And with Trevor, too.
It really was a good night.
I didn’t want to change that.
THIRTY-ONE
Trevor
I feltlike it said a lot that Harper wound up asking me to stay the night with her when we got back to her place. I had been ready to just drop her off and head home myself, but she asked before we were even fully stopped if I wanted to stay with her that night.
Of course, I was happy to.
If that’s what I got out of taking her out to see the stars, then I was happy for it. I didn’t take her out to look at the stars with the motive of getting to stay the night with her, but I found it to be a great plus now that I was here.
We didn’t stay up much later after getting back to her place. We were at the spot until after midnight, and by the time we got back to her place, we were both exhausted. But, we did fall asleep wrapped up in each other’s arms, and that felt good. It gave me hope that we weren’t falling apart, but that we were just working through the big decisions that we had to get through in order to be together.
I knew that wasn’t exactly what had happened, but it felt good to have something that we had to talk about, yet be able to put that thing to the side so we could still spend quality time together. Harper was so easy to talk to, I couldn’t imagine a life that didn’t have her in it.
The next morning, Harper was hungry for tacos, so we headed to a hole-in-the-wall kind of place that had the best breakfast tacos in the city. The best I’d tried anyway, and being the taco fanatic that I was, I had a feeling I had a good opinion on the matter.
It was the first time Harper had been to that place, and she was in love from the moment we walked in. I was glad I was able to be the one to show her so many great places around the city. Being the teacher that she was, she was often at work, or she didn’t have the money to go around town and eat out very often.
So, she hadn’t had the chance to really get out and see all that the city had to offer in that regard. But, in the time that she and I had been dating, I had shown her several great places. And she seemed to really enjoy them all.
Today, I didn’t even feel like I had to make a huge effort to avoid talking about the job. Instead, I was chatting with her about the surgery I had coming up the next day with Mrs. Elliot.
“I’m worried about it, if I’m perfectly honest,” I said.
“Why?” she asked.
“Mrs. Elliot is old, and I have had the feeling for a while now she’s been putting off the surgery.”
“Why would she do that?” Harper asked, confused.
“There are a lot of different reasons. She told me she doesn’t want to deal with the recovery time from it. And she has a point. This is a surgery that knocks you off your feet for a few weeks, and at her age, it could be longer,” I explained. “But, she also needs the surgery, or she’s going to find her health declining pretty rapidly, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s not trying to make that happen.”
“Is she all alone?” Harper looked up from her plate, compassion in her eyes.
“For the most part.” I nodded. “She has children, but they aren’t close to her, and her husband has passed. She had friends at the retirement home, but they have also passed on, and I think she’s reached the point where she is also ready to pass on. But, I want her to be happy, and she’s not comfortable in the condition she reaches when she isn’t taking care of herself. So, I’m going to go through with the surgery and hopefully make her more comfortable in her day-to-day life.”
“It doesn’t sound like she’s very happy,” Harper commented. “I feel bad for her. Can you imagine what it would be like to have to go through with a surgery and know that you were just going to lay around for a few weeks after, but you didn’t have anyone who really cared to come spend some time with you while you were in recovery? It makes me sad to think that that can happen to someone, especially to a sweet old lady like her.”
“I understand what you’re saying, and I agree. You know, a big part of the reason why I wanted to be a doctor in the first place was to be able to help people who didn’t have anyone. I wish even now that there was more I could do for my patients who are like Mrs. Elliot. I feel like she comes to me to get screened for her health, but also as much conversation as she can manage in the short time as possible. She seems lonely, I do admit.”
Harper seemed to be genuinely compassionate for Mrs. Elliot, so I pointed out how good it was of her to keep her mom in her life the way she did. Her mom was getting up there in years, but since Harper was in her life, she didn’t have to worry about winding up in a home like that. And that had to be a massive peace of mind for both of them.
“It is, but I still feel for those who aren’t as fortunate. I mean, I think about what might happen to my mom one day, or Raya, or you, or me. I mean, I hate to think about anyone in my life ending up entirely alone like that, and it makes me want to reach out to those who are so they know there are others out there who still care about them. I wish I had more time on my hands so I could do things like that.”
“You really are incredible,” I said with a shake of my head. “Here I am talking about a surgery that I don’t really want to do, but you care about the patient enough to want to be someone who could go out there and support people who have no one. You know how big of a heart you must have to be able to do that for someone you don’t even know?”
“Like I said, I just think about the loved ones I have in life and how I would want them to be treated. I wish I was able to be the one to go out and make sure everyone was treated that way, but I know I’m not able. I’m too limited with my resources.”
“But you do realize that you teach your kids to have that kind of compassion for others. You really are sending out an army of good little people who are going to change the world. Trust me on that. You might be one person, but you have a classroom full of little kids year after year, so think of the change you can make in the world just through them alone.”
“I guess you have a point,” Harper said with a smile. “I never really thought about it that way. I always think about how I want each of my kids to grow up and live out their happy lives, but I guess if I continue to teach them the things I think are important, then they can go out there and help others, too. It’s really a good way to extend the reach I have, thank you.”
“You’re so welcome,” I said with a smile. “I’m always on the lookout for a way to increase the impact on society, so you have no idea how it excites me to hear you talking about doing the same thing. Between the two of us, think of the change we can make in the world.”