Clay's frown deepened as he stared down at her. "Over a month now."
"My sister said he has Retinitis Pigmentosa, which is rare. And twenty-five is pretty young for it to advance to full blindness." Julie fidgeted in her chair. She wished she hadn't sat down at all. His probing stare was making her antsy. She dealt better with the blind than she did with the seeing, especially if the one seeing was Clay Marshall. "Is there anyone or do you know of anyone else in the family who had Retinitis Pigmentosa?"
"Not that we know of." Clay shook his head. "Listen, we have been over all of this with too many doctors to count. I just need to know if you can help him. Dr. Phillips said that you're the best and will have him living a normal life in no time."
Julie was always uncomfortable when someone recommended her with the words "living a normal life in no time." It wasn't that easy and it gave families false hope. "Guess it's time to see Bo and find out." She hoped she gave the man wanting his brother back a confident enough smile.
"Let me go make sure he's calmed down first and break the news that you're here." Clay straightened from the desk, towering over her.
"Is that what all the yelling was about, me coming here?" Might as well know for sure what she was walking into.
"As I said, he refuses help." A small tinge of defeat edged Clay's words.
"And as I said, that's typical, so I think me meeting him now is important." Julie's shy persona made a quick exit as her work mode kicked in. She had worked with the blind for many years and she was damn good at it, but each case was unique. "There are things I'm going to do that you won't understand, but I need you to promise not to interfere."
"If you can help my brother be the man he was before, then I don't care if you hit him over the head with a two-by-four," Clay replied, his face serious.
"Hopefully it won't come to that, but good to know," Julie said, and waited for Clay to lead the way to his brother.
This was always the make-or-break point with the newly blind. They took their anger and bitterness out on anyone or anything in their path. She tried not to stare at Clay's broad back and ass as he led her up the stairs. He had always been good-looking, and he'd definitely turned out to be one damn handsome man. Everything about him was masculine, even his smell. She actually took a long sniff, rolling her eyes in pleasure. God, she was pathetic. She'd always had a small crush on Clay Marshall, but knew they came from opposite worlds, and wasn't that depressing as hell.
"Bo." Clay knocked on the closed door. "You dressed?"
"Go fuck yourself, asshole." The words were shouted with a bitterness Julie had heard more times than she cared to count. Clay looked back at her in apology, but Julie just raised her eyebrows at him.
Stepping up beside Clay, Julie placed her hand on his arm, easing her way in front of him. "If you want your brother back, you need to trust me."
Clay stared down at her for a second before nodding as he moved completely out of the way. Julie nodded back before facing the door, and with the turn of the knob her whole demeanor changed. It was go time. She was no longer nervous Julie Daniels. She was a force to be reckoned with, because her life's goal was to help the blind, and nothing got in her way of doing just that.
"Hello, Bo." Julie walked into the dark bedroom, her eyes purposely averted from where she thought Bo might be, just in case he wasn't dressed.
"Who the fuck are you?" Bo growled from his bed.
"Bo…," Clay warned, but Julie turned and shook her head at him, warning him to shut the hell up.
"I'm Julie, Julie Daniels. If you're not dressed, you better cover up." She walked over as if she owned the place and opened the shades, sending bright sunlight streaming through the room, which was a total disaster area. Clothes, dirty plates, and God knew what else littered the room. Her eyes found Bo and she was taken aback. Bo Marshall had been one of the most handsome boys in Woodland High, next to his older brother, but now looking at him she could honestly say if she passed him on the street she wouldn't have known him.
His hair, as dark as his brother's, was long and greasy. His beard was shaggy and knotted with what looked like dried food. Even though she hadn't seen him much since high school, she could tell he had lost a massive amount of weight by the way the skin sagged on his nearly naked body, but it was his dark sunken eyes that did her in. It didn't matter what he did to her in his anger and bitterness, there was a silent cry for help settled deep in his gaze. It was at that moment she knew that Bo Marshall would be the man he once was, because when Julie saw that look in people's eyes, she was relentless.
"Well Julie, Julie Daniels…." Bo's tone was way past sarcastic; it was plain hateful. "Get the fuck out of my room."
"Make me," Julie replied, placing her hands on her hips in a pose of rebellion, as if he could see her. When Bo remained quiet, Julie nodded. "That's what I thought."