Raw & True

o06.

"Nice to finally meet you, Elijah." Micah smirked my way.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Micah," I said while shaking his outstretched hand.

He stood to hug Marley tight and in that moment of them greeting each other, I was able to see just how much they meant to each other. She stepped back and ran her hand across his cheek.

"You're gaining that weight back I see." The smile on her face was priceless.

"Yeah man, between these doctors, the food you send up here and these sessions I'm having with Brandon, I'm starting to feel like myself again." He smiled, making his way over to the little kitchenette on the other side of his room.

He motioned towards the couch across from his bed where Marley and I went to take a seat. This man was a lot like his sister because he wasted no time getting to the point of why he had wanted me to come. He made his way over to us and handed us both a bottle of water before sitting down at the foot of his bed, taking a sip out of his own.

"I wanted you to come with Marley today, so I could thank you in person," he started off while looking directly at me. "It's a scary situation being here in this place and not knowing what your kids are going through every day in the outside world while you try to recover. It's hard to not worry. You know?"

I nodded not wanting to cut him off. I could tell this was hard for him.

"As a man, I want to thank you personally for trying to keep my son out of trouble." He chuckled a little. "He told me about the job you gave him down at your auto shop. He even told me you showed him how to fix his car the other day." He reached out and gave me a pound. "Respect man. I know my son, so I know that wasn't an easy job."

"Not even kind of easy." I laughed and shook my head. "You have good kids though Micah. Even Miracle has been a great help to me by watching my baby girl for me from time to time. Your family has been nothing but good to me. I'm just helping the best way I know how," I explained in the most humble way I could.

"Isabella, right?"

"Yeah, she's a piece of work but she loves Miracle." I shook my head and laughed a little at the bond they'd created in such a small amount of time.

"Miracle loves kids. She's great with little girls especially," he said, looking towards the door for a while. I could tell there was something else he wanted to say but he didn't.

"I just wanted to let you know I appreciate it, even with how you looked out for my baby sis when that knucklehead ex-boyfriend of hers started showing his ass. I'm limited to two phone calls a day, 15 minutes each and I wasn't able to talk to her for long but I did what I could that night. The next day she called sounding so much better. It felt good to know she had someone out there looking out for her in a way I couldn't at the time."

I nodded and looked over at a smiling Marley. She looked like a proud parent watching us go back and forth.

"This is just so beautiful," she gushed, fanning away imaginary tears, causing me and Micah to laugh at her dramatic ways. "I'm going to go talk to your doctor and see if I can drop off your meals for next week in the morning instead of bringing them during my lunch. You got enough to last you for tonight, right?" she asked Micah while standing up from her seat.

"Yeah, I'm good for tonight; leftover rice and beans, cabbage and I still got some of that roast that you made," he told her while she made her way to the door.

"Alright well, I'll be back."

Once she was gone, Micah sat up a little and gave me an unreadable look. I was confused to say the least. After letting out a nervous chuckle, I sat up straight in my seat and asked him what was up.