“If you need anything,” Tommy said. “Money is the easy part…”
She snorted. “I don’t want your money, Tommy. I don’t need fame, or jewels or any of that. I want to be me. No judgment. Who I am inside. That can’t be bad, right?”
“I like who you are,” he told her. He breathed for a minute, tears pricking his vision. It was really all he had to offer her right now.
“I want you to get well. And maybe when you’re feeling a bit better, you can sing for me?”
“I’ve been specializing in Disney songs lately,” Tommy offered.
“That’s okay. As long as it’s notBe a Man,” she said.
“Reflectionis good. The Christina version. I wish I had her range.”
“Sounds like you’ve been working on that.”
He had been. Maybe he’d work more on it so he could sing it to her. “What’s your favorite Disney movie?”
“Moana. She’s got nerves of steel. Faces down a couple gods and her jerk of a dad.”
Tommy grinned into the darkness. “We’ll have to watch that again. I think I spent more time laughing at the chicken than paying attention to the music.”
“He is a hoot.” She agreed. “Do you think you can eat?” Paige asked, as she touched his face. “It’s past dinnertime, but I know you didn’t eat lunch either.”
He glanced at the clock. It was after nine. Visiting hours were long over, did that mean they were going to make her leave? The panic rose. He gasped.
“Shh,” she said. “It’s okay.”
“Don’t leave, please.”
“I’m not. I’ll stay as long as you need. Breathe.” She mimicked his breathing exercise, leaning down to press her forehead to his. He sucked in the scent of her and let it calm him.
“Sorry,” Tommy said once the warning bells of his lizard brain had stopped screaming at him.
“No need to apologize. Your system is still haywire from lack of food and sleep. So, food?”
“I could eat,” he admitted. He’d never tried to get food after normal dining hours.
“Feel up to walking to the dining hall? I think they can bring you food, but that will take a bit, and I could use something to eat too.”
“I think I can walk,” he said.
She reached over and turned the bedside lamp on, then carefully crawled out of the bed and offered her hand to him. He hesitated a minute before taking it and using her support to help him stand. He was shakier than he should be, but he also hadn’t eaten most of the day. “Food is fuel,” he remembered Dane saying regularly.
“It is. Fuel you need to heal,” Paige said. She bent down to find the slippers he’d been given, and pushed them onto his feet. “Let’s get you fed, yeah?” She tugged him toward the door. A couple NAs waited outside. There was a chair beside his door too, but Tommy wanted to walk. Paige shuffled along slowly beside him, not rushing. She kept close in case he fell. It had been a few weeks since he’d had a full flare-up like that.
Derek greeted them in the doorway to the dining hall. “Breakfast for dinner, okay?” he asked.
“Sounds amazing,” Paige agreed.
“Sure.” Tommy added. They found a table and sat. First thing Derek brought was Tommy’s protein shake. “I hated the shakes when I got here, but they are pretty good.”
“It’s got all your vitamins in it,” Paige told him. “And probiotics to help your gut biome. Fascinating stuff.”
“I’ll have to learn the magic formula before I leave,” Tommy joked as he sipped it.
“We will have you trained in regular nutrition before you go,” Derek said as he set down a tray and began handing out food. Eggs, sausages, and waffles. Tommy knew they were gluten free waffles, and the sausages were chicken. He had never had issues with either. He liked them, and hoped Paige didn’t find them strange.
“This is a lot of food,” Paige said, but it didn’t stop her from dumping syrup on the waffles and digging in. Tommy started with the eggs, slowly working his way around the plate. His shake tasted like peanut butter banana, one of his favorites.
