Chapter 15
15
Nico
“Did you hear the good news?” Summer’s nurse, Angela, comes in with her lunch tray before I make it out the door. She’s wearing a yellow gown over her scrubs, a mask, face shield, and gloves, and I wonder why I’m standing here without any personal protection.
Yet another reason I should walk out, but I’ve already spent a lot of time with her; a mask isn’t going to help me now. Wanting to hear the news, I lean against the wall and listen to what the middle-aged woman has to say.
I have no faith that Summer will reach out to update me otherwise. I shouldn’t care. I don’t want to. But if I leave her in a lurch, Kaitlyn and the other women in the group will have it out for me.
Why couldn’t I have been charged with checking on one of the guys? Or one of the other women? Anyone who wasn’t Summer. She’s infuriating. For every step forward I think I take, I find myself back at the starting line, frustrated.
“You’re a very lucky woman,” Angela directs to Summer. “Your fiancé called twice to check up on you, and then he sat at your side for at least two hours before you woke.”
Great, now I feel obligated to stay and continue playing this role for a woman who doesn’t appreciate it. If I beeline out of here, I’m the one that will look like a horse’s ass.
“I am lucky,” Summer replies. Her gray eyes, full of emotion, lock on mine. At least the eye that’s open enough for me to see. “I don’t know what I would do without Nico.” Who is she putting this show on for?
“Are you hungry, Baby?” Angela turns to me. “Can I get you a tray?” At least someone appreciates me.
“No thanks. You said something about good news?”
“You’re going home tomorrow.” She informs Summer. “Isn’t that great?”
“Tomorrow?” Summer jumps in, sounding panicked. “Last night, the doctor said I’d be here for fourteen days.”
“You’re responding well to the medication. There’s no sign of shingles in your eye anymore. Besides, they wouldn’t keep you hospitalized the entire fourteen days, in any case. You’d be sent home with a PICC line, but now, you can take the pills orally.”
“But it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.” I chime in, confused.
“Like I said, good news. Can I do anything else for you?”
Summer shakes her head.
“Press the call button if you need me.”
Summer raises the head of the bed and sits motionless with her eyes closed. The simple action either pained her or drained her energy. I’m not sure which.
I adjust the rolling tray so that it sits over her lap and she can eat easily, then turn the main light on.
“Ooh, that’s so bright,” She closes her eyes and raises her forearm to block the light. “Can you turn it off?”
“Of course.”
She sits still for a minute, keeping her eyes closed.
“What happened?”
“The light hurts. A lot.”
“And now?” The room has no direct sunlight coming in, and the blinds over the window are closed tight.
“It still hurts, but It’s getting better.”
“This is the photophobia the doctor warned about. He said it could last a few weeks.”
“Weeks?” She drops the forkful of whatever imposter meat they served her. “Are you serious?”
I nod, sitting back down in the chair beside her bed. “You’ll probably need help driving and getting around until it gets better.” She sighs and closes her eyes.
“My parents are going to love this. I won’t be able to go to work, and they’ll force me to move back home.”
There’s a tightening in my chest. Home is up north, not here. “No one’s forcing you to leave.”
Her eyes roll. “Oww,” she whines. “Remind me not to do that. You don’t understand. They’re relentless, telling me that moving here was a mistake. They’ll say this proves their point. My father is like a pit bull, and my mother is determined to make me see reason.”
“Then don’t tell them.” She looks like I just poured green goo out of my pointer finger. “Do you tell them everything?” I know she doesn’t, or else, according to her description, her parents would already be here. “You have other options.”
“Really? How can I leave my apartment and go to work if I can’t even tolerate light? Even better, how am I going to get to the grocery store or cook if I can’t drive?”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself. Things can turn around quickly. Let’s take it one step at a time.”
“Since when did you become Mr. Optimistic?”
“I’m a freaking ray of sunshine. You just don’t appreciate me.”
“Sunshine,” she sniggers. “Maybe in the middle of a lunar eclipse.”
My blood pressure rises so high I feel the blood pump in my ears. “You don’t pay close enough attention.” I strain not to sound as annoyed as I feel.
“I can’t eat. Can you take this away?”
I say nothing as I move the tray aside, and she closes her eyes again. That’s right, pretend I don’t exist. Too bad. I’m not playing that game.
“Is there anyone else you can ask for help?”
“No.”
“Not one person you can think of who would be willing to help you?” I’m trying to lead her in a direction, but she isn’t budging.
“I barely know or talk to the girls in the group, and they’re the closest things I have to friends here.”
“Just them? Nobody else in the group?”
“I wish I could ask you.” She mutters under her breath, but it’s so quiet, I’m certain I heard wrong.
“What’s that?” I lean in closer.
“Monkeys in a zoo.” Her cheeks turn a shade of red fire engines would envy. “I mean, if I could rent monkeys from a zoo, that would be great because they have hands like us and can turn knobs.”
“Monkeys, huh?” Is she too proud to ask for help?
“Yes.” She almost looks frightened.
“Your hands are fine, so monkeys would be a waste. Plus, they throw their poop around.”
“Eww.”
“So monkeys in a zoo aren’t an option. Me, on the other hand, I don’t throw poop around, and I can turn knobs since that seems to be your main criteria, which honestly, I don’t understand since your eye is the problem. Will I do? Or is my standing with you lower than a monkey’s?”
Summer’s eyes drop, as well as her shoulders. “You’ve already done so much, and I don’t want to cause any problems for you.”
“Too late.” I snap, more pissed at her than ever because she can’t just say yes and make it easy. “You’ve been a giant pain in the ass since the day I met you.”
“Then why are you here? Why are you offering?”
“Do you think before you speak?”
She shrugs. “Not really. Takes too much time.”
“Yeah, it shows.” I wait for her to say something, but I’m met with silence. “You know what? I’m leaving.”
“Wait!” She lunges forward and grabs my arm. “Stay. Please.”