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“Maye, dear!” she said when she finally faced me. “How are you? How’s the arm?”
“Good, thank you. Just had a checkup this morning, and the doctor said it’s healing nicely. Might be able to get this monstrous thing off in about a month. I might have to start hitting the gym with my twin and just work the other side. I think my shoulder is getting buff from lugging this thing around. I’m going to be completely lopsided by the time they saw it off.”
Yep. I was rambling.
Regardless, the woman gave me a kind smile and turned her attention back to her son. “Has Mara been by yet? I wrote down some questions for her about home accommodations.”
“Mom,” Andrew said, and I didn’t miss the hint of warning in his tone. He gave her an infinitesimal shake of his head, and the room fell awkwardly silent.
“I can go find a vending machine and get some drinks… For lunch,” I stammered uncomfortably. Maybe he wanted to speak to her in private about that topic. I definitely felt like an interloper after the way he shut down her enthusiasm.
“No, don’t leave,” Andrew nearly barked.
With widened eyes, I looked at the man, wondering what the hell had come over him since his mom arrived.
“Sorry, baby,” he said and forced his features to seem more relaxed. “That came out rougher than intended. Please don’t go. Why don’t we try to get some work done? If we can prove to Dean McCallister that we can work even while I’m stuck in here, maybe he won’t put the kibosh on the internship program.”
“Ohhhkaaay,” I drew out cautiously. I wanted him to hear the trepidation in my response, because we were definitely going to be addressing these unnecessary mood shifts.
There was no way he’d get away with saying I misunderstood, or he was tired, or whatever bullshit reason he might try to use. I’d heard what I heard. And it happened twice already in the short time I was in his room.
Warning flares went off in the back of my mind. It wasn’t fair to assume he would try to gaslight me when he hadn’t pulled that abusive tactic with me once. That was Joel’s bit, and Andrew didn’t have to pay penance for that jackass’s mistakes.
Nope. Not fair at all.
So while his mother set up camp in the corner of the room, I sat at the foot of Andrew’s bed with my laptop perched on my legs. Together, we started creating a proposal for a grant offered by a national organization with very deep pockets. This was the one I had discovered the week we began. They were interested in giving money to groups or individuals doing research in psychological therapies for people with mental health diagnoses. The mission lined up perfectly with the new curriculum of the psychology department’s graduate program. If we could secure a grant of that magnitude, the university’s program could be expanded in so many ways.
After we ate the lunch I brought, Mara, the physical therapist, knocked softly before entering.
“How’s my favorite professor today?” she asked with a lyrical voice you could listen to for hours.
“I’m amazing,” Andrew said while giving me a wink.
“And this must be the lovely Maye who smells like morning glories,” she said and nudged him with her elbow.
Interesting. He’d only been at this facility a few days. How much one-on-one time did these two share?
“The one and only,” he said with a warm smile. “But you need to stay quiet now before you give away all the things I let slip while you torture me every day.”
“Oh now, wait a minute,” I said playfully while clearing my things off his bed. I wasn’t sure how much of their session was done there, and I didn’t want to be in the way. “This sounds like information I should know.”
Mara gestured as though she locked her lips closed tight and tossed the key over her shoulder. We all chuckled, and I put my computer in my bag. It was getting late, and from what both Andrew and his mom had told me, this girl would tire him out with her exercises.
“Darling,” I said, and leaned down to kiss him. “I’m going to go. I know you’ll be tired when the taskmaster here is done with you, and I’m really happy with what we accomplished today. I may work on the application more from home, if you’re okay with that? You can always check everything before we submit.”
“I’m sad to see you go, though. Will you come see me again soon?”
I tilted my head to one side and said, “You couldn’t make me stay away. And now we have a goal other than getting you out of here.”
We kissed briefly, and I stood up, but he grabbed my hand and tugged me back. Against my lips he said, “I wish you could stay. We have unfinished business, you know.”
My grin couldn’t be contained after we kissed one last time. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Maybe a little earlier if you’re up for it. I won’t have a doctor’s appointment taking up most of my morning, so we can get even more accomplished.”
“I can’t wait to get out of this place. When I do, you’re coming over and spending the night. Better yet, the weekend,” he announced, as though we were the only two people in the room.
With a shy giggle, I darted my gaze to his mother to see if she was listening. If she was, she played it off like a pro and stayed busy with her sewing.
“Bye, Mrs. Chaplin. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow!”
