Just then, Enzo’s voice echoed outside of the bedroom, calling EJ’s name.
“I gotta go. Don’t forget to text me the time,”I said, letting EJ down off the sink.“I love you.”
“Uh huh. Love you too.”
I ended the call just as EJ sprinted out of the room, toward his father’s voice. I stayed back, packing the rest of my toiletries away.
“Thyri, you decent?” I heard Enzo.
I walked out of the bathroom. “Yeah. Just finished brushing my teeth. How’d you make out with the snow?”
“Good. The driveway and the side are clear. Here’s your car keys. I pulled it out of the garage for you.” He handed me my keys and purposely brushed his hand across mine as he pulled back.
There was that feeling again, the same one from when we first met back at his office building.
“Thank you for your hospitality. The big man says he’s hungry. I can make him some oatmeal before I head out.”
“That’ll work. Let me go get him ready for the day, and I’ll set him up at the table for you.”
“Okay. I’m right behind you.”
Leaving the room, I passed him, making my way to the kitchen to work on breakfast. I was halfway through stirring the oatmeal when my phone rang on the counter. People usually didn’t call me early on a Sunday morning. Figuring it was important, I turned the stove on low and picked it up to answer. The name Theresa, CNA came up on the screen.
Theresa was one of the CNAs at the rehab that I’d personally given my number after seeing how she tended to my father once while I was visiting. She was one of the few nursing assistants that were outsourced when Parker Jewish was short staffed. I hadn’t seen her in a while, so I was curious as to why she was calling.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Thyri. It’s Theresa from Parker Jewish.”
“Hey, Theresa. I know. I have your number saved. How are you?”
“I’m good.”She paused.“I wanted to give you a call because I’m back at Parker for a couple days, and thankfully, I was assigned to your dad.”She cleared her throat, and then, her voice came through again quietly.“I’m technically not supposed to be doing this, but if it were my father, I’d want someone to care enough to tell me.”
“Wait, what’s wrong with my father?”I asked, stepping away from the stove.
“He’s regressing,”she admitted.“They’re not gonna tell you because so long as they have an insurance to charge, they’ll let the people here just waste away. Your father wants to get better; you can tell by the way he tries his best to communicate and move on his own. Unfortunately, his mobility is declining again since the last time I was here. He’s also developing a bed sore. I’m not su…”
“A bed sore?!”I shrieked.“Nobody told me shit about a bed sore. How the hell did I miss that?”I turned around with my hand on my head and found Enzo and EJ standing at the entryway of the kitchen. I muted my phone to apologize. “I’m sorry. It’s my…”
“You good,” Enzo assured. “EJ, go to your room real quick.”
Instead of listening to his father’s instruction, EJ ran over to me and hugged my leg. My vision blurred, and my hand instantly went to his back.
“Tyri, you cry.”
“Come on, man.” Enzo pulled him away. “She’ll be aight.”
“Thyri?”Theresa called out on the other end.
Unmuting my phone, I replied.“Yes. I’m here.”
“I think it would be best if you moved him and soon. I know it won’t be super easy but do the best you can. I’ll look out for him while I’m here. I’ve already started treating the sore with some cream I keep on hand, another thing I’m not supposed to do and could get fired for. But I don’t give a damn. I’m gonna take care of my patients.”
“Thank you for calling, Theresa.”My voice cracked.“I appreciate you looking out. And this phone call will stay between you and I.”
“Thank you. Good luck with everything. And if you ever need to hire in home care, I do that on the side. Just give me a call and we can see what works.”
“Okay. I will.”
