Page 67 of Until the Ribbon Breaks

“He thinks my being gay is a worse diagnosis than my actual diagnosis.”

“People are dense.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Why is everyone acting so weird today?” Sebastian asks when he joins us in the rec room.

“It’s family day,” Wes tells him. “Everyone is always on edge.”

He pulls out a chair and flops down next to me. “Who’s winning?”

I quirk a brow at him and nod to the deck of cards I’m holding.

He smirks. “Damn, you suck at this game.”

“Thanks.”

Wes plays a draw two, and I groan at the same time he asks Sebastian, “How was your one-on-one?”

“Fine,” he responds, blowing it off.

Sebastian’s going on his second week here, and he still doesn’t say much in group. Although he’s opened up to me a little, it’s clear that he isn’t into everyone knowing his business. Not that I can say much considering I still don’t participate. Truth is, thanks to Kevin, I’m more scared now than what I was before my incident. I was hoping they would’ve moved him to another unit after they found out what he’d said, but they didn’t. He walks around, thinking he’s better than the rest of us because he’s here strictly for substance abuse.

From the corner of my eye, I see one of the nurses escorting Max into the room.

“Here, play for me,” I say, handing all my cards to Sebastian as I get out of my seat and go over to her.

She smiles, and it makes me smile. “How do I look?”

“Beautiful,” I say and then give her a hug.

She got her feeding tube taken out today. When they told her this morning, she was bouncing off the walls. It was driving me nuts, but there was no way I was going to crush her joy. These past two weeks have been hell on her, but she finally started eating on her own, so she no longer has to be fed against her will.

“All right, everyone,” Marcus announces. “We’re going to go ahead and bring in the families. Remember what we discussed in group this morning and your coping plans of action. We want this time to be enjoyable, but if you feel like you need a break, just come to one of us,” he says, motioning to the extra nurses who are on hand today.

As families start filtering in, the room grows noisy, and soon Max is off with her mom, leaving me standing alone while I wait. Some parents seem calm, some seem nervous, and some quickly become emotional. The same can be said for us as well.

For me, I’m pretty calm, and when my mom and dad walk in, I’m actually happy to see them.

“Sweetheart,” my father says when he scoops me into a big hug.

In the month and a half that I’ve been here, he’s only come two other times. The first didn’t end so well and the second was for a family session. So, I was excited when my mom told me the other day that he would be returning from his business trip early and would be coming today.

“How are you?”

“Good.” I throw him a smile. Does he even know how stupid his question was? “Hey, Mom.”

She hugs me, and I don’t push her away like I normally would. After our session a few days ago, I feel like we were able to take a step forward.

“Let’s go outside,” I suggest so we can get some space from everyone.

The staff monitors us closely as we make our way down the hall and through the doors. Out in the courtyard, they’ve set up several tables and chairs along with a buffet line with burgers, hotdogs, and snacks.

“So, have you been making friends?” my dad asks after we settle at a table.

“Not many. I kind of stick to a couple of people.”

He looks around and smiles when he sees the large basketball court. “Do you get to come out here often?”

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