Chapter 29 #2
For what seems like an eternity, she stares at me, a look of frustration on her face. I want to look away but I don’t. I maintain eye contact so she knows how serious I am.
When she sees I’m not backing down, she deflates slightly. “Fine. I’ll get help. I’ll come check on you again.”
“Don’t. I don’t…I can’t have you here.”
“I’m your mother!” she shouts and I startle, wincing at the sharp pain in my ribs.
From the door, I hear, “And not a very good one.”
I see Grace standing in the doorway, flowers in hand and fire in her eyes.
“You threw your son out on the street like trash. You don’t get to waltz in here and yell at him.
You need to leave. Now.” She walks over, slamming the flowers down on my tray table, and coming to stand beside me.
“You okay, Koby?” I nod, happy someone is here with me, wishing I didn’t let my father leave.
When my mom continues to stand there, Grace looks over at her. “Is there a reason you’re still here?”
My mother looks like she wants to start yelling again. I press the call button and a nurse pops in, like she’d been standing outside the door the whole time. “You feeling okay?”
I shake my head. “I’d like her to leave, please.” I lean closer to Grace, my eyes never leaving my mother’s. She doesn’t look happy, but I don’t give a shit. She needs to leave and never come back.
The nurse looks at my mother, who still hasn’t moved. “Miss? You need to leave or I’ll be forced to call security.”
With a huff, my mother turns and stomps off, sending a seething look over her shoulder at Grace. Grace looks unbothered. She stands strong under my mother’s gaze.
After she’s gone, Grace rubs my hand. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. How did she know you were here?”
I shrug as my father comes into the room. “Hey, Dad. Dad, this is Grace, Ethan’s mother. Grace, this is my dad, Leonard.” Grace is hesitant to shake his hand, so I clear the air. “He didn’t know she kicked me out until I told him,” I explain. “He works a lot, but he tried. It’s not his fault.”
Taking me at my word, she nods as they shake hands. Stepping away from my bed, they lower their heads and talk. I close my eyes, tired from the commotion and drift into sleep.
An hour later, the nurse wakes me, checks my vitals, and gives me pain meds.
My dad is stretched out on the couch in the room; head back, mouth open and snoring.
It would be funny if I didn’t think about how tired he must be.
All those years of working and doing overtime.
This must be the most uninterrupted sleep he’s had in a while.
“You have a visitor,” my nurse whispers to me. “She’s been waiting for a few minutes but I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Who is it?”
“A young lady named Crystal.” I raise the bed slowly and nod. The nurse smiles at me and walks out. Shortly after, Crystal comes barreling around the corner.
When I see her face, I warn her in a whisper, “If you start crying, I’ll cry, then they’ll have to sedate both of us.”
She nods, quickly wiping away the few tears that slide from her eyes.
“What? I’m not crying. My eyes are sweating.
” I chuckle a little and hold my arms out to her.
She hugs me gently, sniffling when she pulls back.
“I tried to come yesterday, but my dad told me to wait. I’m skipping school, but there's only one class left.” She sits on the side of my bed and wipes at her eyes again. “I was really worried, Koby.”
“I’m sorry, Crys. I’m okay, though. Doc said I’ll be fine in a few weeks.”
“A few of Dawn’s friends had just told the guidance counselor some of the stuff she was saying, about killing Ethan, right before she hit you.
From what they said, she’d been saying it since the party at Ryder’s, and they got worried that she was serious when she stormed off.
It’s all over the school that she told anyone that would listen that she would make sure you two weren’t together. ”
Grabbing her hand, I tell Crystal, “Thank you for telling my dad. He came here right away and told me you waited for him to come home. How long were you sitting on my porch?”
“Long enough for my ass to go numb.” We both laugh quietly and I pull her in for another hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, Koby. I’m glad I still have my best friend.”
“Me too, Crys.”
We sit and talk for a while, until my dad wakes up and the nurse brings me some food.
When Crystal is about to leave, promisingto come back soon, she mentions that Ryder, Mitch, and Elle asked about me, and they want to know if they can visit.
I don’t know where my phone is, so I let her know she can tell them they can come whenever they want. She kisses my cheek and leaves.
Me and my dad sit and talk for a few hours, getting to know each other again. It’s not awkward after the first few minutes and I’m thankful that we still have an ease to our conversations. The same ease we used to have before he started working all the time.
“I was offered a promotion at work,” he tells me, looking really proud of himself. “It’s for shift manager. More money, less hours. I’ll be able to spend more time with you.”
I sigh, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but needing to let him know my plans. “Dad, I’m not coming back home. I can’t go back there. I’m going to stay with Ethan until I go to college. I got a scholarship for USC, in California.”
His face falls a bit, but he covers it quickly. “A scholarship? Full ride?” I nod and he smiles at me, even though it’s a little sad. “That’s great, kid. I knew you were going to do great things.”
“We can still spend time together. Just not at home. I can meet you anywhere else, but not there.”
Nodding, he stretches out in the chair again. “Grace invited me to their home to get to know them, since it seems like you’re pretty serious about Ethan. So I’ll just come there.” He hurries to add, “If you don’t mind.”
Smiling at him, I say, “I don’t mind at all, Dad.”
Hours later, Ethan comes rushing into my room. “Hey, sorry I’m late. The meet ran long.” He kisses me, then looks me over. “How you feeling?”
“Still hurt everywhere, but I’ve been getting meds around the clock.”
My dad clears his throat and Ethan startles, like he’s just noticing we’re not alone. Ethan reaches a hand out, cheeks pink with what I think is embarrassment. “Great to meet you, sir.”
Dad shakes his hand with a grunt and says, “Same to you. I want to thank you for being there for my son. I’m glad he has you.”
Dropping his hand and looking at me with a soft expression, Ethan says, “I’m glad I have him, too.”
I yawn wide, feeling the day wearing me down, but I want to hear about the meet. “Did you PR?”
He shakes his head. “No. Same times as invitationals, but I think I can do it by the next meet.”
His face is set in an unreadable mask, which lets me know there’s something on his mind. “Dad, can you give us a minute?”
My father stands up and drops a hand on my shoulder. “I’m going to go and get some sleep.” Dad told me he didn’t want to go back home after he found out what Mom did to me. “I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow, kid. Good night, I love you.”
“Love you too,” I respond with a smile.
After he leaves, Ethan takes his seat and scoots in closer to my bed. “What’s up?” I ask him.
He blows out a breath and gently strokes the back of my hand.
“There are pictures. Some reporters were still there after the press conference and took photos right after the accident. Some printed them. My father filed some kind of legal shit that’ll make them pull the prints, but some people had them at the meet. ”
My stomach drops. Fucking reporters. I didn’t think it was legal to run photos like that. With the pain I feel now, I know the photos couldn’t have been pretty.
I look at him. “Did you…see?”
“I was there, Koby. I don’t need a reminder of the worst day of my life. But people from the team told me about them. That’s when I called my dad, who called his lawyers and they got on it fast. They’ll be gone soon.”
God, that fucking sucks. I can only imagine how terrible those pictures are. And I can only imagine how distraught Ethan was when it happened. Hopefully, Frank is able to get the pictures down and Ethan’s announcement article released instead.
Ethan rests his chin on the backs of his hands. “I can’t wait until you’re out of here. I wish you weren’t in here at all. I wish you were home.”
“Me too.” I stroke his hair, hoping to soothe him. “A few more weeks and I will be.”
He gives me a shaky smile and we just sit there in silence, enjoying each other’s company.