“Yes.” He couldn’t deny the nurse was attractive, but he wasn’t interested in exploring a relationship with anyone but the woman he’d left behind in South Haven. “But I’m not going to ask your nurse out.”
“Why?”
“Can we not talk about this right now? You’re in pain and I don’t like to see you in pain. So let’s concentrate on getting you better.”
She smiled and patted his hand. “Fine. You’re right.” She closed her eyes. “I’m tired.”
Squeezing her hand, he told her to rest. A few minutes later, Ariane came back with pain meds. Once she administered the medication, she let them both know that the surgeon would be in to talk to them within the hour.
A little while later, it was dinnertime and his mother was cranky. “See!” she said. “This is why I don’t like the hospital.” She forked a piece of dry-looking fish and held it up. “This is probably not even real fish. I shouldn’t eat it.”
Andrew opened the bottle of juice they’d sent with her meal and dropped a straw inside for her. “You have to eat something. Stop complaining.”
“I’m not complaining. I’m just keeping it real. They should have called this ‘fish substitute.’”
Laughing, he took his seat again. “You’re trippin’, Mom.”
“Who you been texting on your phone?”
He blinked. “What?”
She pointed to his phone. “I’ve been watching you. Every time your phone buzzes, you smile. And you continue smiling while you’re typing a response.”
Andrew had no idea he’d been smiling, but he knew what his mother was talking about. Since he’d arrived, Paige had messaged him many times. The first time, she’d sent a GIF of a woman glaring at him because he’d failed to send an update once he’d actually seen his mother’s face. The next time, she’d sent a picture of her sniffing the apple pie she’d baked. And the final text was a pic of her sitting on a new lounger she’d ordered online, staring out at the water.
“Well?” his mother prodded. “You might as well tell me who’s got you over there grinning like that.”
“How do you know I’m not on Facebook reading a funny meme?” he asked.
“What’s a meme?” his mother asked, a frown on her face. “You know I’m not on no Fakebook.”
Chuckling, he told her, “It’s Facebook, Mom.”
“I know what it is. My friends have been trying to get me to try it out, but I refuse to get on there. Apparently, men try and pick women by ‘slidin’ in the DM’, or whatever that means. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Besides, I don’t like people knowing my business like that.”
Andrew understood where his mother was coming from. He had social media pages that he never used. But he kept them for work. “I get it.”
“But don’t change the subject. Are you seeing someone?”
Peering up at the ceiling, he weighed his two options. To lie or not to lie. In the end, he chose a variation of the truth. “It’s Paige.”
Her eyes lit up. “Beautiful Paige Mills. Me and ladies went to see her last movie at the theater. It was so good, and different from her normal roles. I was on the edge of my seat. So scandalous.”
Paige had co-produced and starred in her last movie. Right around the release, the news of Julius’s misdeeds had hit the media, thrusting Paige into a real-life scandal. It didn’t help that Julius was the director of the film.
His mother went on and on about Paige’s performance, raving about her growth as an actress and how stunning she looked in the film. Andrew couldn’t agree more. He’d seen the movie with Paige earlier in the year and thought it was Paige’s best role to date. In fact, she was up for several awards for her portrayal of a woman torn between very different brothers.
“I know you had a lot to do with this,” his mother said. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, Mom.” He smiled. “That means a lot coming from you.”
“I’m proud of all of my boys. You all have surpassed my expectations. I was just hoping you’d graduate from high school, get a good job, and move out. But all of you are self-sufficient, educated, powerful black men. Makes me so proud to be your mom.”
“It’s because of you that we had the chances we did.”
She waved a dismissive hand in his direction. “You always say that.”
“It’s true. I love you, Mom. That’s why I’m always on you to communicate with me. I need you to tell me the truth. Is something else wrong? Something other than your ankle?”
