Page 80 of The Hookup Mix-up

There’s a brief knock on the sliding door before it opens. A Black woman with braids—a doctor, going by the name tag—steps in. “Wow. We’ve got a full room.”

“These are my sons, Ty and Perry, and their partners, Braxton and Theo,” Dad says proudly…proudly. I always knew he would be proud of Ty, but I think he’s proud of me too.

“It’s good to have family with you, but you must have pulled some strings to get this many of them in here with you.” She cocks a brow. “Can I speak freely in front of them?”

“Yes.” Dad’s voice trembles on the simple word.

“Your labs and EKG indicate you likely had a minor heart attack. We’re going to take you straight to the cath lab for more testing. Depending on what they find there, you might need a stent put in.”

“What’s that?” Ty asks.

“It’s to help open an artery if there’s a blockage. I’m not saying there is, but they’ll be able to find out more information there.”

We all nod, quiet. The doctor tells Dad a few other things, then asks if we have questions, which none of us do.

“They’ll be in to get you in a few minutes.” She slips out of the room.

“Dad, I—” I’m sorry. I want to try to have a relationship with you. I’m good at tech like you…

“I know,” he tells me as if I said any of those things out loud. “But we’re not going to talk right now. All I’m going to say is I love you.” He looks at me, then at Ty, before turning to me again. “Both of you. And when I get out of this hospital, we’ll talk and say all the things that need to be said.”

I nod, let out a shaky breath, and find the words I’ve always known were inside me but tried to pretend they weren’t, the ones I was too scared to say because speaking them gave him too much power. “I love you too, Dad.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Theo

Perry’s dad does end up needing a stent put in. We stay at the hospital while the procedure takes place, and Perry hardly lets go of my hand the whole time. Even when he calls his mom to tell her what’s happening, he keeps his cell phone in one hand and the other in mine.

“Yeah…me and Theo are here with Ty and Brax.” He listens, then adds, “He hasn’t left my side.” More listening. “Oh my God, Mom.” Perry pulls the cell away from his ear and holds it out to me. “She wants to talk to you.”

I smile.

“Look a little happy there, Puppy.” Perry nudges me playfully, then sets his head on my shoulder. I take the phone and hold it to my other ear.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Theo. I just wanted to thank you for being there with Perry. He’s not good at asking for help or needing anyone, but I know how much he counts on you, how much he cares about you, and it means the world to me that he has someone with him he can depend on.”

My chest suddenly feels fuller. “I care about him too. And no matter what he needs, I’ll be here for him.” He’s changed my life, but I’m not sure that’s something I should be telling his mom right now.

“Oh, you boys are so sweet. I can’t wait to meet you. Get my phone number from Perry, and if anything happens, please let me know.”

“I will. Thank you, Ms. McClain.”

“Heather,” she replies.

I give the phone back to Perry, and they talk for a moment, before he ends the call and sends her number to my cell.

“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” I ask him. “I can get you whatever you need.”

“You,” he says softly, making me soar. “Just you. And I meant to tell you last night before…well, all the excitement.” He snickers, but I can tell he doesn’t feel it. He’s just trying not to focus on what’s happening. “I was talking to my mom, and apparently her girlfriend’s daughter has this eye thing. It’s called convergence insufficiency. Her eyes don’t track right, which makes reading or understanding what she reads hard because sometimes she’s taking in the words out of order. Apparently, she does vision therapy for it, and I thought maybe that’s something you should look into. You have to see a specialist. It’s not the regular eye doctor who tests for it.”

My mouth drops open, and I don’t know what to say. Could that be why I struggle? The thought of having a plan, something in place to help things get better… “That’s good to know. Maybe that’s why I had the issue with the glasses when I was younger?”

“Could be. It can’t hurt to try. I’ll go with you if you want.”

Of course he will because that’s how Perry works. “I’d like that, but we’ll worry about it later. This is about you. Are you okay?” I play with the simple gold chain around his neck.

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