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Chuckling, I take a seat. “If it gets any better, I’m going to need a clone. How’s the new trade student working out?”
“She’s great. Hard worker, driven to learn. I think you’ll like her.” Smith perches on the edge of the couch. “I actually stopped by to talk to Oliver.”
Oliver’s eyebrows leap up, and he regards him.
“Ella told me you’ve been feeling better. I thought I’d see if you want to go grab a burger and pop in at Stokes Brothers. Everyone would love to see you. I can drop you back off here after we close.”
A smile leaps to Oliver’s face and there’s not a second of hesitation. “Yeah, that sounds great.”
“Alright, let’s do it.” Smith stands up. “Oh, by the way, Hudson pissed off some woman he brought home from the bar, and she shaved one of his eyebrows off while he slept. By all means, ask him about it so we can all laugh again.”
“Are you serious?” Oliver says, getting to his feet.
“I’m sure he deserved it.”
“Have fun,” I tell them. “Stay out of trouble.”
Smith kisses my cheek. “Yes, mom.”
Oliver chuckles and flashes a smile at me. “See you later.”
It’s amazing how much progress he’s made recently. The first week he was here, going to a restaurant or grocery store was too much for him. It was understandable. Not only is he recovering from a brain injury, the world was one big question mark to him. I’d be terrified too. He knows the guys at his shop, but only from meeting them a couple of times. The fact that he’s excited to go have lunch and spend the afternoon with them shows how far he’s come.
It's the first time I’ve been home alone in over two months, and I take full advantage of it. A hot bath and two self-induced orgasms later, I’m lying on the couch binge watching a trashy vampire show full of shirtless muscular guys. My sex drive has really come back lately, but the thought of being with anyone is still too hard. It might be time to buy a new toy.
I order a pizza for dinner, and it shows up minutes before Oliver returns. “Hey, you’re just in time. Hungry?”
“A little.” He takes a plate and sits across the table from me. “Smith said to tell you to bring your car in one day if you haven’t had the oil changed.”
Whoops. That’s something that slipped my mind. Alden used to do that. “I haven’t. Glad he thought of it.”
He grins at me. “You don’t need to take me to physical therapy tomorrow. I don’t have to go anymore. Just cognitive therapy twice a week from now on.”
“That’s great!”
He nods. “That’s not all. I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier. Since I haven’t had a seizure since the hospital, the doctor is taking me off the seizure pills. You know he’s already been weaning them. If I don’t have any episodes in the next month without them, I’ll be able to start driving again.”
“Do you think you’d be comfortable with driving?”
He munches on his pizza and thinks it over. “I think so. My anxiety has gotten a lot better. I didn’t have any trouble today. I’m going to stay on those anxiety pills a while though. Most places are unfamiliar to me, but I know how to use the navigator on my phone.” He shrugs and looks over at me. “And who knows how I’ll be in a month. I might have my memories back.”
It's a wonderful thing to hear him sound so hopeful. To see him looking forward to something. “I have two photo shoots to do tomorrow, then we could go find something to do if you want,” I offer. Getting out and having fun without any pressure to try to trigger a memory seems to be working for him.
“Actually, Milo is going to come and pick me up at lunchtime. Smith showed me what I used to do at the shop, and he’s going to start teaching me the software.” He chuckles and sits back in his chair. “He said I’m the one who taught him. Anyway, I’m going to go to the shop a few days a week. The guys said they don’t mind picking me up after lunch.”
I reach across the table and take his hand. “I’m happy for you. Just take your time and don’t overdo it, okay? You don’t want to have a setback.”
His smile is soft when he squeezes my hand. “I’ll take it easy. It’s only a few half days to start with. A lot of the time I’ll probably just be hanging out with the guys and getting familiar with my business. If I need a rest, or get a migraine, there’s always my old apartment upstairs.”
At that moment, I see so much of Alden in him. The determination and kindness. He tilts his head the tiniest bit. “What’s that look for?”
“I’m just proud of you. Now, tell me, how goofy did Hudson look with one eyebrow?”
CHAPTER19
We fall into a new schedule over the next month. Two days a week, he goes to cognitive therapy. On those days, I drop him off and Tori picks him up like before, but she doesn’t stay with him. He enjoys having some time alone while I’m at work, and he knows he has multiple friends only minutes away if he needs us. The other three days he continues to work at the shop after lunch. It’s allowed me to go back to working full time.
We spend the evenings together, sometimes going out for dinner or a movie. Oliver has grown obsessed with watching movies. It makes sense. Imagine if you had no memory of any movie you’d ever seen. The endless choices. A lot of evenings still find us curled up on the couch in front of the TV. On the weekends, we go out, sometimes meeting up with Tori and Paul, or Smith and Harry.
