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His eyes fluttered, but then nothing.
On day four, he was breathing on his own.
I sat in my chair and stretched my feet onto the railing of Dad’s hospital bed. “You know how you were convinced someone dented your car at a grocery store when I was fourteen? That was Savannah and me. We were playing in the garage, and I knocked it with my bat. I was shocked you didn’t notice, but when you came home from grocery shopping and were convinced someone did a hit-and-run, I figured, why come out with the truth? Oh, and when I was eight, I was mad at you for punishing me, so I put your toothbrush in the toilet and called you poop breath to my friends for two weeks. Oh, and when you were deployed when I was in the first grade, I told the whole class you were actually in Hollywood filming a movie with Brad Pitt. I didn’t want them to know you were off at war. I didn’t want to think about it in case something bad happened to you.”
I stared at him, hoping for anything. Any sign of him getting closer to waking.
I kicked my feet off the railing and pulled my chair closer to him. “Come on, Dad,” I murmured, staring at his face that held so many of my features. “Give me something, will you?”
“Some are just a bit more stubborn,” a nurse said as she walked into the room with a smile on her face. “I’m sure any day now, you’ll be talking to him, and he’ll be chatting back.”
“It’s been five days of nothing,” I told her.
“That’s not true,” she said. “He doesn’t have that big tube down his throat anymore—progress. And he’s breathing on his own—progress. And he’s listening to you.”
“What? How do you know?”
“Right there.” She pointed at him. “When you speak, his head moves slightly in your direction. He’s just tired, that’s all. He needs a little rest.”
“Like bread,” I murmured, thinking about Mom’s recipe card.
“I’m sorry?”
“Nothing. Thank you. I should get going. I know visiting hours are almost over.” I stood from my chair and squeezed Dad’s hand. “See you tomorrow.”
It could’ve been my imagination, but I swore he squeezed my hand back.
Weston forced me to attend school the following two days, which was the last thing I wanted to do, but I also knew I couldn’t fall behind again.
After the sixth period, I started feeling a bit better about being at school because that meant I’d be able to see Starlet in the next hour. That always made the days a little better.
On the way to English, I ran into Bonnie and Savannah, who were chatting it up with one another as always. Bonnie gave me a big grin and nudged me in the arm. “We have good news for you.”
I grimaced. “Should I be nervous?”
“No. You should be excited, my friend. We know you’ve been going through a lot, especially since your dad is in the hospital,” Bonnie explained.
“Why do I feel like you’re about to say something crazy?”
“Because she’s about to say something crazy,” Savannah replied.
“We think you need to get laid,” Bonnie said matter-of-factly.
I arched my eyebrow. “Come again?”
“I know we voiced how we wished you’d use therapy over your sexcapades techniques throughout the years, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Guess what we overheard in the girls’ bathroom this morning.”
“Why do I feel as if I don’t want to know?” I murmured.
“It was the twins Beth and Amanda. They were bickering about who could get you in bed first,” she told me. “You have two of the hottest twins frothing at the mouth for you.”
Savannah agreed. “You can definitely use it to your advantage, especially with everything going on with your dad. We know you use sex to disconnect a bit. So—"
“I don’t do that anymore,” I confessed.
The two girls stopped in their tracks. “What?” they said in unison.
I shrugged as I approached my locker. “I said I don’t do that anymore. I don’t hook up with girls like that.”
“Oh my gosh,” Savannah said in shock. “You’re in love!”
“What? No, I’m not,” I lied as I opened my locker.
“Yes, you are. Why in the world won’t you tell us who she is?” she asked me.
“Savannah has been convinced that you’ve been in love with some secret girl for a while now. She keeps going on and on about how different you’ve been,” Bonnie said.
I grabbed my books from my locker. “There’s no one.”
Just then, Starlet came walking by. I met her stare and gave her a small smile. She smiled back at me and then at the girls. “Good afternoon, ladies,” Starlet said before she let her eyes fall on me again. “Good afternoon, Milo. See you in class in a few,” she said before walking off, my eyes following her the whole time she walked away.
