Ray smiles at me. “She’s right. I’m just happy. You know I’m a crier. Are you in pain?”
“No, not really. My head is tender, but not bad. You look terrible, Dad.”
Ray laughs, a joyful sound from his soul. “Thanks son. I can feel the love.”
We sit and chat for about an hour before Ray excuses himself to take a phone call. I lean my head on Jake’s shoulder. “Sum. Is Dad okay?”
“He will be Jake.”
“Sum, that’s not a real answer, and where’s Mom?”
Sitting back up, I look into his beautiful cobalt eyes. “Questions can wait until you’re healed. I’m fine. Your dad is fine, and your mom is fine. Okay? Please don’t push right now. I’m sure you’re frustrated, but you’re still healing, and too much info too fast will stress you out. Dr. Crosby will tell you what she can. Please trust me?”
Jake sighs. “Fine. I trust you.”
Smiling, I kiss his cheek and lay back, turning on another movie. Leigh comes in with more broth, and I offer to feed Jake, so she checks his vitals and then leaves us alone. I give him his first spoonful, and he scrunches up his nose. “What?”
“That’s terrible.”
I take a spoonful and cough. “Yup. You’re right. I’ll get Leigh to get another flavor. Be right back.”
Leigh agrees to get more of the chicken from lunch and makes a note not to serve Jake the beef broth. I peek in on Zander, who's on the phone, but he waves and smiles at me. Ray stops me as I'm about to enter Jake’s room. “Summer. I’m going to stay this evening with Jake. I’m so sorry this was all on your shoulders. You’ve been incredible, and I’m so grateful you never gave up on him.”
“It’s okay, Ray. I’ll always be here for Jake. You need to be the best version of yourself for him, though. Consider talking to someone?”
“Zander and Dr. Crosby said the same thing. I will. I never realized what I was doing,” he sighs.
“Let’s go back in with Jake.” He follows me back into the room and I climb up onto the bed. Jake is half asleep again, but perks up when we come in. “Leigh is getting you chicken broth,” I tell him.
We chat until the broth arrives. I spoon-feed Jake as Ray tells stories of when we were younger. Once he’s finished eating, I tell him I’m heading home, but I’ll be back at 7am tomorrow.
“Jake, I’ll be staying,” Ray says, which seems to help his panic.
“Are you okay if I leave?” I ask with concern.
“Yeah. I’m good, Sum,” Jake smiles.
“Alright. Get some rest. Keep that curious brain back until you heal,” I say. I get up and give him a peck. “Love you, handsome.”
“Love you, Sum. Don’t be late tomorrow.”
“Promise,” I smile. I grab my bag and say goodbye, walking out. Zander is watching tv on the couch when I go into the next room. “Hey.”
“Hi darling. Come check this out,” he says, patting the seat beside him. I sit and he hands me his phone. There, in the Finn lounge, are two enormous posters of Troy falling into the pool beside the penguin picture of Zander. Chuckling, I hand him his phone back. “Two posters? Troy's gonna be so mad.”
“Payback,” he smiles. “Ready to go?”
“Yup, Ray is staying for the evening.”
Once we’re in the car, Zander asks how Jake is. “Good. He’s curious, but he’s behaving. He asked a few questions, but I told him they had to wait until his head heals and he’s accepted that for now. It’s weird. I was nervous about seeing him this morning, and I thought I would burst into tears when I finally talked to him, but I didn’t. Our relationship didn’t skip a beat, and it was totally normal between us. I got misty-eyed for a minute, but then the last two years just dissolved instantly.”
“That’s wonderful, darling.”
“How was Ray when he came in?”
“Denial initially, then he saw you two talking and burst into tears. He cried for a long time. I tried to get him into the other room, but he wouldn’t leave the monitor, so Leigh gave him a chair to sit on and watch. When he composed himself, Dr. Crosby took him to her office, and they talked for a while.”
That was probably a much-needed cry, but I feel bad for him. “He apologized to me. Hopefully, he can heal now.”
