Chapter 14
Parents
After she washed her leg, we rejoined the group.
David, who had been left alone on the blanket, tried in every way to help Lily.
But she was firm. Stubborn. She refused to let him fetch a first-aid kit from his car, and even declined treatment at the makeshift First-Aid station on the beach.
Only when she agreed that David would drive us back to the apartment did I feel relief.
The silence in the car weighed heavily on the carefree atmosphere that had existed at the beach.
David didn’t say a word either. More than that, he looked troubled.
Instead of keeping his eyes on the road, he kept glancing toward Lily’s leg, but said nothing.
After showering, Lily bandaged her ankle with practiced ease, as if it were a daily routine. I felt it was better not to bother her with what seemed to her like trivialities, things that might make a mountain out of a molehill.
She told me her parents had invited us for lunch.
I tried to object, explaining that we’d only been together a few days and it didn’t feel right yet.
But she was set on it, and even threw my own words back at me: that even though it had only been two days, it already felt like we’d been together for years.
The pointless debate dragged on until she announced that her brother was already on his way to pick us up – and what difference did it make if it was this week or next month?
I was bound to meet them. She even seemed amused by my visible anxiety.
The only time I’d ever met the parents of a girlfriend was after Sara and I had been dating for several months. Usually, I preferred not to involve parents – hers or mine – in my relationships. With Lily, though, it seemed every rule was being shattered, including that one.
“All right,” I muttered. I guess I understood that in the whirlwind that was unfolding between us, time didn’t really matter, not when it came to the little details.
She expressed her delight with a fierce hug that made me feel like the woman who had just been the injured paddle-ball player and the one who was now holding and kissing me were two entirely different people.
“For goodness sake, be careful with the ankle,” I blurted.
“It’s protected, it’s bandaged, everything’s fine,” she shot back with a look of determination that conquered me yet again. I already knew: once she set her sights on a goal, nothing could knock her off course.
She introduced her father, Samuel, as her boss, and her mother, Leah, as an engineer and “The boss’s wife.” The playful tone in her voice helped ease the tension.
“He’s a good boss!” she patted her father’s back as he stood by the little wine cabinet, pouring out 777 brandy.
“Can I offer you some?” he asked.
“Thank you,” I answered politely.
On the living room walls hung only two relatively small paintings by Lily herself. The rest were unidentified, but, judging from their style, not hers. (This was confirmed later on during a mini-guided “tour.”)
When she invited me into her room, I noticed her parents exchange a look.
I asked her about it once we were inside, and she explained that this was the first time she’d ever brought a boyfriend home – and the first time she’d ever taken one into her room.
Besides, she added, she just wanted to hug me and say out loud that she loved me.
“You make me laugh; do you know that?”
“I want to make you laugh a lot. I hope you don’t mind…”
“I assume you know what Lily has,” her father said to me after the meal, while Lily and her mother washed the dishes and her brother was on the phone.
“As much as the doctors on the ward know,” I replied, blushing at both the directness and the surprise.
“She doesn’t stop talking about you, and usually she doesn’t share stories about her boyfriends. Even about the wedding with Ralf – we only heard a month ago. And before we had time to digest that news, she told us it was off.”
“I hope I had nothing to do with that,” I mumbled awkwardly.
“Now I’m not so sure,” he stressed every word. “In any case, are you aware of her condition?”
“She told me. I’m certain she wants me to be fully aware of what I’m getting into.”
“She really is a special girl. The way she deals with her illness – it’s inspiring. Are you afraid?” he asked with surprising bluntness.
“It’s hard to know how much fear is justified. Even the doctors aren’t sure,” I answered honestly.
“If you believe the doctors, her condition is severe. Very severe.”
“Yes, that’s what they say. But if it’s that bad, I don’t understand how she managed to play paddleball at the beach this morning. There seems to be a huge gap between what they say and how she looks physically.” I shared my thoughts openly.
“That’s who she is – always pushing to the very edge of her abilities. But…” his face clouded with worry.
“Dad,” she suddenly burst in, cutting him off, “are you talking about me?”
“As it happens, yes.” Her father looked at her and smiled. It seemed both he and her mother enjoyed seeing her so radiant and full of life. She really did look happy.
When she asked for ointment for her wound, her mother realized her ankle was bleeding again.
“Did you tear it open again?” her mother asked, her voice filled with concern.
“Yes, I played paddleball and fell – but it was wonderful,” Lily beamed.
“Do you even have limits?” her mother remarked, shaking her head in disapproval.
“At this rate, you’ll end up hospitalized because of that ankle,” her father scolded.
“It wouldn’t be the first hospitalization, and it won’t be the last. I can’t be a walking mummy.”
“No one asked you to be a mummy,” her father countered, “but maybe lower your physical expectations a little.”
“Did she hurt her ankle again?” asked her brother Saul as he entered the living room.
“Leave me alone, I’m a big girl,” Lily snapped, starting to lose patience.
“But you act like a little one,” her mother replied, returning with a bottle and a bundle of gauze pads and bandages.
“I’m putting this by the door. Don’t forget to take it.”
“I’m buying a bike,” Lily blurted out of nowhere, adding insult to injury.
“What??? A bike???” they both exclaimed in disbelief.
“Maybe first ask the head of Internal Medicine?” her father’s face showed deep concern.
“He doesn’t ask and he doesn’t interfere. To him, I’m healthy,” Lily quickly replied before I could think of an answer.
“Michael, what do you say as a doctor?” her mother turned to me. I stayed silent, embarrassed. I didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, I admired her courage; on the other, I fully shared her parents’ worry about her health.
“I know my health matters to me, to you, and to Michael – though maybe not in that order,” Lily declared. “But I’ll be the one to decide how and what I do. Not the head of a ward, not any doctor, not even the most senior one. Only I know my limits and boundaries.”
“You see? She’s stubborn,” her mother turned to me.
“You’ll never change her mind.”
“That much I’ve already figured out,” I nodded, forming a bold inner decision. I thought to myself: if no one has any chance of fighting her on the issue of her health, maybe it would be better if I just went along with her. Or would it?