When the door to my room opened, I looked away from the TV, expecting to see my mom returning from the cafeteria, but it was Ava.
‘Ava Maria!’ I put my good hand up as I shouted one of James’s nicknames for her. ‘Euthan-Ava’ was a little too close to home for an ICU patient.
Her eyes went wide as she shut the door. ‘Oh, yay! You’re stoned! Making up is going to be so much easier.’
‘Hell yeah. I cut my fingers off. What are you doing here?’
‘Visiting you, doofus. There’s a few other people here, but apparently the ICU tyrants only allow one visitor at a time. Your mom said I could come in as our elected Sunset Estates representative.’
‘Aw man, I was hoping it would be Natalie!’ Being stoned on pain meds also helped soften the blow when I realized I now wouldn’t be getting a letter of recommendation from her. Cutting off my own fingers while scolding her nephew for being a coward was definitely disqualifying behavior.
Ava withdrew two cards from behind her back and held them out to me.
I recognized the handwriting on top, and my brain struggled to figure out why it was there. I held it up to her. ‘What holiday is it?’
She frowned. ‘How stoned are you? New Year’s was two days ago.’
‘And I got Al’s New Year’s card four days ago, three days after his Christmas card.’ I held it out to her. ‘Open, please. I don’t have the dexterity.’
I held up my bandaged hand, and she opened the envelope and handed it to me. I laughed at the front – a handsome, shirtless beefcake lying in a hospital bed. I opened it and several bills fell out. A thousand dollars.
Al’s handwriting read:
Thomas, Thank you for bringing some exciTemenT To This bland roach moTel. Morgan has explained whaT happened and i’ve successfully managed To sTarT several rumors as To why you were wheeled ouT of here:
Doris aTTacked you wiTh a broken sanka carafe.
The kiTchen ran ouT of beef and you offered your hand To feed us.
You’re faking iT.
feel free To run wiTh whichever sTrikes your fancy. geT well soon, you faker.
Love, Al
Below that, in dignified, clean handwriting, it said:
Thomas, so sorry to hear about your accident. I will keep Al in line until your return. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
All the best, Willa
Willa.Not Ms Vaughn. I wondered if that meant I could call her by her first name aloud now, too. ‘How does he always have these cards at the ready?’ I asked. Also, this waswaytoo much. I had to pay him back.
‘Well, sorry to say, we didn’t give you a grand.’ Ava opened the other card and handed it over. Everyone had signed the card and written a little message telling me to get well soon. Gabe’s was the only name missing. Before I could even ask, Ava had the answer for me.
‘Gabe didn’t want to sign it.’
I don’t know what I expected. Whywouldhe want to sign it, after the scene I made telling him off? But still, I couldn’t help feeling upset. Ava probably recognized the look on my face.
‘I think he’s embarrassed,’ she said.
‘What for? I’m the one who cut my fingers off.’
‘No, I think it’s because you spit a little too much truth for him to handle. You should have seen him: all night he was just walking around like a zombie.’
Maybe something I said did get through to him, then.
I wasn’t in the mood to talk about Gabe, though, so I changed the subject. I told Ava that I’d come out to my mom. We had talked and my mom said she was happy I felt comfortable enough to tell her. She’d even pretended she hadn’t known, but I finally got her to admit that she and my father had talked about it before he died.
