“Yeah. She’s doing a bit better now that she’s regularly taking her medication. The nurse said they were giving her a liquid kind,” Molson answered. He tasted the stew. It was pretty good. “Have you been to see her?”
“Yes,” Drew replied. “She’s a lot frailer than I remember. Her memory isn’t exactly great.”
“She’s not doing so well,” Molson sighed. “Maybe I should have asked the doctors to commit her earlier. I don’t know.”
“You thought you were helping her,” Bethany stated firmly.
“We should have been helping you,” Drew added.
“What’s done is done,” Molson didn’t want to go over it again. It would just make everyone angry.
“I went by the house,” Drew mentioned. “I put a new lock on the door, so no one would take off with all your textbooks. Why didn’t you tell us you were going to school?”
“I ain’t no more,” Molson quietly told him. “I dropped out.”
“Why?” Drew frowned. “I saw your grades. They’re amazing. I couldn’t believe that my kid brother is going to become a doctor.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Molson muttered. “I can’t get back in anytime soon. I lost my scholarships and I’m not sure when I’ll have the money necessary to be able to retake the courses I need to graduate.”
“You intend to go back then?” Bethany questioned.
“Maybe,” Molson didn’t know. He had his doubts.
“Why wouldn’t you go back?” Drew pressed. “I want to brag to the guys at the station that you’re a doctor.”
Molson pushed aside his bowl, surprised that it was empty. He decided they had talked enough about him. “When is your wedding?”
“There was an opening at the park,” Bethany smiled. “The last Saturday of May.”
“That’s not too far away,” Molson remarked.
“Are you going to be my groomsman?” Drew pressed for an answer.
“Yeah,” Molson answered. “I’ll be there.”
“Good,” Drew smiled.
Molson crouched down in front of Rebekah to see how her leg was doing. He gently rolled up the dirty pant leg, exposing a bandage. Surprised at how clean it was, he looked at her. “Did you go to the clinic?”
“No,” Rebekah answered. “Got no time for that. Could sit in that place for hours and nothing happens.”
“It gets busy,” Molson agreed. “Who changed your bandage?”
“Your girlfriend,” Rebekah cackled delightedly. “She’s real pretty. And nice.”
Unwrapping the gauze, Molson looked at the ulcer on her leg while he inwardly cursed. He’d have to talk to Holly. She couldn’t come out to places like this alone. She was bound to run into trouble that she might not be able to handle. There was a reason he had the tattoos on his neck. They were there to keep him safer in unpredictable places since each of the six gangs had informed their members to leave him alone. “I’ll just put a little more cream on and wrap it up again.”
“Do you have more of that onion soup?” she asked eagerly.
“Nope,” Molson wrapped the bandage up again. “It’s chicken noodle today. I got peanut butter cracker packs though.”
“Those are good,” Rebekah nodded, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. “How’s your mother?”
“She’s in the hospital,” Molson reposition her pant leg again then put away his supplies.
“That’s too bad,” she commented. “Is she in a bad way?”
“No, she just needs a little help. Once things get straightened out, I think we’ll find her a nice home with other people who have the same sort of condition she has,” Molson explained. He pulled two soups and four packages for Rebekah to squirrel away with the rest of her supplies. “Is that cart wheel moving better?”
