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“Yeah… come have ice cream,” I mimic Aiden’s request. “My treat.”
Lilly mulls it over for only a moment before she smiles, “Okay. Yeah… sure.”
She steps out of the elevator and holds the doors open. “You two head down. I’ll go get gowned up.”
I wheel Aiden in as Lilly walks back toward his room where a metal casing is attached to his door that holds gowns, masks and gloves. We’re silent as we ride down to the lobby level, although I have a dozen questions about his sister. I don’t ask them though, instead getting him settled at the table while I order three soft cones.
Lilly’s at the table by the time I return, sitting close to Aiden with her hand resting on his shoulder. Whatever he’s saying has her laughing and she seems a little more relaxed. I don’t know exactly how old she is but I’d guess early twenties although the expression in her eyes says she’s lived way more than that. I can tell just by observing the siblings for a few moments that they’re incredibly tight.
“Here you go,” I announce as I reach the table, doling out the soft-serve cones. “Hope chocolate is okay with everyone. It’s all they had.”
When I sit down, Lilly says, “Aiden told me you’ve been coming to visit him.” So she does know who I am. I didn’t make that clear when I introduced myself, but I figured she knew since she never questioned why a strange man was taking her brother for ice cream. “Do you do that a lot?”
I nod. “I try to get over here at least once or twice a week to visit the kids. Of course, this is the first time I’ve been able to see him since the transplant.”
“He brought Drake McGinn and Van Turner the week before the transplant,” Aiden says, smiling through a small mustache of chocolate ice cream, his mask pulled down temporarily so he can enjoy the treat.
“So I heard.” Lilly’s eyes crinkle in amusement as she takes a tiny taste of the swirl. Her mask hangs to the side from one ear and it looks cute in a goofy way. “Dad mentioned it.”
“Where is he, by the way?” Aiden asks before taking another long lick of his cone.
And there it is again… that pinched look of worry on Lilly’s face. It’s there only for a moment and Aiden didn’t see it as he was focused on his ice cream. Her expression smooths by the time his attention is back on her.
Her smile is wan though, and I can tell something is wrong. “He’s not feeling well today, so I thought I’d come and hang with you.”
“But who’s running the deli?” Aiden asks.
“Georgie’s there. He’s got it covered.”
Aiden snorts. “You’ll be lucky if he doesn’t catch the place on fire.”
Lilly laughs and rubs her brother’s fuzzy head. “You let me worry about the deli and Dad. You worry about getting stronger.”
It’s a charming byplay between these two. I don’t know much about Aiden’s family other than he has a father and sister. I assumed there’s no mom in the picture because he’s never mentioned one, but I don’t get deep into personal questions. I make my visits about what the kids want to do and talk about, so I let them lead the conversations. Aiden has been content to talk about hockey and play games when I visit.
My purpose here is to take their minds off their illness and to let them escape reality just a bit.
Lilly leans over and presses the back of her hand to Aiden’s cheek. He doesn’t pull away or flinch like I would imagine many eleven-year-olds would when shown physical affection or touch concern.
“You look flushed,” she observes.
“Just excited about the ice cream,” he says with a chocolaty grin.
“Feel good on your mouth?”
His eyes crinkle and he nods. “Really good.”
I frown and Lilly catches it. “The chemo causes painful mouth sores. They’re mostly healed though.”
“I couldn’t eat for almost two weeks,” Aiden says with another hearty lick of his ice cream. “I had to have TPN.”
I look to Lilly in question.
“It’s intravenous nutrition since it hurt too much to eat with the sores.”
Jesus. I had no clue, but apparently things were pretty shitty after the transplant.
“How’d you sleep last night?” Lilly asks her brother.
