I sat up a little straighter and swept a handful of puzzle pieces towards me. “It doesn’t look like you’ve been able to get very far with this. Is it a hard puzzle?” I asked, filling the taut silence almost desperately.
Yoss’s grandmother fit two pieces together and moved them to the center of the table. “I’ve been working on this for over an hour and haven’t seemed to get anywhere with it. Elizabeth is the one who is good at puzzles. Maybe I should just wait until she gets home.”
“We’ll help you. I love puzzles,” I said, maybe a little too loudly.
“That would be nice, Imogen. Thank you,” Mrs. Butler enthused, pushing more pieces towards me. She looked at Yoss, who was biting down on his bottom lip. “Are you going to help, Yoss?”
His eyes flickered up in surprise. She had used his name. A brief moment of clarity. I reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it.
“Of course,” he remarked, his smile effortless. His eyes brighter.
We sat together for a time, putting the puzzle together. We didn’t talk much. Yoss’s grandmother easily became lost in the task at hand, focusing intently.
After an hour, a man wearing crisp white scrubs came over, a polite smile on his face. “It’s time for Gladys to go to physical therapy.”
“Of course,” Yoss said quickly, dropping the puzzle pieces he had been holding and getting to his feet.
The aide looked down at what we had accomplished. “It looks like you got really far with this one, Gladys,” he said.
Yoss’s grandmother beamed with pride. “My grandson and his girlfriend helped me. I think we did a great job.”
My heart swelled so much that it hurt. Yoss gave me a look of pure relief.
Gladys got to her feet, the aide supporting her elbow. She came around the table and put her arms around Yoss. She only came up to his chin and he held her carefully. “Come back to see me soon, Yoss. And bring Imogen with you.” His grandmother grinned at me. “He’s never brought anyone to see me before. You must be really special to my boy.”
“She is, Gran,” Yoss agreed.
Her eyes clouded and she pulled back from Yoss. “Are we going to the circus? I thought Charles was supposed to drive us.”
The aide took Yoss’s grandmother by the elbow and gently led her away. Yoss wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.
“It was nice being able to hang out with her,” I said as we left.
Yoss sighed. “I just wish you could see more of the woman she used to be. But at least we got to be with her for a little while.”
Holly, the redheaded nurse looked up as we came into the reception area. “How was our girl?” she asked.
“She knew who I was for a few minutes,” he said.
Holly’s smile was sympathetic. “That’s good, Yoss.”
“It is. Okay, Holly, I’ll see you soon.” He held the door open for me and we stepped outside.
“I only want to bring her the good stuff,” Yoss said, as if he needed to explain something to me. Something important. Dark clouds billowed along the horizon.
It swallowed everything.
The wind picked up, blowing Yoss’s hair into his face. “You get that, right? All of this shit out here can’t follow me in there.” He looked back at Windy Acres, a wistful expression on his face. “But you…” His eyes softened. “You are the best of everything, Imi.”
I pulled him close, kissing his mouth firmly.
Hard. Deep.
Devouring and taking everything he had to give.
Tears tasted salty on cracked, unforgiving lips. Fingers dug into skin. Nails scrapping flesh.
Heavy breaths. Fractured hearts.
We were healing.
Or trying to.
But can two people like us ever truly mend?
I gathered his broken pieces and I held them tight.
Yoss wasn’t the only one who wouldn’t be able to let go.
Present
“Dr. Howell has been calling for you since eight,” Tess said as soon as I arrived. She accosted me just outside of my office door, her normally frazzled face, just a bit more frazzled.
“Dr. Howell? Why?” I asked, leaning my shoulder into the door as I unlocked it. My hands were full of files.
Tess followed me into my office and stood just inside the door. “He wouldn’t say. But he sounded unhappy. Though it’s sort of hard tell given how monotone he is.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said, picking up the phone on my desk and dialed Dr. Howell’s extension. Tess gave me a finger wave and left me to it.
“Hi, Dr. Howell, it’s Imogen Conner.”
“Imogen. Hello. I’m glad you’re in,” Dr. Howell said from the other end.
“Good morning, Dr. Howell.”
“Have you been up to see Mr. Frazier yet this morning?” he asked, getting straight to the point.
My stomach began to flutter wildly. “No. Not yet.”
“He had a rough night apparently. Carol, the night nurse on duty, left a note saying that he had a nightmare and became incredibly violent. He was at risk of self-injury so staff had to restrain him. When that didn’t calm him down, they resorted to sedation. I checked on him when I arrived this morning and to say he is upset would be an understatement.”
Hearing about his nightmares didn’t surprise me. Yoss had always suffered from them.