Page 138 of Healing Eleanor

I check the clock and realize the last show of the night for Swan Lake has just ended. “I’m alive,” I reply.

“Well, that’s the hard part, so you must be doing something right.” He chuckles. “Listen, are you busy?”

“Me…busy?” I echo.

“Yeah, right. Dumb question.” There’s a commotion behind him. “Can Gabriel, Lily, and I swing by? We want to see you,” he shouts over the noise.

I look around the apartment. Laundry piles in the bathroom, a clutter fills the coffee table; it’s a general sense of chaos. “My place is a mess,” I warn. “If you don’t mind that, then sure. I could use the company.”

“Mess can’t keep us away,” he says. “We’ll be there in twenty.” Then the call ends.

I let out a long breath, my heart doing a nervous little dance at the thought of finally seeing my friends. The friends I basically betrayed, my conscience reminds me.

Twenty minutes on the dot, the doorbell rings.

I scoot myself toward the door on my crutches and open it to find Dillon and Gabriel grinning like they’ve smuggled sunshine inside their jackets. They rush forward, then pause for a beat, taking me in.

Dillon steps through first and wraps me in a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

I awkwardly hug him around my crutch. “You too.”

Gabriel comes next, carrying a white plastic bag, hopefully filled with the cure for boredom. He squeezes me hard. “I’m glad you’re okay, Eleanor.”

“Thanks,” I manage, breathless from the hug.

Lily lingers in the doorway, face soft but guarded, like she isn’t sure she belongs in the room with me.

I search her eyes. “I missed you,” I whisper.

Tears prick at her lashes. “I’m so angry with you,” she whispers back, arms folded as if to hold herself together.

My throat closes. “I’m so sorry, Lily,” I say.

She sniffs and steps inside without hugging me. “We brought food,” she mutters as she passes.

I shut the door behind them, and my gut twists. Not from the meal they’ve brought, but from how badly I’ve hurt the one friend who’s been there from the start.

Dillon starts clearing the coffee table while Gabriel unpacks white styrofoam boxes onto it.

“I wasn’t sure what you like,” Gabriel admits, grimacing. “I just ordered a grilled chicken salad. I hope that’s okay?”

I smile weakly. “It’s perfect, thank you.” Then I make my way back to the bed.

Dillon sets the clutter aside and helps me settle under the covers. “There you go.”

I mutter a quiet thanks.

His smile is kind but his eyes lack their usual light.

They begin passing out food. Gabriel hands me my salad and sinks onto the floor in front of the coffee table, while Dillon reaches for a burger beside him. Lily, though, just stands there, staring.

Gabriel glances between us, confused. “Everything okay between you two?” he asks around a bite of carbonara.

I can only stare at her, words trapped in my throat.

Lily huffs. “You gonna eat that, Eleanor?”

“Lily,” Dillon warns under his breath.