11
Y ou shouldn’t bite your nails,” Leo says at a stoplight.
I grunt a monosyllabic response.
“There’s a plethora of bacteria under there. Gross habit.”
I take in his profile. The sturdy, straight nose, sharp jawline, and lightly tan skin. He’s at ease behind the wheel, relaxed. Despite his choice of words, I don’t think he means to be rude. “Thanks. I’ll take it under consideration.” I pick up my phone to distract from the gnawing.
The rest of the ride to the hospital goes by in a blur. Leo makes a few more attempts at conversation, but all I can think about is Harvey, so he probably regrets offering up his driving services.
I assume Leo will drop me at the entrance and be on his way, but he parks and stays at my side as I walk into the ER. There’s a shift in him when we step into the waiting room, a subtle tensing of the shoulders, but he doesn’t say anything as he sits down next to me.
Thankfully, it’s a quiet Tuesday morning in the emergency department, and a nurse comes to get us after only a brief wait.
“We’ve given him something for the pain so he’s comfortable,” she says, opening the door. “The doctor will be here shortly.”
“Thanks,” I say, my hands clutched tightly together.
Harvey has his eyes closed, but he blinks them open when I approach the bed.
“How are you, Pop?” I ask, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
“Doing good.” Harvey smiles. “They’ve got quality drugs in this place. My hip is busted, they tell me, so now I’m going to be a bob—” He sighs. “A rob… robert.” Another slow grin. “No, that’s not my name.”
I look to see if Leo understands what he’s saying.
Leo takes a step closer to the bed. “Do you mean a robot, Harvey?”
“That’s what I said,” my grandpa mumbles.
“Because of the artificial hip,” Leo clarifies to me as if I’m incapable of deductive reasoning. “Wow, he is pretty out of it.”
“Am not, young man,” Harvey says with more gusto.
“You remember Leo, right, Pop?” I ask. “He gave me a ride here.”
“Leo. That’s right.” He gestures for me to come closer, and then says in what I assume is supposed to be a whisper but that falls far from the mark, “Your nemesis.”
I shake my head and sigh before venturing a glance at Leo, who looks amused.
“Nemesis, huh?” He cocks a brow.
I ignore him and turn back to Harvey. “Okay, I think that’s enough talking.”
“He is a handsome fellow, though,” Harvey says as if he didn’t hear me. “Don’t you think he’s handsome?”
My face goes hot. Where are the doctors when I need them?
“I had blond hair like that when I was your age,” Harvey says to Leo.
“Really?” He smiles.
I give him a warning glare not to encourage this, but he seems to be enjoying the conversation quite a bit.
“And I was a hit with the ladies.” Harvey nods.
“I bet.”
Please stop it , I mouth to Leo.
Stop what? he mouths back.
“Leo.” Harvey pats the bed in an invitation to sit, which he does. “You’ll take care of her, right? When I’m gone?”
“Um…” Leo finally looks like he’s bitten off more than he can chew and blinks blankly at my grandpa.
This is mortifying.
A knock on the door saves us all, and the doctor strides in. “How are we doing, Mr. Morton?” she asks. “I’m the orthopedic surgeon who’ll be fixing you up today.”
“Did you hear that, Leo? She’ll be ‘fixing me up.’” Harvey winks.
“Pop, that is not appropriate.” I cross my arms in front of me before apologizing to the doctor. “It’s the painkillers. He’s usually not like this.”
She smiles. “No worries. It means they’re working. And trust me, I’ve heard worse.”
“So what happens next?”
“I take it you two are next of kin?”
“I am,” I say. “I’m his granddaughter.”
The doctor looks at Leo as if expecting him to justify his presence as well, but instead he backs away a step and turns to me. “Hey, how about I wait for you outside? Let you guys talk.”
I nod. “If you don’t mind.”
Once he’s gone, I focus all my attention on Harvey and the doctor. There are surgery details, recovery times, and assurances.
“Will you wait here?” the doctor asks. “It might be a while.”
“No, she needs to get back to the dogs,” Harvey says. “You can call her, right doc?”
“Of course.”
“Are you sure?” I ask Harvey.
“As sure as sun follows rain.”
I guess that settles it.
I take my leave and head to the waiting area, expecting to see Leo there but finding it empty. I walk through the sliding doors, and there he is on a bench, his head in his hands as if he got terrible news himself right now.
He startles when I say his name. “Sorry, I was just…” He stands. “How’s Harvey? Everything okay?”
Did he get bad news? “I could ask you the same. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Um no, I…” He inhales deeply. “It’s just been a while since I was in a hospital. Ready to go?” A million more unspoken words filter through his expression, but I don’t pry.
“Ready.”
I stare out the side window until we’re back on the main road. It feels wrong to go back to the store without Harvey, without knowing what they’re doing to him right now.
“He’s going to be all right,” Leo says when I’ve almost managed to forget he’s next to me. “Like new.”
As if he’s reading my thoughts.
It’s annoying and presumptuous, and I want to be mad at him for it, but instead a lump forms in my throat. “Uh-huh,” I manage.
“I’m serious. The doctors know what they’re doing.”
I stay turned away from him. “It’s okay. You don’t have to do that. I appreciate you driving me and everything, but you don’t have to pretend like we’re friends.”
There’s a long pause. “O-kay then.”
When I look, his mouth is set tight. Like I’ve hurt him. “What do you expect? For me to simply ignore the fact that you’re trying to shut down our store?”
“I’m not trying…” He sighs. “Like I said, it’s not personal. To be successful at anything, you have to follow the metrics. The stats.”
I gape at him. He truly thinks I’m the one being unreasonable in this situation. “I rest my case,” I say, sinking back in my seat. When he tries to continue the argument, I put my hand up to stop him. If he hadn’t raised the stakes for our doorbuster, I wouldn’t have yelled for Harvey, and Harvey wouldn’t have hurried and tripped. Some deep part of me knows that’s faulty reasoning, but right now, I need a scapegoat. “Let’s not. Thanks for the ride, and that’s it.”
It’s a relief when he finally parks, and I’m allowed to flee back to my side of the street.