But it was.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised.
His lips moved a little like he wanted to speak, but my finger was still there, keeping him quiet.
Standing from the bed, I went back across the room to the mini fridge. “I got you some soup,” I told him, pulling it from the cold box and holding it up for him to see.
“You got me soup,” he repeated.
“So do you just pick and choose the stuff you want to hear?” I wondered.
“What?”
Shaking my head, I took off the lid and popped thecontainer into the microwave. The sound of it humming filled the quiet room while neither of us said a word. Halfway through, I stirred it and put it back in to finish heating. While the soup was doing its thing, I grabbed a bag with some crackers and a few dinner rolls off the counter and a Gatorade from the fridge.
The lid made a cracking sound when I broke the seal, and then I held out the plastic bottle.
“That’s for me too?”
“You need to hydrate.”
He seemed unsure, like maybe he thought there was a catch. Which, you know, I could understand.
“Take the drink, Pip,” I said gently. “No strings attached.”
He accepted, lifting it to his lips and taking a sip.
Pride filled me. “Good little mouse.”
The choking sound made me pause on my way to get the soup.
“Mouse?” he asked, swiping his lips with the back of his hand.
“Yeah. Pipsqueak. Mouse. All the same,” I said, getting his food.
“I am not a pipsqueak.”
“Yeah, I realized that when I found the library card in your pocket.”
“You went through my pockets?”
I scoffed. “Like you didn’t know. Anyway…” I continued. “That’s what I thought the first time I saw you. What a little pipsqueak.” He opened his mouth, but I kept on talking. “But then I saw the library card. You must like to read, huh?”
He nodded.
“I knew it. Not a pipsqueak, then. A pipgeek.”
He blinked.
“Huhhh,” I dragged out. “It’s perfect, right?”
“This is why you call me Pip?”
I made a sound of agreement and lowered a tray with the hot soup on it over his lap. “Don’t burn yourself.”
When he didn’t immediately dig in, I held out the spoon. “What?”
“I just wish I hadn’t asked,” he muttered.
