Page 59 of Something Unforgettable

Neurosurgeon? Pops needed brain surgery? Finn’s stomach sloshed.

The doctor continued before Finn could reply. “I can see you have no idea what I’m talking about.”

“No, sir,” Finn replied, clutching Pops’s hand.

The doctor gestured for Finn to step into the hallway and closed the door behind them.

“I assumed it was your father who had Dr. Madison flown in. Dr. Madison is a well-regarded neurosurgeon in New York City. He specializes in dementia. New York is where your father practices—am I recalling that correctly?”

That didn’t make any sense. Finn hadn’t even contacted his father. And he couldn’t imagine him going to that much trouble for Pops.

“Someone flew a specialist in to see Pops?” There was only one person that could be. Finn touched the X on his cast. “What did Dr. Madison say?” His mind was still hung up on the word “neurosurgeon.”

“He ordered a second MRI and wants us to send him the scans since he needed to get back to New York, but he’s relatively certain that Mac has something called normal pressure hydrocephalus. It’s a buildup of cerebral spinal fluid that puts pressure on the brain. Have you noticed your grandfather walking more slowly? Shuffling his feet?”

Finn watched Pops through the small window in the door. “Maybe? He’s been falling more often. His balance isn’t great.”

“An ataxic gait is one of the most visible symptoms. That and the memory issues and headaches.”

Finn’s lower lip trembled. “You said neurosurgery. What does that mean?”

“It’s not as scary as it sounds. They’ll do a lumbar puncture and drain some CSF first to test his response and verify the diagnosis. If the lumbar puncture helps, they’ll put in a shunt. A little plastic tube that will run under his skin and down to his abdomen to drain the excess fluid. It’s technically brain surgery since they need to drill a hole for the tube, but it only takes a few hours and we should see results soon after. Normal pressure hydrocephalus is rare, but it’s entirely treatable.”

Finn sniffled and tried not to fall apart. “And Dr. Madison is sure? Even though it’s rare?”

The doctor put his hand on Finn’s shoulder. “He’s the leading expert in the field. If it was anyone else, I would tell you to wait for the tests, but Dr. Madison believes it’s a textbook case.”

Finn did break down then. He covered his face with his hands, the cast scratchy against his skin. He wished he wasn’t crying, but he couldn’t stop as relief coursed through him. He couldn’t even remember how long things like Alzheimer’s disease had been in the back of his mind as he’d tried to keep their lives running like normal. And to know that it was something else? Something treatable? It was like a massive weight had been taken off him and he was suddenly untethered. He needed to call Xavier.

And also find out what Xavier already knew, since he was the only person who was aware of Pops’s problems and also happened to be in New York right now.

Ithadbeenaday of endless meetings and Xavier wanted nothing more than to change into sweats, put on a romantic movie—something sweet and predictable that could be trusted to end with a happily ever after—and sprawl out on the couch with his boy. The problem was that his boy wasn’t here. He was home in Split Rock, running himself ragged as he tried to take care of both the store and his grandfather.

It had been three days since he’d left LA, and Xavier was tempted to tell all of his clients to go to hell so he could hop on a plane. He didn’t, though. For one thing, Gabe wouldn’t appreciate Xavier firing their highest-paying clients, and for another, Xavier still felt obligated to do his job, even when everything in him wanted to be somewhere else.

With comfortable clothes acquired and a beer in hand, Xavier settled on the sofa. He’d moved Finn’s contact to his home screen so it only took the tap of a button to reach him. He took a long swallow of his drink as he waited for the video call to connect. They’d tried a regular phone call the first night, but that hadn’t been enough for either of them. Last night they’d switched to a video chat and it had been better. At least he’d been able to see Finn’s sweet face, the way his cheeks colored when Xavier teased him and the way his eyelids drooped when he got too tired to keep them open anymore.

The phone rang twice, then it was connecting. “Hey, sweetheart,” Xavier said as he waited for Finn’s face to appear on the screen.

A moment later Xavier’s heart froze in his chest. His fingers ached as he tightened his grip on the phone.

“Love, what happened?” he asked, his eyes searching Finn’s tear-stained face. “Is it Mac?”

He couldn’t fucking see enough on the tiny screen—couldn’t see more than Finn’s face at this angle—and it was going to kill him. Xavier’s heart started trying to beat out of his chest as he contemplated how long it would take Bobby to get the plane ready.

Finn shook his head and his mouth split into a shaky smile at the same time that more tears slid down his cheeks.

“Was it you?” he asked, wiping at his face.

What? Was what him? Suddenly, it clicked. “Did you get news from Dr. Madison? He was supposed to call me first.”

The image on the screen went blurry, Finn disappearing for a moment, then appearing again.

“The doctor said he was here and he looked at Pops,” Finn said, voice wavering. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Xavier’s only excuse was the truth. “I didn’t want you to worry needlessly until we had an answer. And I didn’t want you alone if it was bad news.”

“It wasn’t,” Finn said through more tears. Xavier needed to find a way to teleport. He was rich. He could do it. “It’s something with the fluid in his spine. I—I can’t remember.” Finn released a wet laugh. “He has to have surgery, but they think he’s gonna be okay.”

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