“You’re the best.” She beams. “Talk to you later?”
I nod, then glance at the slip. The cleaners are located by herhouse in Columbia Heights, which is close to the diner I’m having lunch at with Jabari.Perfect.
I flip down the visor and slide the mirror covering open so I can touch up my makeup. My hand pauses, holding my lipstick. What am I doing? Jabari can’t see if I’m wearing lipstick or not. He probably doesn’t even remember what I look like from ten years ago. Freshening up my makeup literally serves no purpose with him. Not to mention I’m not trying to get his attention like that. Hecheatedon Jackie.
Right. If I can remember that and that he’s desperate for a friend, right now, everything will be okay. We’re just friends.
A weight lifts off my shoulders. When’s the last time I didn’t have to impress someone? This might be a first, but I’m rolling with it.
I lock my car door, then head inside the restaurant. A quick glance around the room finds Jabari sitting in the back. The place has a shotgun setup, allowing you to see the whole place from the front. I pass multiple red booths before sliding into the seat across from him.
“Hi.”
“Hey, Val.” He flashes a smile, but darkness clouds his brown eyes.
“Is it bad news?” I ask hesitantly.
He runs a hand down his face, and his Adam’s apple bobs.
Oh no. My heart breaks at the sorrow covering his face. “We don’t have to talk about it.” I reach across the table to squeeze his hand.
“But it’s one of the reasons I invited you.” He flips his hand over and tightens his fingers around mine.
“Then just tell me. Rip the bandage.”
“They think it’s worse than they first thought. The doctorsuggested that even if I have surgery to remove the lesion on my occipital lobe, it might not do any good.”
“At all? No kind of visual improvement?”
He shakes his head.
My breath hitches. How can that be? I’ve been studying all the different treatments for macular degeneration. One treatment claims to be able to improve vision up to 20/40. Though that was for the eyes, not the brain.
“Why not?” I whisper.
This is so unfair. Jabari is only thirty-three. How can you tell a man this young that there’s nothing you can do? That the sport he loves so much is lost to him forever? I blink rapidly, trying to prevent the tears I feel gathering. Even though Jabari can’t see any potential waterworks, I’m neither a quiet nor a pretty crier. It’s a full-body explosion of snot, blubbering, and body shakes. I’ll stuff down the tears and spare him the theatrics and me the humiliation.
“So the first doc got it wrong. Though I have signs in my retina of the disease, it’s not actually causing the dark spots in my center vision. Apparently, the lesion on my occipital lobe is. An eye surgery won’t fix anything because it’s a brain issue.”
I cover my mouth to stifle my gasp, but the tightening grip from Jabari tells me he heard anyway. Is he really offeringmecomfort? A tear spills over.
“And they can’t operate on the lesion?” I ask.
“It’s not a simple surgery. It’s an actual craniotomy and recovery from that can be up to a year. There’s no guarantee it’ll restore vision the way I’d like either.”
How awful. I want to sob, so I can only imagine how Jabari’s feeling. “So now what?”
“He gave me info to a rehab facility that helps you try to restore vision loss or learn compensation skills.” He clears his throat.
He sounds so disheartened. Heck, Ifeelso disheartened for him.
“Is that your next step, then? Do you think you’ll seek their help?”
“Yeah, I’ll call them and see if there’s anything they can do to make life a little better.” Jabari runs a hand across the top of his black curls.
“I’m so sorry, Jabari.”
“Me too. I have no idea how I’m supposed to tell Coach. He’s been hoping this guy would have good news for me. Now the question will be whether the head office cuts me or forces me to retire.”
