Page 33 of Drake Eternal

Whatever the case, I hoped no one I knew saw it and came to the wrong conclusion. I’d have to tell Drake about it, so he didn’t have the slightest doubt.

I hoped he would never have the slightest doubt about me…

After spending some more time fussing over what I should pack for the trip, I called out to Sophie, who was watching some show on her iPad.

“Time to go to the beach house and visit Grandad and Grandma.”

She brightened at the idea of the trip and soon, after I called down to the driver, we were leaving the apartment, two suitcases in tow. Sophie tried to pull hers but it was big and so I pulled them both.

“I want a suitcase with a skateboard like Liam,” she said when we got inside the elevator.

“I’ll make sure to get you one, when you learn how to skateboard, okay?”

She nodded and then peppered me with questions about the trip to the Island and the beach house. When the elevator doors opened in the basement parking garage, I saw that the driver was right on time and was waiting with the trunk open and the passenger doors as well.

We got our bags and suitcases in the limo and then drove off, starting our trip to the Island where we would stay overnight and say goodbye to Ethan and Elaine.

The trip took over two and a half hours, but luckily, Sophie was entranced by her iPad watching a video and so I could sit back and relax, reading over news headlines and thinking about what I’d do now that I was finished my Masters. It had taken me almost three times as many years to finish as a normal student, but I’d had a few delays, including almost dying in childbirth. I felt a bit saddened that it had taken me that long compared to other students but had to remind myself that I had good reasons and to be thankful that I had Drake, Sophie and Liam.

Life was good.

I would spend a few nights with my father and Elaine and then Sophie and I would fly to Nairobi the next day, to meet up with Drake. We’d spend however long it took for Drake and Michael to finish getting the hospital neurosurgery department back up to speed, and then we’d travel around Africa, and ultimately, meet up with Liam so he could come and visit the grave of his namesake, Drake’s father Liam.

It would be a fun, memorable summer.

My father was in his wheelchair, an oxygen mask on his face when Sophie and I arrived. He quickly removed the mask and gave us both a kiss, then put it back on.

“Not feeling well?” I asked, frowning as I bent down the help him put it back on, adjusting the straps around his ears.

“Just a bit tired after getting out of that damn hospital bed,” he said and waved a hand, trying to dismiss my concerns.

We went inside to the living room and sat on the sofa while my father got himself seated in his favorite recliner. Once he was all set, with help from Elaine and his nurse, he turned to me and smiled.

“There,” he said. “All ready. So, tell me about your trip. Give me details.”

While Elaine spoke with Sophie about her coloring, I spent the next half hour telling my father about Drake’s trip to Nairobi and what he and Michael Owiti were doing at the Aga Khan hospital.

“Terrible business,” my father said, when I mentioned the floods.

I nodded and we talked for a while about our plans to meet up and visit Liam’s grave.

“How I would love to be able to join you,” my father said, his voice sounding wistful. “If only this old body of mine wasn’t betraying me, I’d be there with you in a flash.”

“You could still go,” Elaine said. “We could hire a private jet and a medical team could come with us. Maybe by then, you’ll be over your setback.”

My father’s face looked brighter at that, and I wondered whether she was being overly optimistic. He looked frail, and I couldn’t image the amount of work it would take to get him loaded on a plane and then deplaned, put in a taxi and transported to a hotel, let alone driven out to a remote site in Ethiopia to visit Liam’s grave. But hope did a lot for people, and maybe the idea of going to see Liam’s grave would help him recover. If so, I would be more than happy to have him come.

It would probably be the last time he’d be able to see the grave of his old buddy. Two veterans of the war, who were almost polar opposites when it came to politics but shared a love of the country and a very traumatizing experience in combat.

“What do you think, Sweetheart? Would you mind if your old man came along in a wheelchair? Do you think they could hoist me up on a helicopter or something to get me there?”

“If you want to, we’ll make sure it happens,” I said and leaned over to kiss him. “I know Drake will be over the moon to see you there.”

“Then it’s settled,” my father said, setting his jaw the way he did when he made a firm decision. “You tell me when you plan on visiting the grave, we’ll make sure everything is covered on our end so we can meet up with you somewhere nearby. It will be the last time I’m able, so I want to make sure we do it.”

I smiled and squeezed his arm. “We’ll make it happen.”

We had a lovely supper on the patio, with my father at the head of the table in his wheelchair, the oxygen temporarily off his face. He ate heartily for a change and seemed really invigorated because of the decision to go to Ethiopia. Good.

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