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Or at all, apparently.
Thankfully, the IV meds helped as I watched her walk away and relived that pain—only this time I saw her leave. I wasn’t sound asleep in my bed, thinking she was next to me. Though I haven’t decided if that made it better or worse.
“Well, she’s gone,” Cam says as he puts the Jeep in first gear. “Left last night after she came to see me at the bar.”
I press my lips together before letting out a huff. “Good for her.”
Yeah, I’m leaning toward worse.
I THOUGHT WE WEREgoing straight back to the bar, but when Cam makes an unexpected turn, I realize that’s not the case. I glance between him and the road in front of us, but he’s trying his best not to give himself away. Instead, he’s tapping his thumbs against the steering wheel to the beat of the song.
It isn’t until he makes one final turn that I know where we’re going.
My heart races as he turns into the nursing home parking lot. “What are we doing here?”
“Well, I figured you’d want to see your mom, since you were in a life-threatening accident yesterday and all.”
He’s right, I do, but I had every intention of coming alone once I got my truck—and a pain pill in me for that matter. This shit fucking hurts.
“Thanks, man,” I tell him, opening the door. “I’ll be out in a bit.”
But he shuts off the Jeep and unbuckles his seatbelt. “Nah, I think I’ll come with you.”
Fuck.
He knows.
My head falls back against the seat and I sigh. “Son of a bitch.”
“Don’t talk about your mother that way,” he jokes, but then his face turns serious. “Why didn’t you tell me she was put on hospice?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I guess I just wanted to ignore it. Pretend it wasn’t happening.”
His brows raise. “Yeah? And how’s that working out for you?”
“Don’t be a jackass.”
I’m not in a joking mood. Not when we’re sitting in the parking lot of the place my mom is wasting away in. It’s the one place where I can’t block it out. When I’m here, I have to be strong for her.
“So, the unpaid bills for the bar?”
I nod slowly. “I’ve been paying for this place. Her insurance doesn’t cover it, and she won’t come live with me so I can take care of her. There was a place that would’ve just taken her disability check, but it was a shithole.”
Cam rubs his temple as he exhales. “Why didn’t you just talk to me about it? You know that I’ll always do whatever I can to help you, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I know.” And I do. “I guess I convinced myself that I could handle it. That I was strong enough to do it all. At first, I figured it would just put us a little into the red but then the summer months would make up for it and it could come out of my half of the profits. But it got out of control. And now I don’t even have my bike to sell to pay for it.”
He looks out the window, letting it all sink in before he answers. “First of all, we don’t do this shit. We don’t lie to each other. That’s what we agreed after you admitted to fornicating with my sister behind my back for months, right?”
I can’t help but laugh, wincing at the pain. “Fornicated?”
“It’s the only word I can use without gagging,” he growls. “Deal with it.”
Fair enough. “Fornicating it is.”
“I know you like to think you’re this major hardass, but for the love of fuck, asking for help doesn’t make you weak, H.”
Fucking hell. This conversation almost makes me miss the hospital.Almost. “I know. I’m sorry. I should’ve come to you about it.”
