I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
“Would you like us to call you when he wakes up,” the nurse asks, “and then we can give him the phone?”
I stand there with the phone pressed to my ear, pacing without even realizing it. “Sarah’s with him, right?” I ask.
“Uh-huh. Yes. She’s still here with him,” the nurse says.
That doesn’t make me happy at all, but I nod automatically like she can see me, then catch myself.
“All right. If Sarah’s there with him and she’s making him feel comfortable, I’d rather him feel comfortable and rest unless he really tries to reach me. If everything’s going well, then I guessshe can handle it. But if anything changes, just let me know, please.”
“Yep. Okay. We’ll do,” the nurse says kindly.
“All right. Thank you,” I say.
“Uh-huh. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” I reply, ending the call.
The entire day, I’m going crazy. Just being in the home by myself. I had to deal with all of this when I was living on my own in my apartment, but now that I’ve been living with Lincoln, it brings back old memories. Staying here is going to drive me crazy.
So I grab a harness for Morris from the store, come back, and then take Morris with me to go see the seagulls. Something the seagulls aren’t necessarily pleased with. But Morris isn’t an awful cat. Or rather, he’s not a normal cat.
Usually other cats would chase and try to catch the seagulls, or at least run away, seeing that they’re outnumbered. But Morris just stays there by me while I walk him with the leash attached to his harness. The cat is over the moon.
Did Lincoln used to take this cat on walks? He doesn’t even own a harness. He doesn’t own anything like this for Morris. But anyway.
As I’m getting ready to walk back to my bicycle, which is only parked about four feet away, I pull up my little book bag and stuff Morris inside, zipping it up and hooking his harness on the inside so he doesn’t jump out. Then I get a call.
“Hello,” I answer.
“Hello,” a masculine voice replies through the other line, and it makes me tremble.
“Lincoln?” I question.
“Yeah,” Lincoln says, sounding tired, his words slurring a little bit. “You left me here. You said you wouldn’t leave,” he murmurs tiredly.
And for some reason, this makes me feel unwavering guilt.
“I wouldn’t have left,” I say, “if Sarah didn’t come there and basically threaten me and get me kicked out. Otherwise I would have been there with you the entire time. But she’s there with you,” I say, shrugging as I get myself and Morris ready.
“I want you here with me,” Lincoln says, sounding like he’s not all there. He almost sounds out of it.
“Well, I’m sorry, I don’t know what to tell you,” I say, trying not to sound indifferent. The truth is I want to be there too. “As long as Sarah is in the way, I’m not going to fight to get myself in trouble just to stay by your side when you clearly have a girlfriend that is there for you.”
There’s quiet on the other line.
“All right,” he relents tiredly. “I should be home tomorrow, I think they said.”
“Yeah,” I say. “I just need you to get a lot of rest, okay? And I have some nice food here waiting for you when you get back,” I say to him.
“Wow, that actually sounds nice right now,” Lincoln says, his voice sounding croaked and even more tired.
“Something to look forward to,” I say, smiling from ear to ear.
“Yeah,” Lincoln chuckles tiredly.
“All right, you sound like you’re about to pass out, so I’m going to hang up with you and I need you to get as much rest as possible, okay?” I ask.
