Page 46 of The Fae’s Treasure

Damn it, this unselfish love crap bites ass.

“People like you? You... different, son?”

Son. This man loves me better than my own father ever got a chance to.

Maybe it doesn’t bite so much...

“No, I mean... I’m not family. And they get real picky about that, Earl.”

Earl hums, thinking.

I didn’t want to have to do this, but I’m going to do it. The nuclear option. “Earl?”

“What?”

“Mint Woods Nursing Homes don’t allow dogs. And if you ever have a setback like this again, where you skip a couple meals, let your sugars go crashing and boiling over with no rhyme or reason... They’ll put you in one. That’s right. VA home is too damn full, and every other place but Mint Woods is too expensive. You can’t be as ‘independent’ as they want? They’ll kick you out on your ass before you can say ketoacidosis. Tilly’ll probably be taken and shipped to some pound before I even hear you’re in the hospital. I can’t be with you twenty-four-seven. I know you don’t need that!” I interrupt myself before Earl can, his mouth open in an angry snarl. “But you need someone to look in on you a couple of times a day. Hell, Earl. I’d do it, but I don’t have a decent place for the three of us, and I don’t have a steady job.” I swallow grimly. “But I know where I can get one.”

Earl is quiet for a long time. I’m worried he’s slipping away, mentally, or maybe his sugar is bad again, but no. He’s just mulling. “Well. S’pose it won’t matter much. No one visits me but you. I can’t see how ugly the city is, anyway...”

“Not a city. Up in the mountains. My brother’s job runs right along the river, and his buddy is a krak—crack fisherman. Real sharp and knows all the spots. We’ll go fishing, Earl.” My voice is low, urgent, and desperate. Getting him to agree to this is just one part of the plan.

The other two might not be as hard, but they’ll be a close second.

Earl chews invisible tobacco, a habit that he gave up two years ago, but a sure sign that he’s thinking hard. That mind is still sharp as ten tacks and strikes like shrapnel when he’s angry. Hoping he’s not too angry just now...

“Why?”

“Hm?”

“Why are you doin’ all this? My own blood kin don’t fuss. Haven’t heard from ‘em in years, not a call, not a Christmas card. My buddies at the VFW and American Legion are dropping like flies, put in homes, living with their married daughters, or retired out in Florida—stupid. Hurricanes and humidity that’ll simmer your gizzards.” Earl fake spits an imaginary wad to show his disdain for the Florida weather.

“New York is cooler. Pretty, too. Lenny invited me up for Thanksgiving.”

“Didn’t invite me, though.”

“He did! And you were there for his wedding, you ass. You’re family. You want me to spell it out? You are family. You and Tilly. Lenny and Cindy. You are all I have in the whole fucking world, and if you don’t want to come quietly, then you can come screaming and cussing. I’m busting you out of Mint Woods when you’re discharged from this place, and we’re starting a new life in Pine Ridge.”

Silence. Chewing on nothing, or maybe chewing on words.

Then, “The dog comes?”

“Duh.”

“Don’t sass me, you’re not some teenager with a safety pin through his nose.”

“Of course Tilly is coming.”

“And where are we staying?”

“In a nice place.”

“You have no idea, do you?”

“Not yet. But you’re not gonna be released until next week. I have time.”

“You realize my social worker from the VA will have to help you out, or I’m gonna lose my medical coverage and probably my disability checks, right? We joke that the VA loses people in the system all the time, but not when you keep popping into the hospital and costing ‘em money.”

No, I hadn’t thought of that. I just thought of getting him someplace where I could at least try to help him. “Of course, I thought of that. I’m not some brainless piece of bait on a hook. I’m... I’m going to get the people in Pine Ridge to help me find us a place.”