Dying to Live

Chapter 9

⏳ ZOE, April

Adam woke up on Tuesday morning with a chest infection. It wasn't anything too serious, they could treat it easily, but it did mean his discharge had to be postponed a couple more days so that they could keep an eye on him. He was in such a bad mood when I came up to see him in the afternoon. He didn't feel like talking. He didn't feel like moving around. He just wanted to be left alone, and he made it quite clear. Nancy looked like she was about to cry, but she plastered on a smile and pretended like everything was OK.

Over the next two days, if I had a bit of time to spare, I would grab a coffee and a bagel for her before I went up to his hospital room.

Even if it was just for a few minutes, it broke the day into tolerable chunks. Sometimes Adam wouldn't even be awake, but I didn't mind. I'd ask Nancy to come take a walk with me around the ward, following the same path we took when we walked with Adam. We'd talk some more in hushed voices and occasionally laugh. Sometimes she'd tell me stories about Adam and his siblings when they were younger. It looked like he used to be quite the freaking handful. Was I even surprised though?

It was really hard on her. Her husband drove all the way from West Virginia for a short visit on Wednesday, but he had to leave that night so that he could be at work in the morning. Calvin would pop in now and then too, but for the most part Nancy was all alone. She sat by her son's bedside every day for as long as she could. I was glad to help make those long hours a little more tolerable for her too.

It was a slow Friday afternoon in the pediatric ward and I was leaning against the nurse's station. I had my bottom lip stuck between my teeth and the fountain pen in my hand was twirling around and around between my fingertips. The paperwork I was filling out lay forgotten in front of me and the remaining drops of coffee in my cup were no longer lukewarm.

"You look like you could use some of this," said a voice directly in front of me, causing me jump. I looked up at the speaker and my eyes widened in surprise.

"Shit, sorry, you scared me," I said and laughed out loud, hand over my beating heart. I glanced at the coffee he'd put down on the desk and smiled appreciatively. "You have no idea. Thanks, you're the best." I popped the lid open and took a testing sip. A lot of cream, way too much sugar, exactly the way I liked it. "You were discharged?"

"Yeah, I got the all clear a few hours ago. About damn time," Adam replied.

"And the first thing you did as a free man was get me coffee, I feel so special," I grinned and took another glorious sip. He was leaning against the desk and I took the opportunity then to get a proper look at him. He was wearing jeans and a familiar gray t-shirt I'd seen him in before. His beard was a little bit crazy but his hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail. I could see his drainage tube poking out from underneath his shirt. He was perhaps a little bit pale, but other than that you couldn't tell he'd just spent a week stuck in the hospital.

"It's no big deal. I was in the neighborhood," he chuckled and my eyes snapped back up to his face. "I also got you something else... I finished it last night after you left." He started rummaging a bit awkwardly through a black messenger bag.

OK, well now I was really curious. What was he talking about?

"Here, come on, let's go sit down, I've been on my feet all morning," I told him and took his forearm, gingerly pulling him away from the center of the room where everybody could see us. We walked together down the colorful walls to a bench by some fake potted plants. He collapsed heavily onto it, reminding me that he wasn't completely recovered yet.