“You didn’t need to.” He interrupted me. His green eyes, reminding me of Theo’s, glared into me. “It’s just the type of person he is. Once you’re part of his life, he’ll give up everything in order to take care of you. Which is why the more I think of you together, the more distressed I become.”
“I’m sorry, did you come all the way here to tell me what type of person Theo is? Because I know—”
“If you know, how can you live with putting him through all this unnecessary stress?” he asked, and for some reason it stung to hear. “Our family is busting at the seams, our business is taking half of our lives, and here you are making everything even harder. The reason Lorelai and I can’t accept you is because you are like a dark cloud floating over his head, adding to the issues. Of all my sons, Theodore is the one I can always count on to never let me know. With your sickness, you’re just another burden he has to carry, and because he is a hardheaded fool, he’ll bear it all. That isn’t fair to him—”
“Please leave!” I didn’t want to listen to this anymore.
“Felicity.” He sighed deeply, gripping the edge of my bed. “I would do anything for my sons. I want them to by happy. It’s all I want… ask yourself honestly, do you think you could do that for Theo? Can you make him happy? If you’re thinking reasonably, you’ll see you can’t. What if you both had kids? He’d have to deal with your sickness twice over—something your own father proved he couldn’t do—”
“GET OUT NOW!” I didn’t hold back, ignoring the sting in my eyes.
“Please let him go. I can’t afford to worry about him too.” He frowned, opening the door and leaving just as quietly as he came in.
Pulling my knees to my chest, I tried to calm myself down. What made all of this worse was the fact that I wanted to talk to Cleo and Mark. They weren’t real. But I still wanted to speak to them. That proved how pitiful I was. I had no one but Theo.
I just wanted to be normal. I wanted to be the person his uncle wanted me to be. The type of person that made him happy. But even with everything, I still felt broken.
When would this end?
Leaning over, I pressed the nurse button, waiting only a few seconds before a nurse in purple scrubs came.
“Did you need something, Ms. Ford?”
It’s Harper.
“When is my surgery?”
“Nine a.m. on Sunday,” she said to me.
Sunday. I just had to make it to Sunday and maybe I would wake up and be a better person.
I
hoped.
“Did you need anything else?”
Shaking my head, I leaned back on the bed and took a deep breath.
Saturday
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked Theo as he fixed his tie.
“Because I knew he was going to be fine, and you have enough on your plate.” He forced himself to smile.
“Theo, your brother overdosed. That’s a big deal!”
“And so did you. Plus you have a tumor in your head. Don’t worry about Arty. He does this. He won’t talk about it. He won’t get help. He won’t stop. Just focus on getting stronger.” He kissed my forehead and took my hand. “One more day.”
“One more day,” I repeated.
This time, the smile that spread across of his face actually made me smile in return. “I have a meeting, but I’ll be back—”
“Go. I’m fine. Thank you for hovering, but you need to work too.”
“Hovering?” He pouted. “Here I thought it was showing I cared.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I rolled my eyes, and he kissed my lips once before heading towards the doors.