Chapter 20

Friday was a rainy, filthy mess, like the evening before had been. Patty and Dan arrived early with breakfast, rescuing me from another day of hospital food, but ended up leaving almost right away since Dan was dropping her at home. Her car had needed to go in for a problem today so she was tied to other drivers.

I read a book on basic home repair and then took some time to practice the breathing that Dr. Spencer had taught me, letting myself descend into the point where I didn’t really feel fully conscious. I opened my eyes when I heard the door open, but it was just a nurse. She removed the rest of the bandages covering my scrapes as well as the incision from my surgery which was about 4 inches long. I traced it curiously, but other than finding it tender, my breathing still hurt more than that.

By 11:00, I still hadn’t seen any visitors and I started to wonder about that. I hadn’t seen my girls since they went home for dinner last night. Collie and Tabby hadn’t stopped by at all yesterday. I wondered about this party that Patty had mentioned and decided to ask her about it when she stopped by for lunch. I was looking forward to actually getting a shower after lunch and putting on some real clothes instead of the hospital gowns they used.

Dr. Spencer stopped by and told me that the board had adjourned until the afternoon and she was confident she’d hear from the school before the end of the day.

“That’s good news,” I said lightly. “Hopefully it’ll all turn out well.”

“If not, I’ll still want to see you after your release. You’ve had a rough summer and I don’t want to see you cut loose without a lifeline if you need it.”

“I appreciate that,” I said truthfully. “Speaking of my release, do you have any idea when that might be? I know I haven’t asked about it so far, but I’m running out of books and I’d really like to be home now that all the bandages are off and I’m pretty much on the mend.”

“Well, I’d been planning on keeping you in for another day or two,” she said, considering it. “How do you feel? Any lingering pain?”

“Some in my chest, but I can breathe freely and unless I take a really deep breath, it doesn’t really hurt all that much,” I told her. “My ankle felt fine yesterday during my trips to the bathroom, I haven’t felt dizzy or weak or anything.”

She thought about it for a long moment and then nodded. “Let me listen to your breathing, look over your chart and a few other things and maybe later this afternoon if everything checks out.”

“Thanks,” I said with a smile. “I’m looking forward to being in my own bed.”

“I’m sure you are, but I stand by my assessment. No sex for another week.” She crossed the room and pulled a stethoscope out of the pocket of her lab coat and pressed it to my back while she listened to me breathe, moving it around several times and then doing the same on my chest, listening carefully and then she pulled down the gown to look over my bruising and the incision. “Not painful?” she asked.

“It’s more tender than sore,” I told her. “The bruise hurts more right now.”

She nodded and put away the stethoscope and fixed me with a considering look. “Your breathing is okay, but you’re still pretty banged up. I’ll consider it and let you know at the end of the day. So where are your normal flock of visitors today?” she asked, making notes on the chart she always had with her.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Patty was in with something at breakfast, but I haven’t had any other visitors all day. I’m starting to wonder about it actually.”

“Well, I’m sure your lunch is on its way soon,” she said, glancing at her watch. “I’ll have to pass on joining you today though. As tempting as it is, I have other patients to visit before I take my lunch.”

I said goodbye to her and plucked another book from my dwindling supply to read. I hadn’t even looked at which one I was grabbing and it turned out to be the Joy of Cooking. I shrugged and started through the book, losing myself in reading recipes. I felt my stomach growl and looked at the clock, wondering where Patty was. I shrugged and figured that she was held up on getting a ride over here.

I’d noticed that Mom was tied up in meetings with lawyers, between the lawsuit and the divorce, she had very little free time to devote to the hospital and I supposed that I’d demanded a lot of attention from everyone else even if I hadn’t meant to do that. Missing lunch wouldn’t exactly hurt me. After all, I’d been skipping meals here until yesterday.

I read for a while more and then felt restless. I decided now was as good a time as any for a shower. I got up and looked in the closet for something to wear and found that my clothes weren’t there. I supposed they gave them to Mom when I was admitted. I sighed and went into the bathroom, resigned to another uncomfortable day of wearing a johnny-shirt. I used the bathroom and then hung up the shirt so I could get washed in the shower stall in the room.

It felt unbelievably good to feel the hot water after so many days of sponge baths. I washed my hair and lathered up, careful of the worst of the healing cuts.

“At least it doesn’t sting much,” I muttered to myself and rinsed off, letting the water cascade over me for a few minutes more before shutting it off and taking a towel to dry off.

I slipped the shirt around me again and tied it awkwardly before opening the door and getting back into bed. I still hadn’t had anyone in to see me and I was starting to get a bad feeling about it. There wasn’t anything I could do about it, but if I hadn’t heard from them by the time Dr. Spencer came back to talk, I’d see if I could call from the nurse’s station. I didn’t have my phone, but fortunately my memory was good enough to remember the numbers I’d programmed into my phone.

I looked at my book supply and wasn’t particularly encouraged. It consisted of a thick book on auto repair that I had thought would be an interesting skill to have when I was old enough to drive, a history book covering WWII, a novel I’d read before and a book on how to make memorable costumes. I plucked that one out of the pile and decided to see what it was about.

I was learning the parts of a sewing machine and how to use one properly when the door opened. Patty was coming in, looking a little frazzled. No, on further inspection, she looked like she’d had a terrible day.

“Sorry I’m so late, Champ,” she said, collapsing into a chair as if she’d run the whole way. She was dripping wet and obviously winded.

“Are you okay?” I asked, leaning over to take hold of her arm while she was trying to dig out lunch for me. “You look like you’ve had a miserable day.”

She sighed and nodded, passing me a Tupperware container with celery and carrots. “It hasn’t been fun. I had your lunch ready and Lana dropped me off at the mechanics because my car was supposed to be ready. I got there and it wouldn’t start. They couldn’t explain it since they were working on the brakes. So I had them call me a cab to come here. That took forever and we were just coming into the parking lot when the cab broke down, so I had to walk in from the street.”

I winced, sympathetically and tore into the celery, more hungry than I’d realized. “Couldn’t you have called Lana back for a ride?” I asked.

She shook her head. “She had a busy afternoon ahead of her. She was going in to Boston for part of it, so I didn’t want to distract her while she was on the road.”

I felt like there was more to it, but I let it drop for now and ate. “Mom at the lawyers all day?”

“No, she was meeting with the school this afternoon. They’re interviewing her for a teaching job,” she said lightly.

“I thought the job was hers,” I said, frowning. I hadn’t realized just how far out of touch with things I was being stuck here. I hadn’t seen my girls, hadn’t seen Donald, barely saw Dan and now I was finding out that Mom’s job wasn’t as sure a thing as she’d said.

She caught my look and nodded. “She still has to meet the school board and bring in her certification for them to keep it on file. There’s a lot of paperwork to cut through to get on payroll and contracts to sign. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure that she’ll be around to see you when she’s done. I hope so. No telling when my car’s going to be ready.”

I nodded. “Well, I’m glad you were able to make it. I was starting to worry since I hadn’t seen anyone since you and Dan were in at breakfast.”

She nodded and apologized again. “I’m afraid the soup I brought is ice-cold by now, but I can see if I can find a place to heat it up for you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “Dr. Spencer had to skip lunch, so the bread and the veggie tray is good enough for me.”

She looked relieved and we settled in to chat. I sent her to the bathroom for a towel and she gratefully dried off her hair and face as much as she could.

“So how huge a party is Lana in the middle of planning for when I’m released?” I asked casually.

“Party?” she said smoothly. “She hasn’t mentioned any party to me.”

If I hadn’t been suspicious before, I was now. “Uh-huh,” I replied, my tone telling her I wasn’t buying a word of it. “I know my girls. They’d have been here today unless they were planning something. Mysterious errands that she needed to run make me suspicious and Mom seemed pretty certain they were up to something like this last night, remember.”

“I do remember, but she also said they hadn’t said anything about a party to her,” she pointed out.

“That’s true, but it doesn’t explain why it’s been nearly a full day since I’ve seen her or Beck and two since I’ve seen Collie and Tabby. My doctor says I’m pretty smart. I also noticed that there’s no clothes here for me to change into. Mom had a spare set of clothes here before she knew how badly I was hurt last time. What gives?”

She shrugged and plucked a carrot stick out of the plastic container in front of me. “I honestly don’t know, Matt. I admit, it’s a little weird that the girls haven’t been to see you this morning or that Tabby and Collie have stayed away longer than that, but all I know is that Lana had something in Boston to do and took Becky with her. Hopefully whatever they’re planning is a pleasant surprise and knowing the girls, it’s something you’ll enjoy immensely.”

I nodded and finally let the subject drop for the moment. “Alright. Just do me a favor and don’t say anything to them about it. I don’t want them to feel guilty about it or even know that I asked. If it’s a surprise, great. If not, I didn’t want everyone to drop everything for me. It just kind of cut off all of a sudden. One day everything was fine and then they just stopped coming. Like I said, don’t mention it to them. If they’re planning something, I don’t want to disrupt it and if there’s something else going on, I’ll find out when I get home.”

She nodded. “If they’re up to something, I can almost guarantee that it’ll be something you’ll approve of later.”

We chatted for the rest of the afternoon and she went to call the garage before they closed and took a cab over to get her car so she could go home to cook dinner.

Dr. Spencer returned as promised and took a seat. She arched an eyebrow at the empty condition of my room. “On your own again?” she asked, surprised.

I nodded. “It’s been a busy day. Between a broken down car and other appointments and errands, I’ve been left to learn, of all things, how to sew award winning costumes for any party.”

“I assume that’s something that one of the girls slipped in for your consideration?” she chuckled.

“Yeah, or it got grabbed because it looked thick enough to keep me occupied for an hour or two,” I said dismissively. “So did you hear back from Dr. Saddler?”

“I did. He said that the board was particularly interested in the extent of your cognitive ability and asked for another test before they agreed to approve the grant.”

“The rest of Grey’s Anatomy?” I asked, eager for something to take my mind off the boredom.

“Not exactly,” she said. “They want to see you on Monday and witness the process themselves. They intend to try to surprise you with something new that you’d never read and see how well that goes. Then they’ll try to test you on something that should be out of your short term memory. They’re worried that you have near perfect short term memory but that over time, the memory fades and you’ll end up with no better than average recall. They may ask you for a list of books you’ve read in the past year or they may decide programming or Grey’s will do for the second part of the test.”

I nodded and shrugged. “All I can do is show up and do my best,” I said. “What time and where?”

She handed me a paper with the details and I looked it over. “I’m sure I’ll do fine.”

“I’m sure you will too,” she said with a smile. “You’ve got a remarkable mind to work with. They’ll recognize it right away. Now that we’ve discussed that matter, I’m sure you’re eager to know whether you can pack your bags and kiss the nurses goodbye.”

I shrugged. “I’m hopeful, but not exactly eager. You left me with the expectation that you weren’t sure I was ready. That tamps down the enthusiasm a bit.”

She chuckled at that. “I suppose it does at that. I’ll tell you this: the hospital is anxious about the suit from your mother. Your previous doctor put them in a precarious position. They want to make sure we don’t do anything that might be questioned in court. They’d rather keep you another day than let you go and risk you developing complications. I could sign the release, but I want to keep you in one more night to make sure. It’s a reasonable compromise since I was planning on releasing you Sunday anyway. This way you’ll be home for dinner tomorrow.”

I nodded and felt like that was fine. “Okay,” I said. “I’m still a little bored and restless, but I’ll manage for another night without losing my mind.”

“Well, I’m sure you’re sick of reading for the moment. Normally I’d authorize a trip outside by wheelchair, but the weather isn’t cooperating, especially where your lungs are still healing. The last thing you need is to catch a cold.”

“Agreed,” I said heartily. “Well, hopefully I’ll get some company to keep me occupied this evening.”

“Yeah, I wanted to ask about that. Your popularity seems to have dropped off sharply. I haven’t seen anyone in to visit you all day. I know you said that there were things going on today, but you went from having eight or nine people around in shifts to having all day to yourself.” She looked concerned. “Is everything okay?”

“I think the girls are planning some sort of party for when I get home. I don’t know for sure, but I think they’d be here if they weren’t up to something,” I told her. “And don’t worry. I remember that I’m to stay calm, rested and avoid a lot of movement or activity for at least 7 days.”

She nodded. “AT LEAST,” she said firmly. “I’ll also warn you, the incision is going to give you difficulties for a while. You’ll feel it tugging from time to time, like it’s tearing apart in there. That’s normal when you move. It’s just the tissue knitting back together and scar tissue pulling the area tighter than you’re used to. It’ll almost feel like someone put a piece of tape over the area and you can feel the skin there tugged by it when you move.”

I nodded and shrugged. “That doesn’t sound too bad,” I allowed. “Before I found myself in here, I’d been thinking of picking up a martial arts class. How long should I put that off before I start?”

“At this point, you should probably wait till school starts. By then the worst of your irritation should have faded.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “I haven’t settled on which one looks good to me yet, so that’ll give me time to do some research on my options.”

She nodded her approval. “Just be sure to talk with the instructor before you start and let him know about the ribs and the surgery. They’ll decide if you’re ready to start based on how they teach. Some instructors might want you to wait a few more weeks if the work is strenuous.”

“I will,” I promised and she nodded.

“Well, I have more work before I see the outside of the hospital tonight, so I’ll leave you to your award winning costumes and hope that something better comes along soon.” She smiled and shrugged apologetically as she stood up. “Hang in there. One more day and you can go home.”

She slipped out and left me with my thoughts, which were admittedly focused on getting out of here and back home where I could be a little more free than I was here.

I’d lost myself in a daydream about taking a long vacation with the girls somewhere when the door opened again. I looked over and Patty was there alone again.

“Hi,” I said with a smile. “How’s the car?”

“Back in working order for the moment,” she said lightly. “They chased down the problem and got it fixed for me. How’s your day been since I left?”

“Boring,” I confessed. “I was reduced to reading a book on sewing that someone put in with the other books. Dr. Spencer was in a couple of times to chat, so that was good, but other than you, the only person I’ve seen today was Dan this morning. Still no word on what the girls are plotting?”

She shrugged. “Not really. They could have the whole house decorated next door and I wouldn’t know. We’re doing meals from my kitchen since I’m bringing you real food.”

“And I appreciate it,” I said. “I know it’s really not their fault. The food basically steams itself in the trays so that it’s overcooked by the time it gets here.”

She nodded in agreement. “Still, I saw what you left behind. I can’t blame you. So what did the doctor have to say today?” She unpacked dinner as we talked which turned out to be chicken tonight rather than beef, rice rather than potatoes and another garden salad.

“She said I have to appear before the Harvard research grants board on Monday to demonstrate what I can do before they’ll approve a grant for the research,” I told her.

She sat while I ate and asked a few questions about what I’d have to do and I told her what the doctor had said.

“So you’ll be out by Monday, huh?” she asked casually.

“I think she would have released me today if there’d been someone here to take me home actually,” I said around a mouthful of salad. “As it stands, she said I could be home for dinner tomorrow, assuming nothing goes wrong. She said the hospital is being super-careful about how they treat me, so she’d rather wait till tomorrow.”

“Really?” she said, surprised. She recovered quickly, but I caught a hint of distress in her face and voice. “Well, that’s good news.”

I put my fork down, folded my hands and looked at her expectantly. I’d had enough of being sand-bagged and I was going to get to the bottom of this.

She looked back at me and arched an eyebrow. It was a look that I knew all too well from my mother. It meant that she’d noted my behavior, that I was pressing my luck and that now was the time to turn back. I ignored it and turned on my most penetrating stare.

The silence stretched out between us and I was determined that I wasn’t going to be the one to break it.

“Your dinner is getting cold, Matt,” she said, trying to distract me.

“I’m starting to care less about dinner and more about why everyone’s staying away,” I told her.

“Just leave it alone, Matt,” she said with a note of finality.

I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths and willing myself to relax as I could feel my shoulders tighten reflexively. I opened them and felt no less angry about things, but I felt more in control. “Alright,” I said finally. I turned my attention to the rest of my meal. It was delicious, but I had to choke it down.

It struck me that after everything I’d told people about secrets, that it was like trying to dig through a brick wall with a plastic spoon. I was an open book as much as anyone could be. I’d have to play along until they were ready to tell me what they were keeping from me, but now it was clear that I knew something was up and that I wasn’t happy about it.

I managed to finish and thanked her for it again, but there was no more conversation. I told her I’d see her tomorrow. I wasn’t in the mood to pretend like I wasn’t being kept in the dark.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but she just nodded and gathered up the containers and left. I picked up the auto repair book and read it through. Then I went back to the pile and reread the novel I had left before I turned in for a fitful night of sleep.

The bright sunshine that filled the room the next morning didn’t help my mood any. I went to the bathroom and heard the door to my room open and then close. Either a nurse or visitor. I silently put my money on nurse given how often people were coming now.

I washed up quickly, not wanting to take any more time from the nurses than I needed to. When I opened my door, it wasn’t a nurse though. Donald was waiting for me.

That surprised me some. It was still early and I knew he had a habit of sleeping in on weekends.

“Morning,” I said to him carefully as I climbed back into bed. “What brings you by this early?”

“I would have come last night, but I figured you’d have had plenty of people in visiting. I thought this morning would be a little less hectic.”

I nodded. “The only people who came to see me yesterday were Patty and Dan and neither of them stayed very long.”

“Really?” he said, shocked. “I assumed that you’d have had your mother and Lilly and the rest of the girls here full time.”

“I haven’t seen Tabby, Lilly or Collie in nearly three days and Lana or Beck in nearly two. Mom didn’t stop by at all yesterday.” I couldn’t keep all the anger about that out of my voice.

He winced, whether out of sympathy for me or what he expected it would be like when I exploded. “Well, I know NOTHING!” he said emphatically, not wanting me to think he was involved with keeping me in the dark. “Really. Whatever’s been going on, I’m no more in-the-know than you are”

I nodded, letting him know I wasn’t pissed at him. “I’ve tried to tell everyone how much I hate secrets and everyone says they understand, but they’re still keeping them and they’re going to expect me to take whatever they have planned with a good nature and just go with it.” I closed my eyes and pressed my palm to my forehead. I could feel the headache starting and I tried the doctor’s breathing exercises to calm myself down. They worked, but only while I was doing them. As soon as I stopped and opened my eyes, the sight of the room started my temperature rising again.

“I get it, son,” he said gently. “It was kind of thoughtless for them to try to keep you in the dark like this, but you know they have a good reason. Try to keep that in mind and cut them a little slack. You’ve changed a lot this month too. As much as things have changed around you, you’re not the same boy who left 8th grade at the end of June. You can’t blame them for falling into old habits from time to time. They’re probably planning some big party for your homecoming and want it to be a surprise. There’s a difference between surprises and secrets. You know they’ll spring the surprise when the time is right. They’re not intending to keep it from you. They just want it to be perfect.”

I nodded and kept trying to calm myself down. “I guess we’ll see when I get home.”

“When IS that?” he asked.

“Later today,” I said, willing my temples to stop throbbing. I was wallowing in negative emotions again, immersing myself in feelings of persecution that are only that pure in teenagers convinced that the world is aligned against them. Inch by inch, I calmed myself down far enough that I could continue the conversation.

“Well, at least that’ll get you out of here. You’re probably suffering from a strong bout of cabin fever. You need a change of scenery, some fresh air, maybe a little exercise and then, hopefully, you’ll feel a lot better about things.”

I nodded and knew that he was right. I didn’t like it, but in my current state, I’d lash out at everyone when I got home. I needed to get out of here and soon. “That’s probably part of it,” I admitted. “I’ll likely feel better after they’ve sprung their surprise and things get back to normal.”

He nodded and tried to do his best to comfort me. “I know you’ll probably want to tear it apart and snarl at them for neglecting you, but instead of that, try to focus on how much effort they’re putting into whatever they cooked up. Change your perspective a little and you can smile and act normal at the worst of times. That’s how I kept Miranda from getting suspicious.”

That brought me around more than all the moping I’d done. Another lesson I could take from my father. I nodded and thought about how he’d smiled through everything she’d put him through and everything I’d put him through. “Thanks,” I said, meaning it. “I’ll get through it and hopefully it’ll be something that makes me think it was worth it.”

“I’m glad I could help,” he said with a smile. We chatted more pleasantly for another hour or so.

I still hadn’t seen Patty, but I assumed that my release from the hospital today threw off the timetable for whatever their plans were and it was all hands on deck at home.

“Have you started sifting through Miranda’s gear yet?” I asked, remembering it for the first time in a few days.

He nodded. “Some of it is kind of involved, but I’m keeping it cleaned and maintained for now.”

“What do you mean ‘involved’?” I asked curiously.

“Well, she had some dungeon furniture that requires its own space. I’m not sure that any of it would be anything you’d want to use, but I’ll hang onto it for you in case. There’s a fair bit of space in your new bedroom.”

“There’s also two to four more occupants than my old room,” I pointed out dryly to amused laughter.

“Collie and Tabby both lived elsewhere. I believe that Tabby lives with her parents and Collie lived on campus since her family is from Syracuse. They commuted back and forth a lot, but between jobs and classes, their time was pretty limited.”

I nodded and figured that in a few weeks, we’d have to sit down and figure out their situations for the school year and how much time they needed and could devote in turn. Another topic to keep on my radar.

It was almost lunchtime and I realized that we’d passed an entire morning in as close to a normal conversation as possible.

Finally he said that he should go and get a few things done this afternoon like groceries and that he’d talk to me through the week to find out how it went. We shook hands and he commented that I looked a lot better than I had. It wasn’t until after he left that I wondered if he’d meant that to mean how I’d looked earlier in the week or when he arrived.

Dr. Spencer stopped in not long after that to check on me. “I’m starting to wonder if your family isn’t making themselves scarce so you can continue flirting with me,” she said on finding me alone again. “How’re you feeling today?”

“Moody,” I said truthfully. “Their absence is starting to grate on me. I suspect that they’re planning some big party, but no one will admit to anything and they keep telling me to drop it. My father was in this morning and suggested that part of it is cabin fever. I guess that makes sense. I’ve been here a week now in the Russell Suite. He thinks I’m in need of a change of scenery.”

She nodded. “Well how about we start with a last look at your ribs to see how they’re healing and then we’ll decide on whether we can let you go today? The X-ray department is a change of scenery and there’s an entire staff that you were too unconscious to try to pick up the last time. I’ll be gravely disappointed if you don’t make one of them consider the offer.”

“But my bed is zoned for one occupant,” I bantered, feeling a little better for it. “Of course I didn’t ask about the zoning on the shower in the bathroom. That has potential.”

“It does indeed, but the bubble machine to fill the room for raves won’t be installed until Tuesday sadly. Perhaps on your next visit, the Russell Suite will be prepared with all the amenities.”

“I hope so. I’d hate to have to give this hotel less than a 3-star rating.”

“Not four star?” she asked with a smirk.

“No pool. It needs a pool and a two martini turn-down service for the full five star rating.”

That got a genuine laugh out of her. “I’ll have to remember that one for the next symposium I have to attend,” she said.

“Careful,” I warned. “Give me more thoughts of you looking for that type or turn-down service and I’m definitely not going to be able to follow doctor’s orders until next weekend.”

“Like you were going to anyway,” she scoffed.

“Absolutely,” I said, turning serious. “You asked at the start of the week how I’d recovered so well from the sprained ankle? I followed orders. Even the ones that sucked and I did it gladly because I knew it was what I had to do to get better. You tell me that something is for my own good and I do it.”

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “And if I told you to discontinue your current relationships? If I told you that engaging in polyamory at this stage of your development would seriously damage your ability to be monogamous in later years?” she asked, feeling out the extent of my willingness to follow doctor’s orders.