“Is it okay if I turn on the gas fireplace?” I ask.
“I like the ambiance while I study.”
He pulls a smile that is so Brodie and says, “Sure, make yourself at home.”
He uses the remote feature on his wheelchair and comes in my direction. He places himself by me, turning on some music through voice recognition. “Any music you want to listen to?” he asks.
“Yes, I want to listen to waves crashing on the beach.”
He looks at me in a haunted way, and I quickly take it back.
“Or we could listen to NSYNC?” I try to make light of the situation.
He would constantly make fun of me for my love of all things NSYNC or backstreet boys. I even had the dance down to “Bye, Bye Bye.”This seemed to do the trick, and the light returned to his eyes.
“You gotta do that dance.” He laughs.
I stand up from the floor and toe off my shoes. I roll my neck around, and he lets out a laugh. “Alright,” I say, making a little room to fist pump the air.
He moves his chair around to get the full view.
“Ready?”
He now looks thoroughly amused. “Hit it.” I snap in the air.
The music of the ’90s boy band infiltrates the air, and I step into action. We are almost back in time with the music as our thoughts filter along as the passing beats. When the song ends, we start laughing. I fall to the floor with nostalgic happiness.
Brodie is smiling too, and I grab his cup from the table and down the drink.
“Here, I’ll get you some more water.”
He watches me get up and refill his glass. When I return, he is still staring at me.
“What?” I ask, not wanting to know the answer to that question.
“I just really miss you, Liv. I wish things were so different.”
Not wanting to dive into this deep conversation because I cannot deal with this heavy talk right now or anytime soon, I change the subject.
“Well, I’m wasting time getting this assignment done. Are you still going to help me? I need all the help I can get.”
He answers quickly with: “Let’s get started.”
With that, we are shifted into the world of medical assessment and comorbidities. Not the most fascinating stuff for the weekend, but at least I am getting my work done and spending time with Brodie.
The hours go by, and I’m mostly done with my assignment. I start to yawn, and Brodie offers to see if I want tea or anything to drink.
“Do you think I can get it to go?”
“Of course, I’ll have Melissa get it for you.”
Melissa, his care provider, is a godsend. She helps out Brodie so much and makes it possible for an attempt at a good quality of life.
“I am going to finish this up, and I need to head on out. Do you want me to get anything for you at the library for my next visit?”
“Yeah, some more audiobooks if you can?”
“Sure thing! Anything in particular you want?”
