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“Like a rock. I never even heard you leave.” Aiden frowns at her. “How late did you stay?”
Lilly shrugs. “Around two, I think.”
Two in the morning?I’m guessing she works full time at the deli and it appears maybe she stays with her brother a good chunk of the night.
I settle back and eat my ice cream, watching brother and sister talk. After her initial questions to see how he’s feeling, she doesn’t talk about his medical condition again. Instead, they talk about his morning when he visited with a new buddy he met down the hall who also has leukemia. It’s fascinating how this illness is just an ordinary part of his life now.
“Boone and I were playingBattleshipthis morning,” Aiden says.
“Did you kick his butt the way you kick mine?” She smirks.
“Worse,” Aiden gloats with a sly look my way. “You should play him… you’d have a chance to win.”
“Gee, thanks,” I say, holding my hand to my heart. “See if I buy you ice cream again.”
Aiden laughs and Lilly smiles, but the humor doesn’t quite reach her eyes. She checks her watch again and I wonder if she has to be somewhere or if I’m intruding on her time with her brother.
As soon as we finish our cones, I stand from the table and put my hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “I got to get going, buddy.”
Lilly stands too, holding her hand out for our wadded-up napkins. I hand mine over without a thought and she pulls Aiden’s from his hand as he asks, “Can you come back tomorrow?”
“Aiden,” Lilly exclaims, looking over her shoulder as she walks to a nearby garbage can. “I’m sure Boone has more important things to do.”
I ignore his sister. “Got an away game tomorrow. I’ll come see you possibly on Tuesday, but definitely by Wednesday. Miriam is probably getting discharged by the end of the week and I have something for her.”
Miriam is a four-year-old girl with brain cancer. She had what her parents say is a successful surgery and she’ll be continuing with chemotherapy and radiation after her release. At four, she’s not overly impressed with the fact that I’m a hockey player, but she did like the stuffed animal I gave her on my first visit. It’s probably her parents who appreciate my visits more than anything since they can take a break from worrying about her and have some adult conversation.
My eyes cut to Lilly and she doesn’t seem perturbed but she does worry at her bottom lip. I peg her as the type who doesn’t like relying on anyone but she’s also not going to stand in the way of Aiden having visitors if it makes him happy.
“I really like coming here,” I assure her.
Her smile is relieved and appears genuine. She nods as she takes hold of Aiden’s wheelchair and grudgingly admits, “He loves when you visit and talks about you all the time. I appreciate it so much.”
We head out of the café and I let them precede me through the door to the lobby. I’ll be turning left, out to the parking garage. They’ll be turning right toward the patient elevators.
I hold my fist out to Aiden for a bump but startle when I hear a man call out, “Lilly! Aiden!”
We all turn toward the lobby doors and I see Aiden’s dad standing there. He’s swaying, a dopey smile on his face. “My children,” he yells. “My babies.”
“Oh God,” Lilly moans, and I see her staring at her dad in horror for only a split second before she kicks into action. “Stay with Aiden,” she commands as she rushes across the lobby toward her father.
Several people gawk and the receptionist stands hesitantly from her desk, phone in her hand as if she’s going to call security. Lilly holds her hand out to the woman as she rushes by. “I’ve got this. I’ll get him to leave.”
I glance down at Aiden quietly sitting in his wheelchair. Wetness glistens in his eyes and I can tell he’s pained by this situation as his dad is obviously very drunk. I can also tell this isn’t a surprise to him, but it is to me as I’ve seen him around and he’s never been this way before.
Lilly takes her dad’s arm and talks in a low voice, trying to get him back out the door. He jerks away from her. “I’m not leaving,” he bellows. “My kid has cancer and by God, I’m going to spend time with him.”
“Dad,” I hear Lilly’s plaintive cry as she makes another grab at his arm.
I don’t know just how inebriated Steven Hoffman is but as he tries to wrench free of his daughter’s grasp, he inadvertently knocks her to the side and she stumbles.
“Help her,” Aiden says, and I bolt into action.
CHAPTER 2
Lilly
Dad’s arm hitsme in the shoulder as he tries to pull free and I stumble sideways.
