Sometimes I’d gotten a stern reprimand for spending so much time in with the patients rather than letting the CNA’s handle some of those tasks, but I couldn’t help myself, not when they needed someone and I was there.
As I walked back through the halls of Wilton Manor with Grandpa Banks and waved to my old patients and some new faces, I realized just how much I missed giving them the care they deserved. I glanced over at my current patient and realized I hadn’t spent enough attention making sure all his needs were met.
“Grandpa Banks, are you okay with walking back? It’s a little chilly, but the sun is out.”
“You going to let me get a Philly while we’re out?” he asked with a grin.
“Ah, what the hell. I could go for a Philly too. But let’s walk there. I really could use the exercise.”
As we made our way out to the sidewalk, I felt his eyes on me. “Been working hard, huh? How they treating you over there?”
“Not gonna lie, it’s hard work, Grandpa Banks. I’m not sure it’s for me long term.”
“How many times in the past six months have I asked you to call me Gordon?”
It hadn’t been six months, but he was right. “It’s not easy,” I admitted. “I think I’d have an easier time just calling you Grandpa.”
I’d meant it as a joke, but his warm hand squeezed through the arm of my jacket where he held on to me for support. “Then call me Grandpa, son.”
I put my hand on top of his and squeezed back. We walked in silence for a moment until crossing the street to the park on the lakefront.
“Teo, why did you leave Wilton? Honestly, it surprised me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy your company immensely, but… you seemed happier when you worked at the home.”
“Yeah.” I took in a breath while I thought about my answer. It wasn’t like I could tell him about my desire to spend more time with Chris. “I actually like the consulting work itself just fine, and obviously I enjoy taking care of you too. It’s being stuck behind a desk that I don’t love. Hopefully, if I put in my time and get more comfortable with everything, I can travel more and go on-site to the hospitals.”
Grandpa Banks—Gordon— was quiet again while we navigated our way to one of our favorite benches. It was a gorgeous spring day, and I could feel him relaxing in the warm sun.
“I met a guy,” I blurted.
He turned his head toward me slowly.
“I’m gay,” I added. “But you knew that. I think. I mean… at least we talked about it once. When you asked me why Billy Porter was wearing a dress and we had this whole conversation about sexuality and gender identity. Remember? Oh god,” I groaned. I covered my face with my hands. “Never mind.”
His hand came up to squeeze my shoulder. “Relax, Teo. Of course I remember. But I’ve always known you were gay.”
I blinked at him. “You have? Then why did you look so surprised when I said I’d met a guy?”
He studied me for a moment. “Well, I thought all this time you were in love with my grandson. Honestly, I never thought I’d see the day where you finally gave up on him.”
To say I was shocked was a massive understatement. “I’ve loved Chris for twenty years,” I admitted, feeling actual nausea at saying the words out loud to the Banks family patriarch.
He pursed his lips. “I thought maybe you finally came to work for us because of that. Because of him.”
I felt like I was standing on a wet log in the middle of a swift-moving river. Suddenly I wasn’t sure if I was talking to the man who’d been my own surrogate grandfather for years, the man who was the head of the supposedly homophobic Banks family, or my boss.
“That’s about right. But I see how important the work is,” I hedged.
He threw back his head and laughed so hard, he began coughing. When he caught his breath, he turned to face me. The look of fatherly affection was a pleasant surprise. I’d always felt appreciated by him, but I’d wondered if that was more recently because of my position as his nurse than anything else.
“Life is too short to wait and see,” Grandpa Banks began. “If a life with Chris is what you want, fight for it. Make it happen.”
“Wouldn’t you and Mike… I don’t know… have a problem with him being in a relationship with another man?”
His forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Why would we have a problem with Chris being gay? My brother Rod is gay. Mike’s college roommate, Oliver Poole, is gay. You know Oliver. He and his husband, Jordan, come to the Christmas party every year. Jordan manages one of the theaters downtown, but I can never remember which one.”