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“Yeah, we’re at the hospital. I’ll go and get a nurse for you in a moment.”
“Is that not a nurse?” He peers over my shoulder and it takes me a couple of moments to realize who he’s looking at. Brandon’s standing right behind me looking awkward.
“Oh no, that’s not a nurse. That’s Brandon, he’s my… friend.” I cringe guiltily as I lie. He isn’t just my friend, but I can’t call him anything else either. “He’s helping me.”
Dad tries to sit up but the pain is too much for him to do so. Sensing this, Brandon moves closer so my dad can see him. “Hi, I hope that you feel… okay.” It’s so obvious that Brandon doesn’t know what to say, but the fact that he’s still here and he hasn’t run for the hills says a whole lot about him. “Sorry, I know that you probably don’t want me here, so if you want me to go, I can do so now…”
“Are you the reason?” Dad asks cryptically. When Brandon doesn’t answer, he senses that he needs to continue. “The reason that my Lo has been much happier recently?” My eyes widen in shock. I thought I was so discrete with my feelings. “Oh, I know that she’s tried to hide it from me but I can tell that she’s going through some big changes. I thought love because of the way she now bounces as she walks, and now I can see I was right.”
Me and Brandon share a panicked look. The L word is something we definitely shouldn’t say aloud but that isn’t something that we can say to my dad right now while he’s sick.
“Oh well, he’s my friend, we’ve been hanging out,” I stammer as a blush fills my cheeks. “It’s nothing to worry about, or nothing to get excited about. It is what it is.”
Urgh, there it is again, those words. They sum up more than I ever thought possible. Now I can see why Brandon likes them so much.
“Hmm, I see,” Dad replies, sounding a bit bemused. “Well, I think something different. I think there’s something much more between you, but what do I know? I’m just a sick old man lying in a bed because my body keeps failing me.”
I don’t know how to answer that question, it sends me into a spiral of panic. I can’t look at Brandon anymore for fear of what he’s thinking about my dad and his heavy words. Words that definitely shouldn’t have been spoken aloud, not when things are so confusing between me and him.
“Shall I go and get a nurse?” Brandon asks rapidly. “See what’s going on here?”
I nod rapidly and watch as he leaves in a hurry. Seeing him go makes me feel oddly vulnerable as I wait for the onslaught of questions that’s undoutably about to come from my dad. It takes me a few moments to even turn my neck back to face him because I’m in such a state of panic. And as I finally do I wish I hadn’t.
“He is more important to me than you’re letting on,” Dad says with the shake of his head. “I don’t know why you feel like you had to keep him a secret…”
“Because he’s going,” I jump in quickly before he gets carried away. “This is only a short term thing. We both know what it is. As soon as his project is finished he’ll be back in the city and it’ll all be over.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” he replies in a matter of fact tone. “The long distance thing didn’t stop your mother and I in the beginning.”
“What?” I lean in, this isn’t a story that I’ve ever heard before. “You and Mom did the long distance thing?”
“We did.” He smiles to himself. “I actually met her when she came here on vacation. She was only here for ten days so it was a short term thing. But the amount of time we spent together was enough for me to know. I just knew that it was love.”
“How did it work?” I don’t know if I’m asking just to know or for myself as well, but I can’t resist. I need some answers. “When she went back home?”
“We wrote letters, we visited one another, we did all that we could to make it work. It’s just one of those things that if you’re both determined enough, you can make it happen, you know?”
I don’t know what to say. In all honesty this has left me speechless. It’s opened my eyes to the way that things can work if both parties want it to. I don’t know if that applies to me and Brandon, it hasn’t been long enough for me to be able to tell.
Then again Mom and Dad only needed ten days, so maybe I just need to pull my finger out and acknowledge how I feel. I know it, I just need to accept it.
Chapter 12 – Brandon
“And he’s out now, is he?” I say smilingly into the phone, cradling it close to my ear as I walk through the building site. “That’s good. All settled in back home?”
“Just about.” I can already hear how weary she sounds in her voice. “I’ve just got him into bed, and he’s looking much better.” She pauses thoughtfully and I give her a second to work out what she wants to say next. “Something really strange happened, as I left the hospital.” I don’t say anything even though I already know exactly what she’s talking about. “The bill for all the hospital car
e… it was already paid. Paid in full.”
I bite down on my bottom lip as I try to decide how I want to play this. I don’t really want to tell her that it was me but I don’t want to lie to her either. I choose to play it off as best as I can. “Well, that’s good isn’t it? Means you don’t have anything else to worry about… oh, hold on I have to go. Hank is trying to catch my attention, I think he needs my help with something. I better go but I’ll see you later on okay? Bye!”
Guilt crushes me as I hang up and I’m also acutely aware that it won’t be the end of it, but at the same time I don’t want to try and work out how to deal with this now.
“All okay, boss?” Hank asks me with a knowing wink. “Trouble in paradise?”
“No, no, it’s all good.” I give him the brightest smile I can manage. “How’s it going?”
I glance around looking at everything he’s achieved. The guys have done a wonderful job here, they’ve brought the plans to life without much instruction from me. I’m going to recommend that my father use Hank and his guys on all future projects. They’re awesome. Okay, so maybe it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the town, I will admit that, but it looks good.
