Page 34 of Revived

“You remember how you told me to keep fighting? If Opal was who I wanted to be with, I should give her space and not give up?” The tortured look in his eyes was destroying my heart. I slid my seat closer to him so that our knees were touching and I could reach down and take hold of his hands.

“I remember.”

“She’s gone,” he hissed out quickly, as if the two words burned his mouth just by voicing them.

“What do you mean she’s gone?” My heart ticked up a few beats, automatically thinking the worst.

“Not like that,” he quickly amended when he noticed my agitation. “I mean, shit, I wouldn’t know if she was. Opal is ghosting me. She’s ducked out of all social media, or at least blocked me from it, and she blocked my cell number. Her mom is refusing my calls on their home phone, and even her emails keep getting returned undeliverable.”

“Oh, Chevy, I’m so sorry.” I let his hands drop into his lap and instead, I reached over and wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him close so I could whisper in his ear. “No matter what happens, I need you to remember that you are worthy of anyone you set your sights on. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that person will know what’s good for them. I told you to fight, and I meant it. Go home, check in on her, in person. If she still refuses you, then there needs to be a lot of thought put into what you want your future to look like. It could mean waiting weeks, months, or even years before she’s in a place where she can come around and move past her injuries and see you for who you are. If you want to wait, then that’s what you do.”

He hugged tighter to me and I could hear him sniffling as I also noted the room was clearing out around us. “If you decide that you need to move on, I will be here for you. I’m sure your mom and dad, and all those lovely siblings of yours will as well. As much as it can hurt to admit defeat, sometimes that’s what needs to happen so you can move on to a healthier relationship. I know her accident was the catalyst of this, and you feel responsible for that, but if that’s the biggest reason you’re holding on, then maybe it’s time to let go. At least for now,” I tacked on the last when he stiffened in my arms.

“That’s the last message she sent me,” he admitted. “It said that I needed to let go of her for now.”

I leaned back so that I could look him in the eye. “Maybe that’s exactly what she needs then, even if it hurts you.” He nodded and swiped the sleeve of his shirt across his eyes.

“I still have to go home and try first,” he told me with the most conviction I’d heard from him yet. It was my turn to nod, because I knew he would need to do that too. You can’t have closure without that face-to-face conversation. I only hoped she would give him that much. “Thanks, Mel.” His voice sounded broken, as if he’d already been crying quite a bit before he came to see me. “You think you could make sure my dad’s okay while I’m gone?” I smiled at that request.

“I’m pretty sure that your father is a grown man and can take care of himself,” I told him as I turned to look at Gabe who was smiling despite the concern I could see in his eyes. “But, I’ll keep an eye on him and see that he doesn’t do anything terribly stupid while you’re away, okay?”

“Sorry,” Chevy pushed out as he turned toward his dad and let go of me.

“Don’t apologize. Go see if you can talk sense into your girl.”

“You’re not disappointed that I’m leaving?”

“I’ll miss the shit out of you, Chev. I’d be disappointed if you didn’t try to go get right with your girl though. You know what went down with your mom and me. If either of us had tried just a little harder, things may have turned out differently. Even if we hadn’t ended up back together, I might have been able to be in your life a lot sooner. Don’t leave those stones unturned, but if the time comes when you need to bury that stone, I’ll be here, waiting to help see you through, okay?”

Chevy tipped his chin up at his dad, then glanced between the two of us, back and forth, for a few minutes. “If it weren’t for what happened to Opal, I’d say that I was lucky to have been in that accident.” I gasped as he spoke. How could anyone consider themselves lucky for something like that? He smiled sheepishly at me then. “If not for the accident, I probably wouldn’t have spent as much time getting to know my dad, he most likely wouldn’t have bought a house in Georgia, and we definitely wouldn’t have met you, Mel.”

He looked away for a minute before speaking again. “I thought about it all night, last night, and I just couldn’t wish those things away.” Quieter, in almost a whisper he added, “Not even so that Opal would have use of her legs again.” The desperate look in his eyes was bordering on self-loathing then. “Does that make me horrible and selfish?”

“No, honey, it just makes you human. You already lost your legs before you were even born, you got them back at 18. It’s understandable to not want to give them up again.”

He turned to his father then, catching my meaning. Not having his father in his life left a hole – something missing – for years. While not the same, it was like Opal having to figure out life without an important part now too.

“I love you, Mel,” he told me before wrapping his arms tightly around my neck. “Thank you,” his whispered words choked me up.

“Love you too, Chevy. Now, get out of here and go find your future. I’ll see you soon, and I’m always here for you, no matter what, no matter where.”

“No matter what, no matter where,” he parroted. “I’ll hold you to that.” Chevy stood. “I already booked everything, and there’s a car waiting outside to take me to the airport,” he finally told us after a few minutes.

“Who arranged all that?” Gabe asked, warily.

Chevy grinned. “You know I am an adult right?” Then when his father gave him a look, he actually broke out in a small, crooked grin. Half-hearted as it was, it made me feel a little better about him going off alone. “Phoenix helped me set everything up, including security at both airports to get me through without any trouble, just in case.”

“Good,” Gabe told him with a nod.

“Travel safe, and be careful. I wish you the best, Chevy. I hope she comes to her senses, but if she doesn’t, you’ll still be okay, I promise.”

“I know,” he told me as he hugged me one more time. “You were, so I’ll be just fine.”

I squeezed him extra hard before letting go after that comment. I was going to miss the boy being here. The majority of my days were spent helping him stay fit, watching him practicing with the bands, and then having him test out lyrics to new songs on me. One day, he was going to surpass even his father in this industry. I couldn’t wait to see him succeed like that, but at the same time, I worried about what this life would do to him. He wasn’t my own child from my womb, but damn if I didn’t love him like he was.

~*~

Two days passed in the quiet chaos of the tour. Chevy was gone now, Gabe had to cancel our lunches twice in a row, and I was about to die from boredom. A swift knock on the side of the little bunk cabin I was in alerted me to someone’s presence. I poked my head out of the curtain to find Calista there, smiling at me.

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