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“Would you guys like to come with me today? I think if he meets you, he’ll know that I’m not alone. I think it will make him feel better.”
Briar has tears in her eyes as she smiles. “Of course we will.”
“I’d love to meet him,” Caleb replies.
It dawns on me how odd it is that he never met him before, not even when we were young and I spent the majority of my time at his house. We really did come from two different worlds.
“I’d love that, too,” I say while staring into his eyes. “Thank you, guys.”
After we eat our breakfast, the four of us get ourselves cleaned up and ready to go. It’s about a forty-five-minute drive to my dad’s nursing home.
Once we get a bit closer, we go through the Whataburger drive-through to pick up some food, a cheeseburger for each of us, so he doesn’t have to eat alone.
There’s a subtle tremble in my bones as we get closer, and I don’t know if it’s because of my nervousness to see him for the first time in a couple of weeks or if it’s because I’m bringing them to meet him.
I hope he likes them. I hopetheylikehim. I’ve never brought anyone home to meet my dad, and while bringing this family of three is hardly the same as bringing home a new girlfriend or boyfriend, it’s how it feels to me.
Of course, he’ll have no idea that there’s anything like that among us. As far as he knows, we’re just friends, and I’m living at their rental property.
But it means so much more to me.
When we get to the home, we check in at the front desk, and the same nurse I met when I brought him here meets me in the lobby. Her name is Rhonda, and she’s a sweet older woman with a comforting smile and kind eyes.
“Mr. Sheridan, can I have a word with you for a moment?” she asks with a thick Southern drawl.
My body tenses as my heart drops to the floor. “Yes, ma’am,” I reply, following her.
A soft hand wraps around my arm, and I turn to find Briar walking next to me. “I’m coming with you.”
“Thank you,” I whisper. I glance back to see Caleb and Abby waiting in the lobby with the bag of food. Naturally, Abby is already climbing on the couches like an animal. I smile to myself as Rhonda opens the door to a private room and ushers Briar and me inside.
“I don’t want to alarm you, Mr. Sheridan, but I want to make you aware of the situation,” she says with a softness that makes me want to cry.
Emotion forms a lump in my throat as I nod.
“We look for certain signs in our patients to know when the end is near. Your father, while still able to walk around and speak, is showing a couple of those signs. His appetite has gotten very low, and he has moments of delusion. These are normal in patients with very little time left.”
Briar squeezes my arm and leans in closer. My eyes sting with tears, and I have to force myself to breathe. When I blink, a tear slips over my cheek.
I don’t know why this is taking me by surprise. We knew this was coming. We knew he was dying, but it’s still so jarring to hear that it’sreal.
He’s really dying.
“How much time?” I ask.
“I can’t answer that,” she replies as she reaches out and touches my arm. “Could be days. Could be weeks.”
I choke back a sob as another tear slips over my cheek. I can’t seem to think as the news rushes over me like a tidal wave.
“I just wanted you to be aware of the situation. I was going to call you today, so I’m glad you came in.”
“I should have come sooner.”
Rhonda smiles softly at me. “For what it’s worth, everyone here has loved having him around and will miss him greatly.”
“That’s so sweet,” Briar says, and when I hear the emotion in her voice, I turn to find her crying. It takes me by surprise. Why is she crying? She doesn’t even know him.
“Take a few moments if you need them, and then come to his room. He’ll be so happy to see you.”
