“One sec!” Mickey called back. He left his bedroom to go to his grandfather’s room. “Hey. You need somethin’ to eat? You want some soup or something? Maybe a sandwich?”
“I’m okay,” Pops replied with a gracious smile. He was nestled in bed with his pillows and seemed to be comfortable. “Home from work early, aren’t you?”
“Just for a few hours. I gotta head back out. Gonna be working late, so don’t wait up.”
“Are you gonna be here for dinner?
“If we eat around six or somethin’, yeah. I don’t have to leave until a little later.”
“Can we do Chinese?” Pops perked up. “I would kill for some fried rice.”
Mickey smiled. “Kill, huh? Must be serious.” He tilted his head. “You sure you can have that stuff? What did your nurse say?”
“Oh, screw her,” Pops fussed. “I can have some damn Chinese food. I’m a grown man, for cryin’ out loud!”
Mickey crossed his arms. “Fine. But then you’re eating a salad or some shit tomorrow. Deal?”
“Deal.” Pops relaxed, happy he was gonna feast on fried rice in a few hours. “You take real good care of me, Michael.”
“I try to.”
“It’s better than I deserve. You’re the best damn grandson a man could ever ask for.”
“Hmmph.” Mickey was suspicious. “Why does this feel like all of this praise is leading to something I don’t want to talk about?”
“You know, you could maybe use somebody to take care of you too.”
“Ah, there it is.” Mickey sighed. “I’m fine. Totally fine. I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”
“Michael,” Pops scolded, reaching out for Mickey’s hand. “I’m being serious now. We both know I’m not gonna be here forever. You’ve got docs and nurses on standby for me around the clock, but I’m already on borrowed time as it is.”
Mickey frowned.
“I wanna know you’re gonna be okay when I’m gone. More than okay, I wanna know that you’re happy.”
“I am happy, Pops.”
“See, last month I would have told you that you were full of shit.” Pops smirked. “But see now, I almost believe you. It’s that vampire guy, isn’t it?”
“If I say yes, will you drop this?”
“Bring him over,” Pops said stubbornly. “I wanna meet him.”
Mickey grimaced. “That’s not happening.”
“Michael,” Pops scolded. “Do you like this boy?”
“Against my better judgment.”
“Why don’t you go for it then, son? What’s holding you back? Are you scared of getting hurt?”
Scared that he’s gonna get me killed, Mickey thought to himself. He shook his head and said out loud, “We work together. It’s unwise.”
“Me and your Meemaw worked together, and we got along just fine. We left work stuff at work. That’s the secret.”
“I’m not really sure he and I are a good match.”
“Certainly seemed like you two were pretty good the other day when you was messin’ around at my girl’s place.”
