Page 89 of Taking Care of You
We sit and talk for a while, until my dad wakes up and the nurse brings me some food. When Crystal is about to leave, promisingto come back soon, she mentions that Ryder, Mitch, and Elle asked about me, and they want to know if they can visit. I don’t know where my phone is, so I let her know she can tell them they can come whenever they want. She kisses my cheek and leaves.
Me and my dad sit and talk for a few hours, getting to know each other again. It’s not awkward after the first few minutes and I’m thankful that we still have an ease to our conversations. The same ease we used to have before he started working all the time.
“I was offered a promotion at work,” he tells me, looking really proud of himself. “It’s for shift manager. More money, less hours. I’ll be able to spend more time with you.”
I sigh, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but needing to let him know my plans. “Dad, I’m not coming back home. I can’t go back there. I’m going to stay with Ethan until I go to college. I got a scholarship for USC, in California.”
His face falls a bit, but he covers it quickly. “A scholarship? Full ride?” I nod and he smiles at me, even though it’s a little sad. “That’s great, kid. I knew you were going to do great things.”
“We can still spend time together. Just not at home. I can meet you anywhere else, but not there.”
Nodding, he stretches out in the chair again. “Grace invited me to their home to get to know them, since it seems like you’repretty serious about Ethan. So I’ll just come there.” He hurries to add, “If you don’t mind.”
Smiling at him, I say, “I don’t mind at all, Dad.”
Hours later, Ethan comes rushing into my room. “Hey, sorry I’m late. The meet ran long.” He kisses me, then looks me over. “How you feeling?”
“Still hurt everywhere, but I’ve been getting meds around the clock.”
My dad clears his throat and Ethan startles, like he’s just noticing we’re not alone. Ethan reaches a hand out, cheeks pink with what I think is embarrassment. “Great to meet you, sir.”
Dad shakes his hand with a grunt and says, “Same to you. I want to thank you for being there for my son. I’m glad he has you.”
Dropping his hand and looking at me with a soft expression, Ethan says, “I’m glad I have him, too.”
I yawn wide, feeling the day wearing me down, but I want to hear about the meet. “Did you PR?”
He shakes his head. “No. Same times as invitationals, but I think I can do it by the next meet.”
His face is set in an unreadable mask, which lets me know there’s something on his mind. “Dad, can you give us a minute?”
My father stands up and drops a hand on my shoulder. “I’m going to go and get some sleep.” Dad told me he didn’t want to go back home after he found out what Mom did to me. “I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow, kid. Good night, I love you.”
“Love you too,” I respond with a smile.
After he leaves, Ethan takes his seat and scoots in closer to my bed. “What’s up?” I ask him.
He blows out a breath and gently strokes the back of my hand. “There are pictures. Some reporters were still there after the press conference and took photos right after the accident. Some printed them. My father filed some kind of legal shit that’llmake them pull the prints, but some people had them at the meet.”
My stomach drops. Fucking reporters. I didn’t think it was legal to run photos like that. With the pain I feel now, I know the photos couldn’t have been pretty.
I look at him. “Did you…see?”
“I was there, Koby. I don’t need a reminder of the worst day of my life. But people from the team told me about them. That’s when I called my dad, who called his lawyers and they got on it fast. They’ll be gone soon.”
God, that fucking sucks. I can only imagine how terrible those pictures are. And I can only imagine how distraught Ethan was when it happened. Hopefully, Frank is able to get the pictures down and Ethan’s announcement article released instead.
Ethan rests his chin on the backs of his hands. “I can’t wait until you’re out of here. I wish you weren’t in here at all. I wish you were home.”
“Me too.” I stroke his hair, hoping to soothe him. “A few more weeks and I will be.”
He gives me a shaky smile and we just sit there in silence, enjoying each other’s company.
30
The next few weeks pass by in a flurry of meds, surgeries, and nasty hospital food. I get visits from Ryder, Mitch and Elle, as well as the police. They ask me to go through all the interactions that I had with Dawn so they can build a case. Since her friends told the guidance counselor what she was saying, they had enough to charge her with premeditated murder.
After she hit me, Dawn tried to drive away but the reporters blocked her in, taking photos and crowding around the scene. It gave the school resource officer time to come outside and apprehend her. She told him that it was an accident and that she didn’t see me, but he didn’t buy it after he was informed by the school counselor about what her friends said.
