phone call he had received filled him with a feeling of dread he had never experienced before. It had been a grueling few months.

Her being here now felt like some kind of milestone. He felt as if he had been, metaphorically, holding his breath and now it was okay to breathe again. Ironically, as much as things felt the same, something was profoundly different. Better, somehow. As he struggled to make sense of his feelings, he vaguely registered that Shane was addressing him.

"Oliver?" said Shane for the second time.

Shane, Norman, and Rita were all looking at him, as if waiting for a response. "Oh, uh, I'm sorry, what was the question?"

"I'm all set here." she said as she gestured to her desk. "Where would you like us to start?"

"Oh, of course, um…" Oliver set his coffee down and scanned the piles on his desk. He picked up a folder with a dozen letters inside that was labeled with Shane's name. "Let's begin with these." He walked over and placed the folder on her desk.

"Oh yes," said Rita, "Start with the yellow envelope. Can't wait to see how that one turns out! We need you to search residential records for an apartment complex in Tulsa."

"That should be an easy find!" exclaimed Shane, clearly back in her element.

"Oooh, and after that, let's solve the one about the store clerk and the boy with the wagon!" said Norman as he glanced at Oliver, "I mean, if that's alright?"

They all looked to him, as they always did. Oliver nodded and took a sip of coffee. "I've been curious about that one as well."

They all smiled at him for a moment and then returned their gaze to Rita as she removed the letter from the envelope. Shane glanced up at him one more time, giving a smile that meant far more than approval of his letter choice.

He smiled back. All was right with the world once again.