“A toothbrush would be nice.”
The woman at the counter recognized Brody when she rung us up. Walking out of the store, he pulled on the cap, bringing the bill low on his face.
“Disguise?”
“Sort of.”
“Is it everything you thought it would be?”
“What?”
“Being famous.” When we were teenagers, we used to spend hours dreaming of what being a famous football player would be like.
He glanced at me. “Nothing turned out the way I thought it would.”
We ordered two egg sandwiches from the cafeteria and sat down to eat. Brody finished his in what seemed like three bites. I ate only half of mine.
“You’re not going to eat that?”
I smiled. Brody always had a ridiculous appetite. Wherever we went, both of our plates were wiped clean, but it was usually because Brody devoured everything on his plate, then attacked mine.
“Nope. Help yourself.”
He finished off my breakfast and guzzled his small black coffee.
“Do you remember when we went to that Oktoberfest during senior year, and you ate that guy’s full plate of food because you thought it was mine?”
“Yeah. I almost got my ass kicked by Paul Bunyan in lederhosen. That was the biggest person I’ve ever seen wearing overalls in my life.” We both laughed at the memory. We had snuck into a German festival, but only had twenty bucks between the two of us and were starving and unwilling to forego beer. So we each ordered an appetizer and the biggest mug of beer we could afford. Brody was off talking to some guys from the football team, and when he came back, I told him he could finish my appetizer while I headed to the bathroom. He proceeded to eat the entire fifteen-dollar meal that was on the table. Only it was on the table next to where my leftover appetizer had been. We had one large, pissed-off German guy to contend with when he realized that his meal was gone.
When we got back to Grams’ room, the nurse was done, and a doctor came in a few minutes later. He told us that although her stats had stabilized from the medication, she wasn’t trying to breathe on her own, and that wasn’t a good sign. They would repeat the CAT scan in the early afternoon to determine the extent of the damage. Each doctor who stopped in felt compelled to warn us that things were not looking good. It was as if they were trying to prepare us for what the afternoon test would bring.
Brody and I were both quiet for a while after the doctors left.
“She has a health care proxy. I found the papers when I was cleaning out her things in the apartment. She and your grandfather had them drawn up years ago. I never tried to have a new one made, because my lawyer said her mental capacity would be an issue if we drew up any legal documents. So even though I’m her legal guardian now, her health care proxy was made when she was able to make her own decisions. And those decisions were her wishes.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means her medical decisions get made by the person who she wanted to make those decisions, not me.”
“And who is that?” The answer was obvious, but I hoped I was wrong.
“You.”
Chapter 29
Delilah
I’d tried to reach Brody three times since the morning, but each call had gone straight to voicemail. I finally ended up sending him a text before Michael and I taped the spot with Payton Mara. When we were done, the text still didn’t show as delivered. I was growing concerned for so many different reasons.
“Everything okay?” Michael asked on the way back to the airport.
“Sorry, yes,” I lied. Well, sort of. “I just don’t like to fly. I get nervous for hours before.” It was the truth, but it wasn’t what had me preoccupied today.
“I think our seats are next to each other. My hand is available for holding. And squeezing if you need.”
I forced a smile. “Thank you. But usually I need more of a drool wiper than a hand-holder.”
He glanced sidelong at me before his eyes returned to the road, so I explained, “I take a Xanax, it knocks me out pretty good. But it’s either that, or my heart might crack a few ribs pounding so hard to get out of my chest.”
“Ah. Drool wiping it is, then. Even though I was looking forward to an excuse to hold your hand.” This trip had proven that Michael was the nice guy that I initially thought he was, not the bad guy Brody had warned me about. Although I was glad I hadn’t gone out with him. Until Brody, I’d avoided anyone who might make my heart race. Letting anyone in other than Drew had felt like I was cheating. But somehow, Brody had wormed his way into my heart without my even seeing it happen.
Michael and I had just cleared security when my phone buzzed in my jacket pocket. Brody’s name flashed on the screen.
“Hey. I’ve been trying to reach you all day. Is everything okay?”
“Sorry. I was in the hospital, and my phone was off. I just turned it back on.” He sounded exhausted.