Chapter Six
The first day was brutal. Tommy was wheeled toward the dining hall even though he wanted to go to bed. He thought if he could sleep, it would be after a day like this. Everything from blood draws, brain scans, talk therapy, to a yoga based physical rehab took every moment. Someone was with him all day. For each meal he had either his nurse: Shana, Erika, and finally Derek, though he was told he had an overnight nurse, Amy as well, or a NA.
He wanted to recharge alone. He was tired in a dozen ways. His soul was worn out. Hadn’t really thought of it that way until now, after a full day of stuff, which shouldn’t have felt all that exhausting.
“We don’t should on ourselves,” Tommy muttered to himself, remembering what his therapist had taught him today.
“We don’t,” Derek agreed.
“Can’t I eat in my room?”
“Your friend is here. Did you want me to send her home?”
Friend? Her? “Paige?”
“Yep.”
Tommy saw her red hair the second they entered the dining hall. It was loose today, tumbling around her shoulders in tight red curls. She did really look like the Disney princess from the movie with enchanted bears. Who had said that before? Dane? Tommy could only vaguely recall it.
The dining hall was big, tables spread twenty or thirty feet apart. Derek rolled him to the table where Paige sat. Her smile warmed something in Tommy’s stomach. At least someone was happy to see him.
“Let me go get your food,” Derek said.
“Hey,” Tommy said to Paige. “I didn’t think I’d have any visitors today.” His mom had sounded like she wouldn’t be back for a few days. He wondered if she was working. It was only Wednesday.
“I came after work. I have Bas’s car while they are in Cali. But if you don’t want me to visit, I understand. You have a lot of healing to do. I don’t want to interrupt that.”
“Nah, it’s great.” He let out a long breath. “It’s been a crazy day. I’m tired, but it’s good to see a friendly face.”
Paige rewarded him with a huge smile that lit up her eyes. “Me too. Everyone is crazy busy, it’s pretty much work and home for me. I thought maybe you could use some company, even if it’s only for an hour or so.” Dinner was at six, and the end to visitor hours at seven. “Bas and Dane’s plane gets in late Friday night. I’ll have to pick them up.”
Which meant she wouldn’t be there Friday. “Okay. I understand.”
“But they plan to come visit Saturday. That will be good, right? Ru’s plane lands Sunday night. You probably won’t see them until next week.”
“Ru will need sleep. Tours are draining.” In a thousand ways. He missed the lights and excitement, though the idea of going back to that made his anxiety rise.
Derek reappeared with a tray for Tommy. First thing Tommy got was his shake. At least they varied the flavors a little. He preferred the vanilla as it had less of that chalky taste. Did that mean he was boring?
The rest of his meal was pretty bland. Not bad, more simplistic. Chicken and veggies, a side of fruit. Basic. Derek took the plates off the tray, setting them in front of Tommy. “Did you want anything else?”
“No. This is a lot of food.” And he’d been eating like this all day. Finishing everything as instructed. The meals were weighed and balanced to be what his body needed, even if it was more food than he was used to eating. So far nothing had set his stomach off, but he’d had a very long meeting with his nutritionist and gone over what he knew made him nauseous, like potatoes, and crackers. Tommy looked at Paige. “Do you want something to eat?”
“I can grab you something from the kitchen,” Derek added.
Paige waved at them. “No. I already ate, thank you.”
Derek nodded and left them alone to chat.
Paige eyed Tommy’s plates. “Looks thrilling.”
He sucked down the shake. “It’s food. Not Dimitri’s but what can you do?”
“In a place like this? You can probably have Dimitri brought in to cook for you himself. You have a nurse all to yourself.”
“Four,” Tommy said. “And I don’t think they are all mine.” He hadn’t yet seen any other patients, but had heard mention of a few others. There seemed to be enough space that they were in different wards. Distance adding privacy to their recovery. “I think there’s only two or three of us to each.”
Paige laughed. “Guess this is how the big dogs live?” She picked up a little ring of fabric she had set down when he came over. It looked like some type of needlepoint.
