I pulled away and tugged on her hand so she would follow me back to the couch. I sunk into it and leaned my head back. “He has emphysema,” I said, still not totally keyed into what that all meant, but by her sharp inhale, she had a good idea.
“What? Did he just find out?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Yeah, but I guess he’s been sick for a while with something like it. All from his smoking and he still won’t quit. Stubborn jackass.”
“Oh, my gosh.” I felt her shift closer to me. “So what does it mean? What happens now?”
“There’s a lot of medicines he can take, and things he can do to help his lungs and to keep him from getting worse faster, but it all costs a lot of money, and he doesn’t have any insurance, so he hasn’t been doing any of it.”
“What the crap?” Capri shouted, and I smiled. “He needs to take his medicine. What is he thinking? Give me your phone.” She held out her hand. “I’m calling him right now.” I laughed and looked over at her with her angry face on. She cared about him.
“He’s sleeping now, baby,” I sat up and grabbed that hand, pulling her into my lap. She wiggled herself comfortable and leaned my head onto her shoulder. That’s better. “You can call him first thing in the morning and sass the shit out of him, okay?”
She nodded and then sighed. “So what can we do?” she asked, and I shook my head against her.
“I’ll figure something out,” I told her already knowing what I was going to do. I didn’t want to think about it anymore tonight. Right now, all I wanted was to hold my girl while I was still the man she deserved to be in the arms of.
I knew Blue’s choice to smoke brought on his illness, but it didn’t make me any less mad that a great guy like him was sick. He was so cool and kind. It wasn’t fair. Life didn’t play nice.
I was especially worried about Wes with all of this. His whole life he’d been bounced around from family to family, friends to friends, house to house. I think he finally found a home with Blue. Now he found out that the one person who’d stuck by him and fought with him and for him was slowly getting sicker day by day. He had to be terrified.
“Is Wes here yet?” Kensie whispered to me while her class danced on a tiny stage in the gym. Tonight was the reopening of the youth center, and although Wes and I originally planned to come together, I didn’t question him when he said he’d be late because he wanted to go see Blue. Whatever he needed to do to make sure Blue was okay and to help himself be okay, I supported him in.
“Not yet,” I whispered doing a quick sweep of the crowd filled mostly by community members and kids who used the center.
“All right, girls!” Kensie shouted to the stage when the dance ended. The crowd clapped and dispersed to the tables set up at the back of the room with refreshments. I made my way out to the waiting room at the front entrance smiling and saying hello to strangers along the way still scanning the room for Wes.
Then I found him, looking entirely larger than life sitting on a small chair in a darkened corner of the waiting room. Alone. He held his head in his hands with his elbows propped on his knees. He was still and silent while the gym just feet behind us roared with life and laughter.
“Wes,” I said quietly so I wouldn’t spook him, but I moved toward him quickly. I wanted nothing more than to comfort him. His head moved up unhurriedly, but when his eyes caught up and saw me, he jumped from the chair to his feet.
“Hey.” His heavy exhale was obvious behind the pep in his voice. His arm reached out to me, and he caught my hand in his.
“How long have you been here?” I asked looking at him from under his lowered lashes.
“Just got here,” he said with a gentle shake of his head.
“You doing okay?” I lightly squeezed his hand.
His eyes lifted to mine. The anguish painted across them startled my heart.
Then he blinked and smirked. “Save some for me, baby.” His eyes flicked to my hand over my chest gripping fingers into my skin. “I want a handful later.” Then he kissed me on the cheek and strutted past me. Not good.
Overall, the reopening was a success. Shortly after Wes showed up, August presented the mural in front of the crowd drawing far more attention to myself than I would have liked.
I’d barely spoken to Wes since we came back into the gym. He occupied himself by bouncing around the room, bringing smiles and laughter to the people who were here. His cheerful facade didn’t fool me. He was hurting.
I watched him when he approached an older couple. Instead of shaking hands, he gave each one a hug, and his energetic dispositions settled. Then I saw Ridge approach the trio. He saw me from across the room and waved his hand in the air. “Miss Capri!” he shouted, earning himself a pathway of stares and knock in the head from Wes. I laughed and made my way over.
“Miss Capri. These are my foster parents,” Ridge said practically bouncing on his toes. “And as of Monday, they’ll be my real parents,” he beamed.
“Seriously?” I asked, and he nodded eagerly.
“Well, we’ve always considered ourselves his parents.” His mom leaned in to give me a hug. “But it will be legal on Monday.”
“That’s amazing news. Congratulations and good luck.” I scrunched my nose up.
“Oh, c’mon.” Ridge laughed. “I’m not that bad.”
“I don’t know. Do they know about your toe fetish? Or how about your lactose intolerance? That shit gets messy from time to time right, man?” Wes socked Ridge in the shoulder.
“Takes one to know one right, Ridge?” I winked at him earning a heartfelt chuckle from Wes.
“You may have met your match.” Ridge’s dad laughed sticking out his hand to me. “I’m Dan.”
“Nice to meet you.” I smiled, but more for the man standing next to me who seemed to be honestly enjoying himself for the first time all night.
“She’s pretty special,” Wes said, causing my heart to flutter. “Don’t know what she’s doing with a loser like me,” he added, breaking my heart’s wings. “She’ll realize soon enough that she can do better.”
“I’ve been saying that for twenty years.” Dan laughed missing the enormity of Wes’ words. Then again, he probably didn’t see the way his eyes cringed when he spit them out or how they were clouded over now.
“Don’t say that,” I whispered to him, but he ignored me looking over my head.
“I’m gonna go find August,” he said to Ridge’s family, “I’ll catch you guys on your way out.” He touched the tip of my elbow with his hand on his way past me.
“We were so lucky to have met him.” Ridge’s mom smiled watching him greet my brother. “He’s helped Ridge so much with the things we try to understand, but just never will.”
“You do great, Ma.” Ridge leaned in kissing her on the cheek.
“He’s great at that,” I said. “Being there for anyone and everyone.” It was letting others be there for him that he couldn’t seem to do. He could avoid me all he wanted; I’d still be here when he realized he needed me.
The last time I was here, I panicked. This time, I was anxious in a different way. Stepping into the gallery had my heartbeat pumping for possibility instead of insecurity. I had to admit it was a nice change, and one that told me I was ready to be here and ready for this opportunity.
With a little time to spare, I took a couple of minutes to walk through some of the exhibits. I stopped at one particular piece that immediately grabbed my attention. It was a mermaid, but instead of a clear painting, it was done so that it looked as though she was just under the surface of the water. Her form was visible, but her features were blurred and skewed below the ripples.