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He must have heard the chair scrape along the floor for he woke up, his eyes cracking open.
"There you are," he said, his voice soft.
"How are you, little brother?" I asked and bent down, kissing him on the forehead. "You gave me quite the scare."
"What's with all the kissing?" he said and smiled, although his eyes were closed. "You haven't kissed me since you were drunk after you called off your engagement."
"I'm all emotional that you're still alive, that's what's with all the kissing," I said with a chuckle. He was only teasing for if anyone was an overly affectionate type, it was David, who was always hugging and kissing everyone else.
He sighed. "Terry died in the night," he said, his voice sounding tired. "They were waiting to tell me until the results came back from my MRI. I guess they didn't want to upset me or something."
"I'm so sorry," I said and felt a stab of regret in my gut. Terry was a great guy. I only knew him from that visit, but he was friendly and seemed a really good friend of David's.
"At least he donated his organs, so something good will come of this."
"How did he die?"
"Brain injury," David said. He sighed and then he lifted his hand up and covered his eyes, holding back a sob. I reached out and squeezed his arm, wanting to comfort him. "He had two little kids."
"I'm sorry."
Life was so fragile. One minute you were alive. The next, you weren't. It seemed so trite, but it was shocking when you realized it up close and personally.
Having just lost Grant, I knew how David was feeling.
I leaned down and kissed him again, holding onto his shoulder gently, trying to give him some kind of comfort, but I knew there was nothing I could really do to ease his pain.
There just wasn't. Losing someone who had once been close to me, I knew that all too well.
I left David to sleep for a while after he'd regained his composure. While I waited, I called the family back East to let them know about David. I didn't want to send them a text until I knew whether David would survive, but now that I felt pretty secure that he was going to recover, I had to let them know.
The brothers and I did a conference call and I was able to speak with each one and with each other.
"I'll probably stay here until David gets discharged and I know he has all the care he needs in place. Maybe a week at least," I said.
"Do you want any of us to come and give you a hand?" Christian asked.
"Not necessary unless you really want to come. I have things handled, but if you have the time, feel free."
"I might pop out there just for a few days, to help out," Christian said. "I'm not teaching this semester, so I have the time."
"I'll pick you up at the airport. Let me know when your flight arrives."
We said our goodbyes and I ended the conference call, glad that Christian was coming. He was pretty reliable as brothers went. Very serious, studious, a straight arrow-type.
I knew he'd be a comfort to David during his recovery.
While David recovered quickly over the next couple of days, I alternated my time between the new office of MBS and the hospital. When the day came to discharge David, Christian arrived and the two of us brought David home to his mansion in the hills.
He had a big incision in is belly, and so he had a few weeks of recovery ahead of him. What most upset him was that he would have to miss Terry's funeral. There was no way David could go, given how soon after surgery it was.
"I feel so bad," David said to us and Christian and I helped him get settled onto the sofa in his living room. "I should be at the funeral."
"Don't feel that way," Christian replied. "You got out of emergency surgery on a couple of days ago and need to heal. Nothing strenuous for six weeks."
David laid back on the sofa and allowed me to pull a blanket over him while Christian got him a cup of coffee.
"I'm going to the new office for the rest of the afternoon, but Christian will be with you in case you need anything," I said to David as I brought over the newspaper for him to read.
