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“Happy New Year. How can I help you?” she asked cheerfully.
“I’m looking for Sessie. I, uh, don’t know her last name, but she asked me to visit her. I was…I used to be a patient of hers.”
The woman smiled knowingly. “Yes, sounds like Secilia. She’s on the third floor. Just ask the nurses when you get there. They should be able to help you.”
I nodded, taking off toward the elevators. I’d become fairly familiar with the layout of the hospital, having been here a few times a month with Noa to volunteer. When I got to the third floor, I jogged to the nurses’ station.
“Hi. Can any of you help me find Sessie?” I asked.
One of the women looked at another. “She’s in three-twelve, right? I thought I saw her in there. Hold on, young man. We’ll call her over.” She picked up a phone, and over the intercom she called Secilia Gordon to the nurses’ station.
Sessie walked up a few minutes later, a bright smile on her face. “Hey there, Dex. Happy New Year.” She held her arms out, and I hugged her, enjoying the maternal air she held. “You finally came to visit me.”
I nodded. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”
Her smile faltered and she stepped away. “Yeah, of course.”
I followed, trying to figure out exactly what to say.
“I figured you’d have questions. She’s a tight-lipped little thing, isn’t she? It was hard enough getting her medical history out of her.” Sessie turned to me, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.
“I don’t want to put you in a tough place, asking you questions you can’t answer. But, she’s drinking, and it seems bad. She mentioned she had a problem with it. And, I can’t help but remember you saying the day I met you that there were miracles in this hospital. I shrugged it off but, I feel like I can tell you. I feel like you won’t think I’m crazy,” I babbled on, telling her everything. From the Angel of Death, to knowing there was more to this Noa thing than what I initially believed. It felt good to tell someone. I took a deep breath when I finished. “You believe me, don’t you?”
Her face was expressionless as she looked at me. It was a fraction of a motion, but she nodded. “Of course I do, Dex. But I can’t help you. I can’t tell you what happened here. I can only tell you to be careful.” She placed her hand on my shoulder. “There are skeletons in that closet, child. Only kept company by a whole lot of hurt.”
I nodded and turned away, preparing to face Noa with assumptions and genuine concern.
“Dexter?”
I looked over my shoulder at Sessie.
Her face held a sad smile. “You wouldn’t have been sent back if you couldn’t do it. But timing is everything.”
“See, I don’t get that Sessie,” I said, dropping my gaze. “If we’re meant to be together, why is it so hard?”
She walked toward me and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Even the things we love most tend to cause us heartache.”
I placed my hand on top of hers, not knowing what to say.
“You come visit me again, soon,” she said, and we hugged again.
As I made my way back to my house, her words played over in my head. I pulled into the driveway and turned my car off, then sat there for a few minutes. I didn’t know what I’d be faced with when I went inside. Finally, I opened the door and stepped out, bracing myself. When I walked into the kitchen, there they were. Tracey was cooking, and Noa was sipping from a mug—coffee, no doubt.
“Hey, you,” Tracey said as she walked over and patted my cheek. “Where ya been?” The spatula in her hand glistened with grease in the morning light, and I took a deep breath.
“Went for a drive. What’s for breakfast?” I sat next to Noa. When she looked up at me with all too apparent nervousness, I grabbed her hand, intertwining my fingers with hers—and Tracey smiled.
When she was happy, my world was right. And even in her terrible moments, I just wanted to be there for her.
It was unfair that I felt this fixation that superseded any other human connection. It was unfair because she may have felt it too, without knowing exactly why.
“Well, I’m filling your girl up with plenty of greasy bacon, so she doesn’t feel as sick. Although the banana smoothie certainly brought her color back. We were discussing whether men should ask women to be their girlfriends or if it should be unspoken.”
My eyes flashed to Noa’s instantly. “What do you think?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She cleared her throat. “But if it were me, I’d want him to ask. I feel like that’s really the only way we’d both be on the same page.” Her nerves were back. She was fidgety, her eyes on Tracey, a secret smile shared between them.
Tracey said, “Well, I for one—”
