“Pretty good. He knows the date, about the divorce, and that Mom and Lily bee are gone. No details yet, but he insisted on the basics. He was heartbroken when he found out we’d lost them.”
“And you, darling? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I always cry when I talk about them. I’m okay. Can we get lunch?”
“Of course. What do you feel like today?”
“A salad and a smoothie. I won’t miss all this takeout when we get home. Ugh.”
We hit the salad bar at a natural foods store that we’ve visited a few times already. After ordering my smoothie, I fill a container with salad and grab some snacks. Once Zander is done, we sitoutside and eat. I haven’t seen the sun much lately, so I soak up the vitamin D while I can.
Zander heard from Steven about the interview times tonight, and he contacted Caroline to escort Jake home Monday morning. She helped him arrange a van to move Jake, too. It appears everything is set for the move except, “oh crap. Ray is gonna need a wheelchair-accessible van or something for Jake.”
“Good catch, darling. I never thought of that either. Maybe Ray can get that sorted while you visit with Jake this afternoon, but I’ll start looking when we get back to the hospital.”
“Do you know how amazing you are? I can’t thank you enough for being here, Dad. All the time off from work and all the hours sitting alone in that room, organizing stuff. You are the absolute best,” I smile.
“It’s been my pleasure. You and Jake both deserve this miracle. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
After throwing out our trash, I grab my bag of snacks, and he drives us back to the hospital. The physiotherapist is just entering Jake’s room when we get there, so I hand Zander my things and go inside.
I say hello to everyone and stand off to the side to watch. The woman is nice and talks us through what she’s doing. It’s basically stretches like I’ve seen Mal do. Jake seems stiff, which is probably because he hasn’t moved in over a week. Trade-offs of the procedure. She gets us involved in massaging his arms after she stretches them out. Jake gets snarky, saying it’s the most action he’s seen in a while, causing us all to laugh.
Once she’s done, I get Jake some water as Ray leaves to go next door. Taking a seat beside the bed, I tell him about the interviews set up for this evening. Jake asks if I’m still living in my house in Virginia, and I pause, unsure what to say.
“Sum? Do you need to tell me something else? I can handle it.”
“Are you sure? Aren’t you overwhelmed from this morning?”
“Yeah, but this is my life now. I have you and Dad, and I need to move forward. I’ve got a lot of crap to deal with already, so tell me.”
“Okay, this is another big one. I live with my father now.”
“No way. Really? What’s he like?”
“He’s wonderful,” I smile. I tell him how great Zander has been, how much I love my new home, about Finn enterprises, and my friends.
“Sum, do you not live in Virginia anymore?”
“What?” I think through what I said, but I don’t remember mentioning anything that would suggest a different state.
“The chances of your long-lost dad living near us are like a million to one. Where do you live? I don’t want to be away from you. Can you move back and live with us? Get Dad. Maybe we can move.”
Jake's getting worked up quickly. Grabbing his hand, I squeeze. “Calm Jake. We're gonna be living really close and you’ll see me every day. You couldn’t get rid of me even if you wanted to.”
“Promise Sum?”
“Promise. You’ll be 13 minutes from my house. I already checked the drive time,” I smile.
Jake seems to relax at that news. “And where are you living? You never answered the question, sneaky.”
“Okay, so I live outside Charleston, South Carolina, now. Ray bought a condo for you guys there. It’s a town called Mt. Pleasant, and it’s really pretty. I absolutely love the ocean, Jake. I bet you will too. Your condo has a view of the water and everything.”
“Woah. That’s a lot, Sum. I’ve reached capacity for today.”
“Sorry. Did I tell you too much?”
“No. Yes. Maybe? I have more questions now, but I can’t today. I’ll be with you though, so that’s the main thing,” he smiles.
