To Live Again

Chapter 1 
“Why doesn’t Anne try to rehabilitate someone else?” Katie picked up her cane and limped around the living room while muttering to herself. “I haven’t played the guitar in ages, not to mention my voice. I haven’t sung anything except hymns in church for the last three years. How does she expect me to perform?” 
Katie looked at the letter in her left hand and sighed in frustration, then stopped at a picture of John on the fireplace mantle. Setting the letter down and leaning her cane against the bricks, she picked up the picture and stroked a finger down his right cheek in a caress. How she longed to feel his flesh again. 
After replacing John’s picture, her eyes moved to a photo of their son J.J. He’d been almost nine and laughing when it was taken, so his dimples were prominently displayed. Her finger touched the glass shielding that dimple and her heart longed for the husband and son who’d been stolen from her. How she missed them. Tears slid from her eyes. She wiped them on her sleeve, then picked up the letter and cane and headed for her studio. 
Katie walked to the desk and forcefully tossed down the letter from her best friend, Anne. With a shake of her head, she sat down and stared at it, then read the words aloud. 
“Katie, I’m in a bind and need your help. The vocalist for Senator Harvey’s fundraiser on March 18th has had to cancel and I brought your name up to the committee as the perfect substitute. Obviously there isn’t much time and since I know how good you are, I’m sure you can be ready to perform by then. I’ll call when I get a minute.” 
Katie knew the senator slightly from some political work John had done, but not well enough to feel badly about saying no to the invitation. 
Leaning back with a big sigh, her eyes wandered toward the case holding her guitar. The phone rang and Katie reached for the receiver. 
“Hello.” 
“Hi, Katie. Did you get my letter?” 
“Yes, Anne. It came today and…” 
“I wanted to be sure you had it before I called. You’re not mad I asked, are you? You know you have to get out and start doing things, and this is a good way to start – with a bang.” There was a moment of silence. When Anne spoke again tenderness colored her voice. “Katie, you’re so good. You’d be the perfect performer for this event. Please say you’ll do it.” 
Katie ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes as she leaned back again and tried to stifle the rising panic. “How in the world could you think I’d even consider doing something like this? I love you dearly, but even for you, it’s a little much to expect me to perform in public.” 
“Hmph. What do you mean, ‘perform in public?’ For goodness sake. I know you’re self-conscious about your leg, but you’re much more aware of it than anyone else. You’ve been hiding there in your tower long enough. Some of us miss you terribly and if we don’t start pushing, we’ll never see you, and the world will lose a grand talent.” 
Katie fiddled with her cane and looked down at her right leg with a grimace. She could picture Anne in her law office wearing a sophisticated suit, sitting behind a desk with shoes off and hair a mess from pushing fingers through it while thinking.