Page 32 of Forever Yours on Christmas Eve
He sat back, his eyes and ears attuned to nothing but her as she vaguely described what was going on. She didn’t have to say what ailed the Admiral, as her hints made it obvious. And honestly, the fact that she was discussing it at all wasn’t great. The last thing that needed to get out in the ranks was anything about a superior officer getting sick.
The fact that she trusted him not to breathe a word of something so big humbled him all over again.
“We’re in treatment now,” she said, looking around the room like she’d done it a thousand times. “He’s strong, so they decided to take an aggressive approach.”
“Have you been there the whole time?” If that was the case, she’d been out of school for a month, which meant she couldn’t be continuing her degree program.
Could it?
To his surprise, or maybe not, given how much her father meant to her, she nodded in confirmation. “He told me the weekend before he was having surgery, so I was able to go back to the City that Monday and make arrangements.”
“Are you still in your program?” he asked, knowing how muchbeing an art therapist meant to her. How hard she’d been working, and how frustrated she’d been.
“Well, that’s the funniest thing out of it all,” she said. “I reached out to all of my professors and told them what was happening. All but two offered to work with me, letting me watch their lectures online, and allowing me to remote in when I came home for my dad’s treatments.”
“All but two…” he repeated. “What happened to the others?”
“Oh, them?” She laughed with an edge of disgust. “They told me that I’d signed up for the class as it was, I needed to either show up or drop out.”
“Did they know what you were going through?” The idea that anyone, much less two people, could be so heartless made Sev ready to leap through the phone, kiss the devil out of Kelsey, and then go on a crusade to avenge her.
“They knew every last detail. I made sure of it,” she said with a twist of her mouth. “One professor told me that she’d had a loved one go through something similar.”
“And she still wouldn’t help you?”
“Nope,” Kelsey said, popping the P. “But it got me thinking. Art is about beauty, and therapy is about healing. How could I look to someone like that to teach me anything?”
Leave it to her to see the big picture. “So what happened?”
“I quit,” she said, not a hint of regret in her tone. “I dropped those two courses and wrote to the dean’s office, letting them know exactly the situation I faced and why. Now that my course load is lighter, I’m able to really devote my time to these other classes, and things are working out better than before.”
“Your grades are up?”
“I’ve got a high three-point GPA.” She grinned.
He sat back in his seat, marveling at how well she’d handled everything. She looked like the all-consuming worry about school had subsided. No doubt the situation had caused her to shifther focus, but the moves she made had her coming out on top like a boss. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you,” she said, grinning back at him. “I’m proud of myself, too.”
“How is your dad doing?” he tried to ask tactfully. Just like his deployments, he knew straight away she couldn’t give him too much detail.
Her father wouldn’t want that, and above that, it wasn’t his business.
But his business was her, and he needed to know how she was holding up. He needed her to know that he cared.
“It’s a long road,” she said, sighing to herself. “We’ve been at this for a few weeks now, and it’s looking good, just… hard.”
“I know, babe,” he said, the term of endearment rolling off his tongue. His chest squeezed around his heart, and he hated being so far away from her. “I’m going to have service from here on out, so I want you to call me, day or night, whenever you need anything.”
“I will,” she promised. He knew she was beyond capable, but he hated that she’d operated with this for so long on her own. Trying to be strong for her father, for herself. “I appreciate you being there.”
“I have an idea,” he said, hating even more now to be apart from her. “I should be home soon, and I’ve got some time off coming. What would you say to me coming down for a visit? We could grab dinner, or I can take you out for some mini-golf.”
Her face lit up at the idea, but just as quick, it dimmed, and Sev felt his heart take a ride on that rollercoaster.
“I would love to, really,” she began. “But Dad’s going to be in treatment through the summer. He can’t be around anyone who isn’t immediate family because of the germs. And I’m staying with him now in Newport, so I can’t either.”
Crud.He hadn’t given that a thought. Of course, he hadn’t really known too many people in his life who were fighting the battle that the Admiral was. Slowly, he nodded his head in understanding.
