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Lila calls before daylight, knowing I’ll be up. I am, of course, thanks to yet another night terror. This time, though, the man taunting me with the whip was Mark, his blue eyes ice-cold.
It was just a dream. Mark would never hurt me.
But the realness of my dream leaves me shaken.
I force myself to pay attention to Lila, whose voice exudes worry. “You sound terrible, Charlie. Are you alright?”
“I’m okay. Yesterday was rough, but I’m fine now.” I haven’t been fine in a very long time, and Lila knows it, but she doesn’t call me on it.
“What happened?”
“Mark’s emotional roller coaster crashed.”
Her voice turns gentle. “Are you okay?” Lila knows his moods have been all over the map, brooding silently one minute, loud and livid the next.
“We worked through it,” I answer, not wanting to be dishonest, but at the same time, wanting to shield him from judgment. “He lost his temper and mouthed off, I walked out, and his mentor settled him down. He called Dr. Friedman. He admitted he hated being at the mercy of his emotions and asked for help. He agreed to start medication. We had a bad morning, but the final outcome was good.” My abbreviated version makes it sound like Mark was in a bad mood and bit my head off. I suppose that's technically true, albeit significantly sterilized.
Lila can tell I’m being evasive. “Did he hurt you?”
“Mark would never lay a hand on me.”
“You know that’s not what I mean,” she probes gently, and I sigh.
“It was bad,” I finally admit. “He said some pretty hurtful things. He feels worse about it than I do, which is what pushed him to ask for help. It sucked, but it was a necessary catalyst, and if it helps him, it was worth it.”
“I’m sorry, Charlie.” Her quiet words make my eyes fill with tears again.
“I saw your email,” I say, wiping my eyes and changing the subject. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t let you guys foot the bill for changes to my house.”
“Charlie, we love you both, so shut up.” I open my mouth to protest, but Lila ignores me and keeps talking. “I’m serious. We want to be there with Mark, but we can’t. This is something we can do to help. Deal with it.” Then she laughs. “Besides, we’ve already started.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tucker, Tom, and I met for lunch yesterday and hammered out what we needed. I placed the order at the hardware store and Tucker picked it up. We got the prep work done for our first job last night, and we start after work this evening.”
“But –” I say weakly.
“You’re too far away to fight me on this, Charlie. Is his discharge date set?”
“Maybe two or three more weeks?”
I hear her mental wheels turning. “That should be enough time. Any chance you can fly home for a couple of days before then to see if we need to adapt anything else?”
“Let me talk to Dr. Paxton. I’ll work it out and let you know. And Lila?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.” My words are gruff over the lump in my throat.
Her voice is gentle. “We love you guys, Charlie. Hug Mark for me.”
I shower and race to the hospital, picking up coffee on my way. Dr. Paxton meets me in the hall. “Perfect timing,” he greets me, following me into Mark’s room.
“Good morning, Mark. I just reviewed your x-rays. You’re ready to have your external fixators removed.”
Mark looks surprised. “So the bone is finally healing?”
Dr. Paxton nods. “That last surgery did the trick. The bones are fusing nicely.”
