Neighbor Dearest
“Yeah.”
“We’d gone to speak to a specialist at Cedar Sinai. He has doctors there and at Stanford.”
“Wow.”
“That trip to L.A. was when I realized Damien was really falling for you. He wouldn’t stop talking about you.”
“I love him,” I said without hesitation. It was the first time I’d said it out loud, but far from the first time I’d said it.
“I know. I can tell.”
“What do I do?”
“Don’t listen to the asshole. He’s going to continue to try to convince you that it’s best not to get involved with him. He will fight you tooth and nail. He thinks every day could be his last. There’s good and bad that comes from that attitude. He lives each day like it’s his last, yet the one thing that could make him the happiest, he won’t allow himself out of fear of hurting you. He’s a selfless person, but he should let you make the decision. He’s trying to make it for you because he thinks he knows what’s best for you.”
“He’s what’s best for me.” I stood up from the bench and started pacing. “I need to see him. Can I tell him you told me everything?”
“Yes. I’ll deal with his wrath. It was time, especially after what happened today. If he had his way, you’d still be in the dark. He never had any intention of telling you he was here.”
“I believe it.”
“He’s really stubborn.”
“Don’t I know it.”
“We should go back inside,” he said.
“Okay.”
When we got back to Damien’s floor, Ty said, “I’ll let you have some time with him. You’ll need it. I’m gonna get some coffee down at the cafeteria.”
“Okay. Thank you, Ty.”
I slowly approached Damien’s room. Through a small narrow window in the door, I could see he was fully dressed and sitting up at the edge of the bed. Knocking three times, I inhaled deeply then exhaled before entering.
His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he saw me standing there. He said nothing. He didn’t ask me what I was doing there. He just stared at me for the longest time, looking straight into my glistening eyes that gave everything away without my even having to say anything.
“You know,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Ty told you.”
“Yes.”
He dropped his head. “Fuck.”
After allowing him almost a full minute to process, I finally spoke. “I understand.”
“No, you don’t. You just think you do.”
“I do.”
“This doesn’t change anything, Chelsea. The end result is the same.”
My instinct was to argue with him, but the smarter part of me knew that this wasn’t the right time. He was recovering, and the last thing I wanted was to upset him. So, I just focused on today.
“Do you remember fainting?”
“No. I only remember waking up with the paramedics there.”
“The dogs went to your rescue, you know. They alerted Murray, who called 911.”
“Remind me to make them some bacon.”
“Remind me to stay far away that day.”
The mood lightened a bit when he cracked a slight smile. “How’s your boyfriend, Marky Mark? I see you’re still in one piece.”
“I never went back into the theater that night. I skipped out a side door, never saw him again.”
Damien feigned disappointment. “Such a shame.” He looked so cute when he puckered his lips.
“How’s the whore you were with?”
“She wasn’t too happy. She told me I was way too interested in my sister’s business, made me drive her straight home.”
“Shame.” I sat down next to him on the bed. “Nice try changing the subject off of you, by the way.”
He let out a deep breath. “Didn’t Tattle-Ty tell you everything? What do you want to know?”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
His stare burned into mine. “You know why.”
“It doesn’t matter to me.”
“That’s exactly why I couldn’t tell you. It was never that I thought you’d leave. It was that I knew you’d stay. You don’t realize what getting involved with me could mean. Here today, gone tomorrow, Chelsea. You’ve already had your heart broken once. Is that what you really want?”
“You don’t know what will happen. Any one of us could die tomorrow.”
“But only some of us are wired to die early. It happened to my father. I have the same exact defect. And I don’t want what happened to my mother to happen to you. I care about you far too much. End of story.”
A moment of silence ensued.
“Your brother told me that they’re trying to convince you to have surgery.”
“That comes with its own risks.” He paused. “I’m considering it, though. I don’t want to get into that right now, okay?”
Respecting his wishes, I asked, “Are they discharging you soon?”
“Yeah. It really was just a fainting spell. Because of my condition, I’m more prone to that. Probably happened because I was dehydrated and under stress.”
I hesitated to ask, “Were you stressed about me?”
He chuckled. “I’ve been stressed about you for months, so that probably wasn’t it.” He playfully tapped my thigh, causing my skin to prickle. “How did you find out I was here?”