Chapter 6
six
QUINN
“A book? That’s what you bring to help me pass the time?” my dad says in exasperation, but I catch the small smile and wink he throws Max’s way to show he’s joking.
Max quickly covers his giggle with his hand, eyes going round when he glances at me.
I smile and play along. “Well, if I remember correctly, you should limit your time looking at a screen when you have a concussion. So, yes, you get a book to help you pass the time.”
“Well, when you put it like that, how can I argue?” Dad sets the book on the table in front of him, a smile on his face.
“I’m sure you can find a way,” Caleb says as he brings another chair into the room. “Here you go, Quinn.”
“Thanks.” I grab the chair from Caleb, placing it next to Max on the left side of Dad’s hospital bed. Emily sits across from us in one of those standard hospital chairs. You know, the ones that look like they will be one of the most comfortable things in the world. A great place to sit while you visit with your sick friend or family. As if the hospital knows you’re already uncomfortable being there in the first place, and they know you need a good place to rest. Only, it turns out to be hard and squeaks loudly when you try to recline. I don’t know how Emily does it, but she honestly looks almost comfortable curled up there.
“So, let’s start with Quinn since it was her first day,” Dad says, turning toward me. “How was it?”
“It was fine. The students were honestly great. Only one kid I see being a bit of a troublemaker, but nothing I can’t handle.”
“Ah, yes, Tyler Harrison. Declan told me about him. I think he’s had him as a student for a few years now. His father isn’t in the picture, and his mom has been having issues with the sheriff.” Dad is quiet for a moment before shaking his head as if clearing his mind. “Speaking of Declan, did you meet him today?” There’s something in Dad’s eyes I can’t quite make out. Maybe a spark of hope?
“Um, yeah, I met him before the day officially started,” I tell him, a little distracted by that look in his eye.
“Good. I’m glad. He’s a big part of our lives. I hope you two can become friends.” Well, if I doubted the importance of Declan in our lives, that doubt is gone now.
Dad turns to Max. “How about you? How was your day? Learn anything new?”
“What is it with that question? All three of you have asked me at this point!” Max falls back in his chair, and everyone else laughs.
My mind wanders, and I tune out the conversation.
It’s been made pretty clear Declan is close with my family. I’ve heard it in the way Max and Caleb have briefly spoken about him, and in the way Declan has talked about my family. But knowing Declan confides in my dad about the troubled kid he teaches? I guess it drives the point home even more.
“You okay, Quinn?” I look up to my right and see Emily studying me.
I shake myself from my thoughts. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“Want to walk with me to get some coffee? I’ll sneak you into the doctor’s lounge for the good stuff.” I laugh but get up from my chair to join her. “Anyone else need anything?”
“No, I’ve got to get back to the ER. I’ve still got an hour left in my shift and I’ve taken a long enough break,” Caleb says, standing from the chair Emily had originally been in.
Max and Dad tell us they’re okay, and I follow Emily and Caleb out the door. With Caleb’s hand on Emily’s lower back, he guides her out of the room, giving her a quick kiss on the lips and whispering something, causing her to smile before he turns to me. “I’ll be back later after I sign out my patients to the next shift.”
“Sounds good.”
Emily gestures to the left. “Doctor’s lounge is down this hall here.”
“I’m thinking you and Caleb working here got Dad a private room for the night,” I say as we make our way toward the lounge.
Emily laughs quietly. “Yeah, it definitely didn’t hurt.”
We’re quiet for the rest of the short walk down the hall.
“You seemed a little lost in thought back there. You sure you’re okay?” Emily asks as she grabs a couple of paper cups, handing one to me.
I take a moment to study Emily. If there is anyone not blood-related to me I can trust, it’s Emily. Once Caleb introduced all of us to her, it was like she was always meant to be part of our family. But considering I don’t even know what I’m feeling, I can’t put it into words to tell her anything.
“What’s your take on Declan?” I ask instead.
If Emily is surprised by my question, she doesn’t show it. “Do you want cream or sugar for your coffee?”
“No, black is fine.”
“Okay.” She puts the creamer she had in her hand back in the fridge. “I’m not ignoring your question, but I’m thinking this might be a longer conversation than the walk back to your dad’s room, so let’s sit.”
We walk over to the couches and get comfortable. Emily sits on one side of the sofa, her legs curled up under her, facing me as I mirror her position on the other side.
“Your brother met Declan one night at the bar shortly after your dad was first diagnosed with cancer. Both of them were going through their own thing. They got to talking and … well, they bonded instantly,” Emily explains.
“Caleb invited him to a family dinner shortly after that, and you know how your dad is. The second he found out Declan was new to town with no plans to leave, and that he wasn’t close with his parents, he wouldn’t leave Declan alone. Your dad demanded he come to all future family dinners and made sure he knew he was always welcome in his home.” She takes a sip of her coffee before continuing.
“And Declan, being the man I’ve learned he is, made himself available to all of us. He helped take your dad to appointments. He’d pick Max up from school when the rest of us couldn’t. He even helped build some of the addition to the house.”
I’m quiet, thinking about all she’s said.
“How is it that no one ever mentioned him to me before?” Wouldn’t they have mentioned him in passing if he had been around that much?
I remember when we added the addition to the back of the house. Dad’s treatments really took it out of him at the height of his first cancer diagnosis. He couldn’t make it up the stairs without taking multiple breaks because he got out of breath.
Caleb had still been in the middle of his intern year, making horrible money. Dad’s savings were non-existent, and his pension wasn’t even close to covering the costs of an addition. Dad and Caleb had talked about taking a second mortgage out on the house to pay for it, but I wouldn’t let them. I had sold a series of photos in one of my last exhibits at school for a decent amount of money, and had just landed an assignment at my first major publication in the city. Paying for that addition had been an easy way for me to help, since I hadn’t been home to give them my time.
“I don’t know. I think, at first, they avoided talking about how he was helping because they didn’t want you to feel bad about not being home.” Emily pauses, taking a breath. “Yes, all of them developed a deep friendship that had nothing to do with your dad’s cancer, but it was predominantly what kept him so close at first.”
And they would have been right. I still feel guilty thinking back to those years. It didn’t matter how often Dad would tell me he was proud of me. I always thought he looked at me and only saw my mother.
Emily continues before I can say anything. “Then I think it was just so normal for him to be around it never crossed their minds you didn’t already know about him.” She reaches over, places her hand on my forearm, and squeezes. “It was never an intentional thought to keep him a secret from you.”
“I know that,” I reassure her. “I guess I’m surprised his name was never mentioned in passing. Or maybe it was, and I missed it because it was so normal for all of you.” We are talking about five years here. There’s no way I remember every conversation we’ve had. “Though, if he was around as often as you say, I’m even more surprised I never met him on one of my trips home. I know they weren’t often or very long, but it’s not like I’ve been totally absent over the last five years.”
“Now that one, I can answer. Declan isn’t the closest with his parents, but he’s still close with his sister and a few friends back in his hometown,” Emily says, a smile forming on her face. “He still goes home, not often, but occasionally. Maybe by pure happenstance, your trips home always coincided with his trips home.”
“Yeah, maybe.” It should make me feel better, knowing there was someone to help them when they needed it and I couldn’t. And in a sense, it does comfort me to have that knowledge, but it also makes me feel like I’ve missed out on something.
“We should probably get back to Scott and Max,” Emily says, standing from the couch. She goes back over to the coffee pot to top off her cup, turning to me silently asking if I want to do the same. I shake my head at her before standing from the couch to follow her out the door.
I look at my phone and realize we’ve been here longer than I thought. “Hey, bud, it’s getting late. We’ve got to get you home and ready for bed. We’ve both got school tomorrow.”
“I can go to bed late. I promise to get up and ready for school with no arguments tomorrow,” Max says from the bed. At some point after dinner, he climbed up into the bed with Dad, the two of them working through his homework.
“Listen to your sister, Max. I’ll be home in time for dinner tomorrow. Right, Emily?”
“Most likely. It might even be before Max gets home from school,” Emily confirms, back in the armchair across from Caleb and me.
“Okay,” Max says begrudgingly, carefully removing himself from Dad’s side. “I love you, Dad. See you tomorrow,” he says, giving him one more hug.
I step up to the side of the bed, giving Dad a quick peck on his forehead. “Love you. See you tomorrow.”
“I love you both too,” Dad says with a smile toward us.
“What about me? Where’s my hug?” Caleb says in mock outrage.
“You didn’t give me enough time! I was going to hug Emily first since she’s right here,” Max exclaims at Caleb before turning to Emily.
I smile down at my brother. “Yeah, geez. Give us a second.”
Caleb laughs as he stands and pulls me into a hug. “Love you, sis. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I nod and make my way to the other side of the bed to give Emily a hug as well.
As Max finishes putting his homework away and tossing his backpack over his shoulder, the door to Dad’s room opens, and in walks Declan.
“Oh! Sorry, I thought you all would have been home by now. I didn’t want to interrupt family time,” Declan says, right inside the door, his hand still on the door handle.
“Nonsense. You could never interrupt family time. You’re part of this family, whether you want to be or not.” Dad laughs. “Come on in.”
Declan glances at me so quickly I almost miss it before he steps completely into the room.
“Hey, man, good to see you.” Caleb walks over to pull Declan in for a quick hug and slap on the back.
“I wanted to stop by and check on you. I heard about the accident.” Another glance my way, almost as if he’s searching for my approval.
“Declan was actually with me when Caleb called to tell me about the accident. He’d stopped by to see how my first day had gone over lunch.” No matter my feelings about his involvement with my family, and whatever this other thing I’m feeling is, Declan is important to these people, and I’m not going to do anything to take that away from them.
“That was nice of you,” Emily says, glancing between the two of us.
“Well, we should go. Max is a bear in the mornings as it is, and if we don’t get him home soon, it’ll be even worse.”
“Hey! I’m not a bear!” Max shouts. “I don’t like getting up early, at least not for school.”
We all laugh. Max gives another round of hugs to everyone in the room, including Declan, before we finally head out the door.