Page 48 of Sparking Sara

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that you don’t look that old.”

He laughs. “Thanks for calling me ‘old,’ mate.”

“I didn’t know you Brits were so touchy,” I tease.

I close my food container, too full to finish my meal. I wish I could take it to Sara. Lydia told me burgers were her absolute favorite meal growing up. I wonder if Sara longs for solid food. I know she’s only been awake for a few days, but the thought of being fed by some kind of liquid smoothie being pumped into my stomach is so not satisfying.

“Do you and Sara travel together often?” I ask.

“Only sometimes. She travels for work and I travel for work, and occasionally we can plan it so we’re at the same place at the same time.”

“Have you shown her any pictures of the two of you yet?”

He nods. “This morning. We only got through some of them before she nodded off.”

“Did she recognize any?” I ask hopefully.

“No. But that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The doctor told us not to expect her to remember anything.”

“I know. I guess I just want to believe they could be wrong. So did you tell her you live together?”

He looks down at the table, shaking his head. “I didn’t want to overwhelm her,” he says. “I’m hoping she warms up to me.”

“Give her time. It’s got to be difficult waking up and finding out three years of your life are gone.”

“She’s taken toyou,” he says.

“Only because I sat with her every day. Once she gets used to you, the same thing will happen I’m sure.”

Oliver looks at his watch. “I’ve got to take off. I was able to do some work in her room this morning, but I’ve got clients I need to meet with.”

“You’re not going to be here when she moves to the rehab facility?”

“Sorry, mate. Duty calls. Not all of us have the luxury of working two days a week.”

“Twotwenty-four-hourdays,” I say.

“Touché,” he says, gathering up our trash. “I told her I’d visit her at the new facility tomorrow.”

I hold out my hand. “Thanks for meeting me. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot yesterday.”

“I’m sorry about that,” he says, shaking my hand. He looks at our surroundings. “All this was a lot to take. I … I don’t want to lose her.”

I nod in empathy. “I know you don’t. And I’ll do everything I can to help.”

“I appreciate that. Can you give me a buzz if anything changes with her?”

“Sure. Uh, does that mean send you a text?”

He laughs. “It means call me. But, yeah, a text would be okay, too.”

“See you tomorrow, then.”

“That you will, mate,” he says before walking out the door.

When I approach Sara’s room, I see there’s someone new sitting with her. Krista comes up behind me. “That’s Jason, her speech therapist.”

“I thought she wasn’t speaking yet.”

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