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“Like hell you will. Now shut up and drink your coffee,” I kidded with him and actually managed to get a half a smile from him. “Any changes while I was gone?”
He glanced back at his mother and shook his head, “Nothing.”
Not long after, two doctors walked in. “Mitchell?” one of them asked.
“That's me, this is my brother, Jensen,” he said to them. I cringed at his words though I knew it was merely stated so if I needed to be there when he wasn't they wouldn't question me.
“I'm Dr. Chan, the staff geriatrician. This is our orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Norton.” We shook hands and moved off to the side while they assessed Kate. They completed a series of tests checking her reflexes, eye control, hearing, you name it. They poked away and nothing more than a slight moan came from Kate.
“We took X-rays when she came in last night to ensure her new hip was still intact and there was no damage,” Dr. Norton said. “Outside of bruising from the fall, nothing appears to be out of place, though the best way to check would be to get her up.”
“I'd give anything for her to open her eyes,” Mitchell said, longingly staring at his mother.
“Mitchell, we'll keep her for another night in the hopes that she'll wake but please keep in mind if she doesn’t, you'll need to consider an alternative care program for her. There are several facilities that we can make recommendations for but ultimately the choice would be yours,” Dr. Chan told him. I held my breath awaiting his reply.
Mitchell nodded in understanding but said nothing.
“We'll come back and check on her later. If anything changes in the interim, alert the nurses and they'll find us,” Dr. Chan said.
“Thank you,” I replied.
Chapter 4
“Good morning, Mr. Harris,” I greeted my regular retired customer that came in daily, bought the newspaper off the stand, and took a seat in one of the reading chairs. He sipped his coffee from the cafe down the street that I frequented each morning as well. He’d sit here for hours reading away, in between customers we’d discuss current events taking place around the world. The shop wasn't overly busy like it was when I was younger, but I had a plethora of marketing ideas I planned to implement as soon as funds allowed. Thankfully, my parents had been in this space long enough that the landlord grandfathered us in, and our rent never increased. In the interim, I’d been working on updating the website and increasing our social media presence. I wasn’t sure why I’d put these tasks off as long as I had but if I ventured a guess, I’d say between my mother passing away and my father moving into a full-care facility combined with contemplating selling my childhood home—that I still lived in—my mind was a spiraling tornadic mess.
Hence my growing need for Little Henry.
All were daunting tasks, and it was at times like this that having a sibling to help and lend a shoulder to cry on, another soul to commiserate with would be a warm welcome. As it was, me and Magpie were all I had. If I sold the house, it would give me a nice nest egg but then I'd be left looking for another place to live. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. The house was paid off and all I had to pay monthly were utilities, insurance, and food. While nothing on the house was currently broken, it was extremely dated but at present time I lacked the drive to consider updating anything. Instead, I chose to live by the old adage of if it ain't broke don't fix it, at least that's what my dad used to say.
Mr. Harris grumbled something about another country and what they were doing, I had no clue what he was babbling about. I’d lost track when the delivery driver arrived with the new book order. “Thanks, Joe,” I said as I signed the electronic form. He dropped off the boxes and was off to his next stop. I verified what was received against the shipping form and seeing everything was there, I went to work filling the shelves. My life was mundane at best, same tasks day in and day out, all of which I did on autopilot. Empty. That’s how it felt going through the motions, which appeared to have taken its toll and I was no longer satisfied with just being Henry, the bookstore owner.
I had played with David a couple more times at Cordes, though he wasn't there last Saturday. I ran into his friend and asked him if everything was okay. He said David was out on tour with his band. That goes to show you how much I knew of the real world, having no idea who he was. I went home Saturday night and Googled him and learned he was the bass player for a band called Embrace the Fear who had a huge fan base. I listened to a couple of their songs on YouTube and while metal wasn’t my musical genre of choice, I had to admit they were pretty damn good.
Who knew?
“Earth to Henry, are you there?” Mr. Harris said, emphasizing his need for my attention by knocking against the counter. “You have a customer.”
I turned to find two young ladies standing there. “Good morning, how can I help you?” I asked them.
“Hi,” one of them said. “Do you have any YA books with sorcerers or magic or anything like that?” she nervously asked.
“Yes, of course. Please, follow me.” I led them over to the shelves for this genre and pointed out the areas where the fantasy and paranormal books were. “There are several that have a mixture of not only witchcraft but orcs, demons, dragons, and then there's also some that only deal with witches and warlocks. Or you can choose one that focuses on a single mythical creature such as vampires or fae.” I spent a few moments going over the different series with them and then heard the bell over the door chime. “I'll leave you ladies to it. Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.” They nodded and pulled a book each from the shelf, immediately flipping it over to read the blurb.
As I rounded the register area, I glanced up and stopped dead in my tracks. Before me stood two of the most gorgeous men I had ever seen, albeit both had bags under their eyes and appeared extremely tired. I cleared my throat, “How can I help you gentlemen?”
The taller one nudged the other though in hindsight, he wasn't much shorter than him. “Oh, hi,” he muttered, staring at me like he had seen a ghost. I looked behind me and swung back around, wondering if maybe one was standing behind me.
His friend replied, “I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive my friend, he's had a bit of a long night. We both have. We weren't looking for anything in particular, just something to occupy our time and take our minds off of things for a while.” He flashed his friend a sympathetic grimace.
“Yes, right. I'm sorry,” the other man apologized.
Perhaps a change in subject was warranted as both seemed a bit preoccupied. “Coffee from my favorite coffee shop, Claire’s. Did you get to meet her? Isn't Claire wonderful?” I said, hoping it was the ice breaker we needed. Attempting to host a conversation with attractive men was a challenge for me which was why the David thing still stood out. Though when it was about books I always found a way to chat up anybody.
“It was our first time there,” the taller man said. “I'm sorry, please forgive my manners. My name is Jensen, and this is my friend Mitchell.”
“I’m Henry, it’s nice to meet you both. As to what I would recommend reading, it depends on what you're in the mood for. Sci-fi, murder-mystery, cozy mystery.” Dare I ask, “Romance?” My head was busy playing the game of are they gay? Straight? A couple?
Jensen smirked as though he read my mind. “What do you say, Mitchell? Are you in the mood for a little romance?” he snickered. Mitchell opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, reminding me of a pet fish I had as a child.
