Page 76 of Sparking Sara

“That was Sara, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. So?”

“So I can tell how much you care about her.”

“We’re friends,” I say.

He eyes me skeptically. “Are you sure that’s all there is to it?”

“Yes, I’m sure. She engaged, Bass.”

“To a man she doesn’t know. And you spend every waking minute together.”

“I haven’t seen her since this morning,” I say.

He laughs. “Yeah, I can tell. You’ve been in a piss-poor mood all night long.”

“No I haven’t.”

“Oh, but you have. Did you have some kind of falling out?”

“It’s not like that,” I say.

“Then tell me what it’s like, man. Because you’ve been acting so differently these past few weeks.”

“I have not.”

“Denver, cut the shit. Do you remember last year when I came back from Hawaii? Remember what a pain in the ass I was because I couldn’t be with the woman I loved?”

I get up off the couch and walk into the kitchen. Bass follows me.

I throw my beer bottle into the trash. “What the hell are you saying? You think I’m in love with her?”

“I’m just saying it’s like looking in a mirror, that’s all.”

“My situation with Sara is nothing like the one you had with Ivy.”

“There’s a situation?”

I twist off the top of another beer. “There’s no situation. I’m helping her with her rehabilitation. I’m being a friend to her. End of story. Now, if you’re done giving me the third degree, mind if we watch the rest of the game?”

He shakes his head. “Sure, brother. Whatever you want.”

~ ~ ~

Sara holds up her hand to stop me from walking into the room. “Wait!” she yells from the bed.

“What is it?”

“Just wait there,” she says.

I stand here holding the box of pizza as I watch her get out of bed by herself.By herself.Without any help from me or Donovan or a nurse. It takes her a minute to steady herself on her feet, but then she walks slowly over to me, her left leg dragging behind her right. She’s still weak on her left side.

She makes it all the way to me, takes the pizza box out of my hands, and then walks back across the room, putting the box on her table before sitting down in her chair.

She smiles proudly across the room at me. “Don’t tell Donovan I did that. He’s afraid I’ll fall. He still makes me wear this stupid belt. Says it’s required.”

I make a lock-and-key motion across my lips. “I won’t say a word. That was fantastic, Sara. You’ve made so much progress.”

---