The next morning, Connor is quieter than usual. I don't want to ask him about what happened with his father yet. He still seems bothered by it.
"Morning," I say, walking into the kitchen where he is preparing coffee.
"Morning," he says, flatly. "Did you sleep well?" He seems more deflated than usual.
"I slept fine," I tell him. "How did you sleep? How are you doing?" I can't help but check up on him.
"Fine," he says, taking a sip of the coffee. "I'm just fine." There is an underlying hint of sarcasm in his voice that I can't help but notice.
Still, I decide not to say anything about it, until I can find out from Maggie what exactly happened at the hospital last night.
...
I walk into the hospital, having already said goodbye to Connor, and agreed to meet at our usual place.
As soon as Maggie sees me, she rushes over to me, stopping me in my tracks.
"Tessa, I have news about what happened yesterday," she tells me. "You know, with Connor and his father?"
"Yes, I know, what is it?" I ask, wanting to know. "Whatever it is, it must have been serious."
"It was," Maggie tells me, nodding. "According to one of the nurses, they had a huge argument, a shouting match."
"That's not unusual for them," I say. "Connor and his father argue all the time. They don't get on well."
"I can tell," Maggie says, nodding. "Apparently, Cornelius called him a disappointment of a son. Told him to get out."
"What?" I ask, confused. "What, out of nowhere? Why?"
"Who knows?" Maggie says, shrugging. "That's what happened."
"That's terrible," I say. "I can't believe he wouldn't tell me that. Now I can't tell him that I know, or he'll know that I purposely went digging around for information."
"He'll tell you eventually," Maggie reassures me. "He just needs time. He'll open up to you soon, don't worry."
"I can't believe that," I say, still shocked. "That's quite a major thing to say, and they weren't even in there together for that long. I know their relationship wasn't great, but I didn't know it was this bad."
"I know," Maggie says, nodding. "I was really surprised when I found out. Not that I wouldn't expect it from Cornelius. He hasn't exactly been the most low-maintenance patient here."
"I can't imagine how Connor was feeling," I sigh. "Wow. No wonder he didn't want to talk about it."
"It's awful," Maggie says. "But you have a patient in Three. It's a kid, jammed something up his nose."
"Got it," I say, nodding. "Thanks, Maggie. You're like a guardian angel right now!"
"Guardian angel?" she asks, laughing. "Okay, sure. Whatever you say!"
I leave her laughing, and walk into Treatment Room 3. I still can't get last night's events out of my mind.
I can't believe all of that happened, and Connor didn't even tell me. It's crazy.
And I don't know how to get him to open up about it...