Page 47 of Finding You

But he knew they weren’t all like the movies. He wasn’t going to have her sent up for a goddamn lobotomy. There was a high-needs memory care facility two miles from his home, and if he could work full-time, he could easily afford it.

Fuck, he was feeling so done.

Climbing into his car, he put his phone on the dock, then started it up and hit his sister’s number just before he pulled out onto the main street. He was a good ten minutes from the hospital, so Grace was going to get an earful.

“What took you so long to?—”

“I was in the air, and you knew I was flying today,” Kylen snapped at her.

She went quiet for a beat. “You can’t even answer if it’s an emergency?”

“No. You know this, Grace. And you could have easily checked Gran out and gotten her home.”

“I’m not comfortable with that,” she said, her voice hard. “I told you right from the beginning that I wasn’t in a place where I could do any of her care.”

“Right. So you let it all fall on me, and when I suggested having her stay somewhere with a full-time support staff, you, Mom, and Dad sat me down like it was a fucking intervention. All of you are happy to try and run my life—every goddamn iota of it—without lifting a finger to help.”

“I watch your daughter all the time,” Grace hissed.

“Yes, for the two weeks you come into town. And not once have I asked you to do that. I already have a support system for her. I’m done, Grace. When I get home, I want you gone.”

“I’m not staying with you,” she reminded him.

“Oh, I’m aware of that,” he said with a bitter laugh. “You’re welcome to stay in town, but you’re done seeing me. You’re done seeing Flora. I’m over it. I don’t want to speak to anyone for a long, long while.”

“You’re being dramatic.”

He laughed. He couldn’t help it. “You’ve spent the last, what, fifteen years denying my sexuality to my face. You’ve disrespected me. You’ve disrespected my life, and you disrespected my partner.”

“What partner?”

“Dallas!” he shouted, then took a breath. He didn’t want to lose it while he was driving. “The entire family has no problem letting me sacrifice my entire life because they can’t be assed to lift a fucking finger to help the one woman who loved them without any conditions. You know that, right? Gran loved you no matter how badly you fucked up. And this is how you treat her?”

Grace was so quiet, for a moment, he thought she hung up. “I’ll leave.”

“Good. And don’t call me again.” He hung up, then realized he was trembling. He saw the parking lot, and the universe must have been looking out for him because there was a spot front row. He pulled in, then killed the engine and sat. There was an uncomfortable bubble sitting at the top of his stomach. It made him want to scream. Or hit something. It made him want to break down, but the feeling was also trapped. It was like there was a wall of glass preventing him from feeling it completely.

He’d just cut his sister off. And the rest of his family. Whether or not he stuck to it was anyone’s guess, but he’d been telling himself to do it for years, and for years, he’d ignored his own advice. He pressed his fingers into his eyes and rubbed until he saw stars.

Then, moving almost on autopilot, he got out of the car and made his way inside.

The first person he saw in his gran’s room was Frey. He was sitting by her bed, filing her nails and telling a story that was very animated, but Kylen couldn’t make out any of the words. His ears were still buzzing from shock.

Frey looked over at him and gave him a big smile as his gran frowned. “You’re here! We’re just having a little goodbye mani sesh.” He waved the emery board in the air. “Wanna get in on this?”

“I don’t think I like that doctor,” his gran said, her voice very hoarse.

“Oh, hon. That’s not the doctor. That’s your grandson.”

She laughed. “No. I’m too young for grandchildren.”

Kylen’s chin began to tremble. Fuck. He was not going to break down, goddamn it. He was not going to cry here in front of God, Frey, and his gran, who didn’t even know who he was anymore.

Frey noticed right away, and he dropped the emery board on the little table beside the bed. “Hang tight, little lady. I’ll be back in a second. The doctor and I need to have a little chat.”

Kylen didn’t have time to react before Frey seized him by the wrist and dragged him three doors down into an empty room. It looked like it had been a patient room once, but now it held two very large, brown leather sofas, a rug, a little table, and several boxes of tissue.

He didn’t need to know hospitals to understand what this room was for.

---