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“Oh …” He looks like he is mulling things over until his eyes widen like he’s just comprehended the name I said. Well, I know it wasn’t the name that made his eyes go wide. It’s the minor detail of it being a boy’s name.
He quickly composes himself, but his eyes shift between the window and me. Oh no. I recognize this look. He’s weighing the pros and cons of what I just said.
Please, God, let there be more pros than cons on his list.
My mom looks nervously between us and jumps in like a lifeguard on duty for an emergency rescue. “You remember Nathan Thomas, dear? Such a polite young man. He’s Linda Thomas’s oldest son and friends with Peter and Joyce’s son, Brian. Coincidentally, he and Natalie now go to the same school together. Isn’t that great?” My mom raises her eyebrows as she nods her head at my dad, waiting for him to agree with her.
“Oh, yes, of course.” He shakes his head up and down. “I’ve seen him a few times working at the yacht club. Seems like a hard worker. And I think I remember seeing his name in the paper a number of times when he was on the school’s baseball team a couple of years ago.” My dad stops talking and looks directly at me before continuing. “Well, that was … that was very nice of him to bring you here.” He picks up his glass of water and holds it in his hands as a smile slowly forms on his face. He looks at my mom, who is now smiling back.
My stomach unclenches as his smile confirms there are more pros than cons on his list.
“Guys, can we please not make a big deal out of this?” I plead, leaning back into the couch in total embarrassment.
“What? I didn’t say anything.” My dad puts up his free hand in defense. That’s when his smile stretches from ear to ear, and he begins to laugh, which is a very welcoming sight to my weary eyes.
* * *
My mom, Jason, and I leave the hospital in the afternoon to head home. Jason wants to get his things together before going to his girlfriend’s house for the night. My mom wants to shower and pack an overnight bag so she can spend another night with my dad at the hospital. And I just want to collapse in my bed for the next twenty-four hours for some much-needed sleep.
As we turn down our street, I’m hoping Nathan is still at my house, but his car is nowhere in sight when we pull into the driveway. A slight ping of disappointment spreads through me as I look out the window, but my mom interrupts my thoughts.
“Everything ok?” she asks as she looks at me in the rearview mirror, seeming to read my mind.
“Yes, just a little tired.” I get out of the car and make my way to the front door before she has time to say anything else.
When I walk inside, it’s eerily quiet.
I know my dad will be coming home in a couple of days, but it feels weird not having him here with us right now.
My stomach rumbles, reminding me I haven’t eaten anything in quite some time, so I go to the kitchen. But when I enter it, I’m surprised at the state of it. Not because it looks like a disaster, which was my mom’s description of it, but because it’s … clean.
“Hey, mom, I thought you said the kitchen was a mess?” I look around, noticing how spotless everything is. It might even be cleaner than usual, if that’s even possible.
“What, honey?” She walks in from around the corner. That’s when her facial expression changes to one of shock. “What the …?” Her mouth drops to the floor. “This place was in shambles when I left here.” She looks around at everything in confusion. “We had been cooking dinner, and I had turned the stove off before we left, but there was a pot of spaghetti cooking and vegetables sautéing in a skillet. I was in the middle of making a salad, and I dropped a bottle of wine on the counter when your father fell, and he dropped a plate right over there, which shattered into pieces …” Her voice trails off as she points to the floor where there’s not even a speck of dirt. Then, after just a moment, some sort of realization seems to have struck, which is followed by a knowing head nod.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Nathan.” She looks around and connects the dots in her head. “He must have cleaned. I’ve never seen this place look so immaculate before,” she marvels with a soft smile as her eyes water for the second time today.
“I’m sure it was no big deal,” I say, suddenly no longer hungry, so I turn around and make my way for the stairs. However, the butterflies dancing in my stomach tell me it is a very big deal. I know that cleaning up that mess in the kitchen was the last thing my mom wanted to deal with when she came home. It would remind her of what had happened the night before. And how the kitchen looked just now probably made my mom feel like my dad’s heart attack was just a bad dream. Like it never happened.
Almostnever happened, that is.
Slowly, I head up the stairs as exhaustion overcomes me. Had there always been this many steps to get to the top?
After trudging up each one, I reach my bedroom and push open the door, looking inside, unsure of what I expect to find. But my room looks exactly the same as I left it. I walk over to my bed and sink into the extra thick mattress, drained from my lack of sleep on the unpleasant hospital couch. I turn on my side to get comfortable and notice a folded note with my name on it resting on top of my nightstand.
I pick it up and immediately know who left it for me, which causes my heart rate to increase with anticipation.
Natalie,
I hope your dad is doing well.
And you were right. Sleeping in your bed did help me feel like you were here with me last night. But I have a feeling it would have been even better if you actually were here with me, though I’m not sure how much sleep either of us would have gotten.
Looking forward to seeing you soon, beautiful.
Let me know if you need anything.
