Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
ALEXIO
My nose was aching, though luckily, Jonah didn’t headbutt me hard enough to break anything, and I wasn’t bleeding. But it was clear he was going through it, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was his dad thing or if it was what had happened yesterday.
It was creeping toward late afternoon, and Peter was napping. I hadn’t expected anyone to come by, but I instantly recognized Jonah’s voice in the hallway. I was unsurprised to see him with Banks, though I hadn’t expected him to show up at all.
My brother and I were still trying to get Peter’s situation sorted out. The guy was on a few meds—stuff for his blood pressure and a script for Xanax. Neither had been touched in a while, which pissed me the fuck off. And as far as I could tell, he was on no treatments for his Alzheimer’s.
The medical neglect was goddamn criminal. Probably literally, though Nikos insisted I was overreacting. But it didn’t feel like an overreaction to me. And as much as I wanted to stay out of it and let whatever was going to happen happen, I couldn’t bring myself to do that.
I hadn’t meant to bring Vanya with me today though. He’d insisted we get chicken wings after my errands, and there was no telling that man no.
He was like a dog with a fucking bone when he got an idea in his head, and for whatever reason, he’d set his sights on hanging out with me this season.
Like, a lot.
He was quiet now though. He and I stood in the corner of the room, and every now and again, Banks would look back at me with a glare. I half imagined him pointing two fingers at his eyes and then one at me to let me know he was watching.
I wondered if he had any clue how bad this situation was.
But maybe he did because ten minutes after Jonah got settled in the apartment, there was another knock at the door and a man walked in. He had a badge with some medical group name on it, his scrubs bright purple and really tight.
He looked like he should be modeling them on a magazine instead of taking care of patients, but that was just me being a judgy dick again. He looked at each one of us, his eyes calculating, which I supposed was good for a person who was meant to take care of someone like Peter.
Then he sat down in front of Jonah and said his name was Kellen and that he’d been working as a home health nurse for the last two years.
“And you’ve had memory care patients?” Jonah asked.
The question surprised me because I didn’t realize he’d think to ask about that.
It was different from taking care of other patients.
Peter sundowned regularly. He forgot things all the time.
When we came in that day, he’d left the tub running, and it had flooded the bathroom floor.
God only knew how long it would have been going if I hadn’t come by.
“He would be my second. I’m new with this company,” he said.
I frowned. “Why?”
His gaze snapped to me, and then he looked at Vanya, who was fiddling with the photos on Peter’s wall, and then at Banks, who was still sitting there with his arms crossed. “Are you all family?”
“No,” Jonah said at the same time as I said, “We might as well be.”
“Ignore him,” Jonah said. “Peter is my dad. He’s a dickhead who doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone.”
“Oh? You mean I’m the guy who took care of Peter when you fucked off and—”
“Boys!” Tucker said again.
I sighed and shut my mouth.
Jonah turned his attention back to Kellen.
“Look, I was just informed about my dad’s condition, okay?
I was…low contact with my parents. My mom dropped his diagnosis on me a few weeks ago, then said she was leaving for the UK, and then she fucking did.
She didn’t even tell me where he was living, and she disconnected her damn phone, so I couldn’t even call her. ”
My whole body jolted. Maybe that was a story he was making up to make himself look better, but…maybe it wasn’t. The tone of his voice said the pain he was expressing was real. And so raw.
“I’ve been trying to get him into a facility for a while, but the decent ones are full and…and I don’t know. It’s been a lot.”
“And you don’t want him to live with you?” Kellen asked.
I braced myself. It’s the question I’d been wondering about too. Why this shit-ass apartment?
Jonah bowed his head. “I can’t. It wouldn’t be a good idea. I’m blind, and—”
“Oh.” He bit his lip. “Do I need to take care of you too?”
Jonah’s head snapped up as Banks made an outraged noise, and even Vanya stiffened. He took a step forward. “He’s not needing a babysitter. He’s amazing goalie. You even know who this is?”
Tucker looked surprised as Jonah turned his head and smiled at Vanya in a way he had never—and probably would never—smile at me. My stomach burned with an envy I didn’t want to acknowledge.
“Thank you, Vanya, but most people don’t know who I am.
” He turned back to Kellen. “I play for the Boston Legends. They’re the parahockey pro team.
These guys”—Jonah thumbed over his shoulder—“they’re with the NHL.
Tucker’s my coach, not that it matters. Anyway…
” He cleared his throat. “I need things a specific way in my house, and I don’t think my dad would be good with that.
He wasn’t when I was growing up, and he definitely won’t be able to learn it all now. ”
Kellen looked at us, then back at Jonah. “You can’t see at all?”
What the fuck was wrong with this guy? Never mind those were basically the questions I’d asked. But now, hearing them this way, I realized what a fucking asshole I must have sounded like to Jonah and Tiago.
Shit.
Jonah just shrugged. “No.”
“And you…make enough to pay for all of his services?” There was something in his voice that told me this was a bad idea.
That there was something wrong here. It was in his eyes—the shifty way he was looking around, like he was assessing the place for more than just dangerous, sharp edges that could hurt Peter.
If he knew Jonah couldn’t see—if he knew that Jonah had money—Peter was in trouble. It was obvious now, in his body language. He was stiff and jittery and looked like he wanted to bolt at any second.
I didn’t like this. I had to stop it.
“I think I need a word with Jonah,” I blurted.
He turned his head and frowned. “I’m in the middle of an interview.”
“I know.” I walked over, grabbed his arm, and hauled him to his feet. “Come with me. Right now.”
“Dude, what the fu—”
I ignored him entirely and yanked him down the hall, accidentally knocking him into the corner of the wall. He shoved me off and rubbed his side.
“You can’t just fucking drag me around like that,” he hissed, leaning in close. “What is wrong with you?”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. And I meant it. “I’m sorry. But you can’t hire this man.”
“Why the fuck not? Are you an expert now?”
“No,” I said, exasperated. “But this guy’s going to rob your dad bl—uhhh…”
“Blind?” Jonah sneered.
I passed a hand down my face. “I’m sorry,” I said for the hundredth time. “I didn’t mean it like that, but yes. I don’t know another phrase for it in English. I don’t mean this in a cruel way, Adams. But it’s in his eyes, okay? And I don’t know if you can see it—”
“Why do you keep saying that!”
I stared at him. “I told you I was trying not to fucking assume anything about you, okay! God, I know I suck at this, but I’m doing my best.”
He scoffed. “You know what—uhg, never mind. Just…” He raked a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. “You seriously think he’s going to take advantage of my dad?”
“Yes,” I said, lowering my voice. “I do. I think he’s probably a legitimate caregiver who was looking for something easy. I don’t think your father will be safe.”
“Fuck,” he murmured. He scrubbed a hand down his face, then squared his shoulders. “I’m going to take your shoulder, and you can guide me back to the couch without knocking me into a goddamn wall, and then I’ll handle it.”
“You won’t hire him, yes?”
He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose, out through his mouth. “No. I’m not going to hire him. But it’s annoying you give this much of a shit.”
“Someone has to,” I said, but this time, I wasn’t sure I meant it the way I did before. This time, I thought maybe what I believed before today was entirely wrong.
He didn’t hire Kellen and then promptly had a panic attack on the couch while his dad slept the afternoon away in the bedroom. I had the irrational urge to comfort him, but the moment the sketchy healthcare aid was gone, three more hockey players arrived.
I recognized one of them—the small guy on crutches, Boden—from the Boston sled team. But only because I knew his grandfather. His dad had billeted me when I was younger, but I didn’t think he knew that. He’d been living with his mom at the time, so we never met.
And I didn’t want to be the fucking weirdo who brought it up.
His eyes were on me though, zeroed in and intense, but he quickly turned his attention to Vanya, who was making himself right at home with everyone else. I was the only one standing in the corner of the room like an antisocial weirdo.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Jonah said as soon as he was calm again. “That was the only aid they had available for the next three months, and I can’t just not fucking go to work.”
The guy with the long hair hummed, then said, “Why don’t we do it?”
Jonah’s head snapped up. “What?”
“I mean, we can come up with a schedule and take turns. This dickhead over here seems to have found the time, right?” He pointed directly at me. It was clear Jonah had influenced their opinions on me.
Or they’d watched me play and thought I was dirty on the ice—which was fair. I used to be. But it had been years since I’d fucked off like I had in my rookie season.
“I don’t know,” Jonah started.
“Ford’s right,” Boden cut in. “Between all of us, we can come up with a schedule that’ll make sure your dad isn’t alone for long.”
“Yes!” Vanya said. “I can help. Your dad, he like me a lot.”
Jonah managed a smile. “I…”