“I could get you something else to eat.”
Before I can even finish offering, she shakes her head.
“No, it’s already getting late. If I eat something big now, I’m not going to want to eat dinner. If I don’t eat while trying to convince Dad to, it will turn into a big thing, and I would rather avoid setting him off right now if I can.”
“Understood. So tell me, did you deal with anything cool today? I know you can’t tell me much with HIPAA, but maybe you learned something you want to share?”
“No, not really. There was a dude though who had a metal cage that went from his foot to his shin. I got to clean around where it connected to his bone. Apparently he had a really bad fall and shattered both the bones in his leg above his ankle,” she says, making me wince.
“That sounds fucking painful.”
“I mean, it could have been worse. They could have amputated it,” she says as she takes a bite of her pastry.
I don’t know how she can eat while talking about amputation. She’s got a better stomach than me, that’s for sure.
“How was hockey?” she asks, changing the subject.
“Good. Some of us stayed after practice and reviewed some film to prep for our next game.”
“Look at all of you being all responsible and shit,” she says, making me laugh.
“It’s shocking, I know, but there’s a reason why we win as often as we do.”
“Hey, no judgment. I’ll just say this though, the football team could take a note or two out of your guys’ playbook for sure,” she says right as the lady brings our drinks to us.
For the next twenty minutes we hang out, decompress, and finish our food and drinks before heading back to her place.
“That was nice. We should do this more often,” she says as we pull into her driveway.
“We can do it as often as you would like.”
She looks down as she smiles before getting out of the car.
For the first time, she doesn’t try to get me to leave and lets me stay without putting up a fight. We hang out with her dad, watching some game show calledThe Chase,and eat dinner.
While most people would hate it, I love every minute of it, and I know just by looking at her that she does too. This is the kind of routine I could get used to.
twenty
Things are going great for me. Dad has been having more lucid days, which makes me happy. It makes me wonder what is making the difference.
Truth is, I think it’s Wyatt.
Most nights he comes over and we play games. He never blinks an eye at whatever mood Dad is in. He sits and acts like whatever Dad needs.
Then we play a game together as a family while watching something on TV. I always expect Wyatt to head home when Dad goes to bed, but he never does. More often than not, Will ends up waking us up on the couch.
He hasn’t said anything yet, but I know he sees what is happening. He hasn’t voiced disapproval like he did with Kyle, so I will take it as a win.
“How about we watch TV in my room tonight? I’m sure Will is tired of waking us before Dad sees us,” I tell Wyatt when I come back from getting Dad settled into bed.
“Sure.”
It feels weird leading a boy down the hall to my room. I never brought Kyle here. Even when Dad was doing better, he never wanted to come here. Just another difference between him and Wyatt. I couldn’t get Kyle inside my house no matter how hard I tried while Wyatt wants to be here. He often chooses to stay here rather than leave even when Will tells him we can.
He truly feels like part of the family.
“Get comfortable. I’m going to change if that’s okay,” I tell him.
