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Or longer.
Thirty.
Forty.
The rest of my life.
This black cloud might roll off of me eventually, but it’s going to take time.
I also think I want to know why she’s visiting Sylvester, but I feel like an idiot for being so desperate for the details.
I rub my temples some more.
Stare at the computer screen.
And wish my life was different.
It’s none of my business. Maddison and I aren’t dating. She and Sylvester can do anything they want.
“Son?” my dad asks.
I rap my pen against the table anxiously and try not to think about hotel rooms.
“Sorry, Dad. Yeah, of course. Come on down. It will be great to see you two. I’ll be on shift at the clinic Friday afternoon. Give me a ring when you get to town.”
We chat for another minute, and by the time I get off I know all about his latest symptoms: trouble lifting his left leg, insomnia, difficulty getting a fork to his mouth because of the way his right hand has been shaking. He says a cane helps, and Mom’s being an angel about meal times. He has a nurse looking in on him a few days a week, too.
My shoulders are hunched with sadness and stress as I pluck up the printed instructions and trudge toward the treatment room down the hall.
A hesitant voice behind me makes me pause outside of the room. “Doctor Landry?”
I will not snap at her.
I will not.
I grit my teeth. “Yes, Maria?”
“Sorry to bother you again. You had a visitor. We thought it best not to interrupt while you were on the phone… It was your girlfriend.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend.”
The minute the words leave my mouth, I note my grumpy tone. It’s back. And I can’t seem to do anything about it.
“Oh, you don’t? Tim said?—”
“Tim doesn’t know. If everyone could stop jumping to conclusions, that would be very much appreciated.”
Her cheeks tint with an embarrassed blush. “Sorry. I’m really sorry. He said she was your girlfriend. Well—Hana Chen was here. She asked us to tell you that she’ll meet you up at Stillwell Pond tonight, for your date. And she dropped off banana bread,too. With chocolate chips. She said it was for the entire staff, and to make sure you got some.”
Great.
Freakinggreat.
I forgot all about the fact that she’s texted me three times since stopping by my house with that pizza. I was so wrapped up in all this stuff with Maddie…
I can’t even remember what Hana texted me about, exactly. She did mention kayaking, didn’t she?
I only went out with this woman, really, one time. I agreed to coffee, and now I have to deal with the fallout from that.
