Leo's Chance(40)

When I got home, I grabbed that dog and brought it over to Evie’s and started throwing rocks at it in the empty gravel lot next to the house she lived in. When she came out of her house and saw me, she had grabbed my arm and asked me what I was doing, a look of confusion and concern on her face at what she must have seen in mine. I choked out the story, rambling about charity and magic and bullshit, still hucking rocks and then she had stood staring at me quietly for several minutes before bending down and picking up a rock of her own and throwing it at that dog, hitting it square in the head. We had looked at each other and cheered, and then continued throwing rocks until that stupid dog was nothing but a pile of demolished stuffing. Then she had wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed me tightly. She made it better for me that day. She always made it better.

I snap back to reality as she shakes her head slightly at my offer of paying for her to go to school. "Jake, listen, that's a nice offer, but I've worked really hard to get where I am. I know to you my life probably doesn't look like a raving success story but I do okay, and I'll find a way to go to school at some point… I mean we just started sleeping together and I don't really know how all this works, but maybe we should wait to see where this goes before you start offering me large sums of money."

I get that it’s hard to take things from other people when you’ve grown up like we did, but her comment about just starting to sleep together pisses me the hell off. "First of all, I thought I already made it clear that, actually, I do consider your life a raving success story, all things considered. And secondly, do I need to remind you what you told me in my bed not twenty-four hours ago, Evie?"

She blinks. "Um–"

"You told me you were mine, Evie. This is not some fun f*ck. This is not casual to me. I thought I had conveyed that to you."

"So, what? You're like my boyfriend or something now?"

Yeah, exactly. "Boyfriend, man, lover, whatever label you like, you can use it, but what it means is that we take care of each other in and out of the bedroom. And part of me taking care of you means me offering to give you the money it takes to make your dreams come true." Hopefully that cleared things up for her. I realize that I tend to have a take-charge attitude with Evie. I’m not really sure what that dynamic is between us, but it was always there growing up, and something about it always seemed to work for us, it would calm her and calm me. I had a need to be in control, and maybe she had a need to give someone else control. Whatever it was – it worked for us then, and I find myself reverting back to it now, especially when I need her to really hear me.

"Just think about it okay?"

She stares at me for several seconds. "Okay."

"Okay."

We eat in silence for a few minutes as another thought occurs to me – and while I’m taking charge… "Also, you need to get on birth control. I don't want to use condoms with you."

She blinks and says quietly, "I'm already on the pill. I have bad periods. It regulates it. I've been on it for years."

I actually remember that. I remember her going to the school nurse every month, looking as pale as a ghost. "Okay, good. Now finish your dinner."

She’s quiet for a minute and then, "Um, Jake, if we're not going to use condoms, I should probably ask…"

"I'm clean. I've always used condoms and I get regular check ups. I can show you paperwork if you want." Thank God I was always good about that. As a kid who grew up in a household where I wasn’t wanted by anyone, I would have never risked an unwanted pregnancy. Ever.

She’s silent, studying me and I wonder what she’s thinking. "No, I trust you."

I nod and take her hand across the table, smiling into her beautiful brown eyes.

I drive her home after dinner and we kiss in my car for a few minutes, before I pull away, muttering, "Killing me." I want to groan in frustration. She gives me one last kiss at her building door, and then she turns and walks inside, shooting me a smile over her shoulder. I can’t help smiling back, even though I’m not happy to be going home alone.





CHAPTER 19


I walk back into my room from physical therapy, feeling like I’m going to collapse. It feels good, though. Every muscle in my body got a workout and I could really tell a difference today. I felt stronger and surer, not back to normal by a long shot. But for the first time, I felt like I caught a glimmer of my old physical self.

I was moved to the rehab section of the hospital a couple days ago and I know that this means I won’t be here much longer. That thought both makes me antsy to get out of here, and terrified to leave. This place has become like a safety zone to me in so many ways.

I glance at myself in the mirror as I head into my bathroom. I’m used to the minor changes that the surgeries made to my face now. They’re pretty subtle, truth be told, but I wonder if these changes, coupled with all the other things that are different about me will make it hard for Evie to recognize me right away. I wonder how she’s changed after all these years.

I take a long, hot shower, and just as I walk out of my bathroom, Dr. Fox walks in my room. "Hey, Doc." I smile.

He smiles, sitting down in his usual chair. "How’s it going, kid? How was P.T.?"

"It was good, actually. Too much better and they’re gonna kick me out of this joint." I smile.