Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CORMAC
“Am I dreaming?” I ask as I watch my dad walk into the hospital room—his whole being blurry thanks to the fact that I am currently down to one eye, and that eye has no glasses to assist it.
He curses loudly. My father is not a person who curses, so that feels like an argument in favor of a dream. But when I give one of my bandages an exploratory poke, the wounds still hurt.
“José did this to you?” he asks, coming closer and pulling up a chair. “Why?”
“He thought I hit on his girlfriend.”
“Nora?”
“No, the flower lady.” I squint my eye for a better look. “Dad? Do you…” I glance around but am unable to discern anything but the fuzzy outline of a door. “Where’s Nora?”
He takes off his newsboy cap, running a hand over his head. “We came because I’m your emergency contact. The hospital called me. Nora told me they’re getting a helicopter to medevac you to Charlotte. It’ll be here in a few minutes, son.”
“Am I dying?” I ask with detached interest.
“Oh, poppycock. Nothing like that. It’s an overreaction. I told Nora as much. But she was nearly hysterical. Wouldn’t hear a word of it. I’ve never seen her like that before.”
He lifts a rectangular object in his hand.
“I have no idea what that is,” I say. “Everything’s blurry.”
“Your phone. Nora gave it to me.”
“Where is she?” I repeat, feeling a surge of panic.
He sighs and sits in the chair beside the bed, the one Nora ignored so she could be closer to me.
She loves me. She said she loves me, so everything’s going to be fine. She wouldn’t leave me. Not like this.
“She left with Moira,” my dad says, bursting my hope bubble.
I groan and try to stand, but he pushes me back down. “Don’t do that. The nurse said they pumped you full of pain killers. Wait for the helicopter. Kenji and Nora went to some effort to make the arrangements.”
“Just let Dr. Frankenstein work on me. I don’t mind looking like a monster.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Neither are you,” I complain, trying to get up again. My balance is wonky, though, and I let him guide me back down. “Why isn’t she here?”
“She said she was going to check on Cookie, but she seemed really upset.” He sighs. “I suspect you kids haven’t been totally honest with us.”
“I’m in love with Nora,” I admit.
It feels surprisingly freeing to say the words, even though I definitely shouldn’t have. I promised her not to tell anyone, didn’t I?
Then again, our parents are going to find out at some point. Maybe it’s time to put it all out there.
My dad drops his hat. I’m pretty sure he’s staring at me, but my fuzzy vision isn’t positive.
“Dad?”
“Uh…she mentioned you’d gotten involved in a fake relationship to fool Pansy.”
But not that we’ve been for-real involved for weeks. I’m not surprised she didn’t tell him, but it still hurts. I want everyone to know. I’d like to shout it from the helicopter that I’m apparently going to get stuffed into.
“Well, I’m in love with her. I was in love with her in high school too, so maybe I never stopped.”
“Cormac, my God.” He stoops to pick up his hat and wrings it between his hands. “Why didn’t you tell me? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have…”
“Wouldn’t have married Moira?” I ask. “Why not? I might not have understood why you married her at first, but I meant what I said the other day. I’m figuring it out. After everything she’d been through, she still wanted marriage to mean something. You love her, so you wanted to give that to her.”
“Yes, and I wanted to live my life with her, out in the open.” He sighs as he messes with his hat. “Moira is a little old-fashioned in some ways. She might find it…distressing that you two have feelings for each other.”
“You think Nora has feelings for me too?”
She told me so. She said I love you. She looked into my eyes and said it. But she also left.
I might not be fantastic at reading social cues, but that message seems pretty evident. Maybe she only said she loved me because she felt she should reciprocate.
God, why had I said anything about the stupid robot? I should have shut up about it for the rest of my life, like any normal person would have.
Of course, a normal person probably wouldn’t have designed a robot as an apology gift for a girl who could barely stand to look at him, but very few people have ever accused me of being normal.
“Son, like I said, she was crying. Moira’s never seen her cry like that, not since she was a little girl.”
My chest hurts.
Okay, a lot of things hurt. José obviously doesn’t miss arm day. He hit me pretty hard, and that—combined with the shards of my glasses—did a number on me.
“I don’t want to wait to see her. I need to talk to her.”
He runs a hand over my hair, as if I’m a little boy again awoken by a frightening dream. “Son, if I’ve learned anything in this life it’s that you need to wait for the right time. Wait until your mind is clear and you know exactly what to say.”
“It took me this long to figure out the wrong thing to say. I might be your age before I figure out what the right thing is. No offense.”
He smiles, the expression blurry but unmistakable. “Give yourself a little more credit. After all, I understand you’ve been spending time with my friends Dottie and Ann. If anyone can help you form the right words, it’s them.”
“And you.” My throat feels scratchy all of a sudden, but I get the words out. “I have you.”
He smiles at me as he strokes my hair again. “And Nora has Moira with her.” His features seem to scrunch into the middle of his face, and he shrugs. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
“That’s understandable.”
There’s a light knock on the door, and then it opens to reveal Nurse Bianca with her dark hair and scrubs. “Your helicopter awaits.”
“Here, son, I’ll help you up,” my dad says.
“Oh, no.” Nurse Bianca places a hand on his arm. “He needs a wheelchair.”
“Isn’t this all a little much for some scratches?” I ask.
“Facial lacerations can cause scars. And your eye needs treatment too.”
“She means no,” my dad says as she leaves the room. Moments later, she reenters with a wheelchair.
“Do you always send your patients away in helicopters?” I ask.
“No,” she says with a smile. “We’ve only used the landing pad on the roof to bring in lost hikers. I’m probably going to get fired. But it’s better than another malpractice suit.”
It’s embarrassing to think about being wheeled out to a helicopter. I don’t need any of this fuss. At the same time, Nora seemed to think it was important. She made all these arrangements, and if I said no, I’d be dishonoring her wishes.
I’ll do it for her, and for my dad, who looks more worried than I’ve ever seen him.
But I’m not going to wait another twelve years for fate to throw me another chance with Nora.