I scoffed, hating myself. “I must be scared a lot.”
“You know what, Willow? I think you are scared a lot. I’m no shrink, but people have two choices when they’re scared. To run or to fight. You lived a rough life before Marlene. Running was a survival instinct for you.”
I stared at my lifeless grandmother. “I don’t want to run now. It’s the least I can do.”
“So don’t.”
“You say that like it’s easy.”
“It’s not. Nothing about this is easy.”
I covered his hand with my other one and looked up at him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. We’ll get through this. Just fight with me.”
***
Brody had missed practice yesterday, so he had no choice but to go today. He was gone about five hours. The look on his face when he walked back into Marlene’s room was one of total relief.
“How is she?” he said.
“About the same.”
He nodded. “And you?”
“I’m fighting.”
Brody smiled and took off his jacket. “Glad to hear it.”
“How was practice?”
“Got knocked on my ass plenty.”
“Hard to focus?”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah. My head wasn’t in it today.”
“I was thinking while you were gone. We should put her game shows on tomorrow. Maybe even play the way we used to play with her. Maybe she can hear us, and that would make her happy.”
“That’s a good idea. She’d like that. And I should call over to Broadhollow Manor, let them know what’s going on. Grouper would probably want to stop by and visit.”
“He seems like a nice guy.”
“He is. Just don’t let him know I said that.”
I laughed. “Funny. He said the exact same thing about you.”
Brody smiled. “I knew the old bastard loved me.”
Hours later, the doctor came back in. He told us to go get some sleep and come back in the morning. Tomorrow they would rerun the scan, and then we would likely have some big decisions to make. I couldn’t even think about tomorrow yet. Around midnight, we decided to go home for a few hours.
“Come on. I’ll give you a ride. My car is in the lot across the street since I came straight from practice.”
I wasn’t even going to pretend to put up an argument. The last two days had caught up with me, and lifting my arm to open a door felt like an effort.
Brody’s car was a Range Rover with an interior of supple leather and wood. “This is much better than the Bronco,” I teased, referring to the 1981 red-and-white-striped jalopy he driven throughout high school and college.
He smiled “Just a little.”
“Although that Bronco held a lot of good memories.” I glanced into the backseat of his fancy new car, thinking of the endless hours we had spent fooling around in the wide back seat. Brody caught my glance, and our eyes met for a brief second. Neither of us said another word the rest of the way uptown, except when I needed to give directions.
Pulling up to my apartment, I was a little embarrassed. The building was in a bad neighborhood—proof of that was hanging out right at the front door. Two guys who screamed “drug dealers” watched as we pulled to the curb and stopped.
“This is where you live?”
“Yeah. It’s what I can afford. I’m hoping to move soon, though.”
Brody started to say something, then stopped.
“Thank you for the ride. For everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
I made it halfway to the door when Brody called after me. “Willow?”
He jogged to catch up to me. “Stay at the hotel I’m staying at. At least tonight. I’ll get you a room.”
“That’s sweet of you. But I’m fine. Really, I am.”
“I wasn’t worried about you.” He lied right through his teeth. “It would help me sleep better tonight. Knowing you weren’t . . . ” He looked around, his thoughts evident without having to voice them.
“I’ll get my stuff.”
Chapter 31
Delilah
I set my alarm for six, even though I hadn’t really decided if I was going to go or not. After a quick shower, I grabbed my phone from the charger and scanned our texts from last night again.
Brody: Not good.
Delilah: I’m sorry. Anything I can do?
Brody: A naked picture might help . . .
Delilah: LOL. Glad to see you sound more like yourself now. This afternoon when we spoke, there wasn’t one sexual innuendo. I was worried.
Brody: Me too.
Delilah: You staying at the hospital tonight?
I remembered typing that last text and then editing out one word. The initial text read: You staying at the hospital tonight alone? But immediately afterward I felt selfish and was glad I hadn’t sent it. He was going through a horrible time, and my jealousy had no place.
Brody: No. Heading back to Regency soon. I’ll be back for visiting hours in the morning at nine.
Delilah: OK. Hope you get some sleep.