ChapterTwelve
KRYSTAL
Watching Mom do her physical therapy appointments was brutal. The therapist was patient and kind, but seeing my mom in pain, pushing herself to do simple things, like reach her hands overhead or bend toward her knees, was hard.
The therapist came to get Mom from the waiting room and began escorting her across to the area where they worked.
“I’m going to run to the cafeteria and get a snack. Okay, Mom?”
“That’s fine. Would you grab me a Diet Coke? It’ll be my reward for going through this torture.” Her tone was lighthearted, but she’d admitted how much she hated it. Which was obvious, even to me, as I sat in my usual chair in the corner of the therapy room.
The therapy office was on the same small campus as the hospital, and the shared cafeteria was a short walk from this building. It was an easy walk for this warmer spring day.
I evaluated my options from the coolers in the cafeteria. Cheese sticks, cookies, sandwiches, fruit, and even cake stared back at me.
“Stay away from the chicken salad,” a feminine voice said from my right.
I looked up and saw a familiar profile and ponytail. A smile spread across my face. “Monica! I didn’t expect to see you here.”
I opened my arms, and we hugged.
“Just a quick break before I head back to finish my shift,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“Mom’s in PT right now. I hate watching, so I decided to create an errand for myself.”
She nodded knowingly. “Ah. Yeah, PT can be rough. It’s super important though.”
“Mom’s a trooper. Even if she complains… She’s working hard.”
“That’s really good. I hear you are working pretty hard yourself!”
My eyebrows dropped. “What do you mean?”
She smiled and leaned in. “You know! You and Bryce and the fundraiser?”
“Oh, yeah. We have.”
She grinned. “I’m so excited for the two of you!”
And now she lost me again. I fumbled for a response. “It’s going to be a great event,” I offered, not sure what she was looking for.
She waved a hand. “Pssh, I don’t care about the event. I mean, it’s going to be great. It always is. But Mom told me about how you and Bryce are…talking.”
“Talking?”
Her tone definitely seemed to be implying that the word meant something else.
She waved her hands in a rolling gesture. “You know…talking. Seeing where things go. Evaluating a relationship. Mom was over the moon after Bryce admitted he was going to try to convince you to stay.”
My eyes nearly jumped out of my face. What on earth had Bryce said? Was she serious? Washeserious? We’d talked about this, and he had agreed it was a bad idea. Now, all of a sudden he thought he could convince me to stay?
Irritation flared within me. Who did he think he was? I thought we were friends again, but if he had some grand plan about wooing me and making me ditch my dreams? I was going to give him an earful.
I forced a laugh. “Hah. Well, we’ll see what happens, I guess.”
Monica grabbed a cookie and a Diet Coke from the cooler and waved good-bye. “I’ll see you around. I’m praying for you guys!”
With that energetic announcement, she was gone.