The Day He Came Back

I nodded. “Thank you, Marni. That’s all I needed to hear.”***When I pulled up to their house, Renata’s car was outside. I didn’t necessarily want her to see me, so I wondered if there was another way to get to Raven.

Dodging a couple of sprinklers, I walked around the side of the house and peeked into the windows. The first one showed the living room, which was empty. I walked around to the back and was able to see inside Raven’s bedroom.

There she is.

She sat on her bed, looking absolutely beautiful, but also so contemplative and sad.

I wondered if I should just leave, but I’d come all the way here and really needed to know what was going on.

I knocked on the window, and she jumped. With her hand over her heart, she noticed me and rushed over to open it.

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to make sure you’re okay. I’ve been worried because your messages have been short, and you’re clearly avoiding me. I can’t help but wonder if it has something to do with what we did. Did I hurt you?”

“Oh my God, Gavin. No.” She looked over her shoulder. “Come in.”

I crawled through the window.

“It has nothing to do with you,” she whispered.

“What’s going on?”

Tears filled her eyes. I wasn’t expecting that. My heart sank. I placed my hands over her cheeks and wiped her tears with my thumb.

My heart pounded. “I’ve been so worried about you. Please tell me what’s happening.”

“If I tell you…” She hesitated. “You have to promise not to say anything to your parents.”

“Of course. You have my full discretion.”

She blew out a breath. “My mother found a lump in her breast. She’s spent the past few days going to various appointments so they could figure out whether it’s cancer.” She paused. “And it turns out…it is.”

My stomach dropped. “Oh my God.”

“Yeah.”

“She’s so young.”

“She’s only forty.”

“Well, this explains why she’s been out. I can’t believe this.”

“The type of cancer she has is very aggressive. It’s called triple negative, and she’s stage three.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means it’s spread to the lymph nodes. So, she’ll definitely have to have chemo…and surgery.”

That hurt to hear. “Jesus. I’m sorry.”

Unable to imagine how scared she must’ve been, I brought her to me and held her.

After a minute, she pulled back. “The hope is that the chemo will shrink the tumor, and then they can go in and do a mastectomy once it’s a bit smaller.”

“When does all of this start?”

“We’re still trying to figure all that out. My mother doesn’t have insurance, so everything is going to have to come out of pocket.”

What? “How can my parents not pay for health insurance?”

“Your parents pay very well. The job just never came with full benefits. My mother knew that when she took it. She’s always been super healthy, and whenever we’ve had to go to the doctor—which is rare—we just pay. This is the first time anything like this has happened. I really don’t know what we’re going to do.

I shut my eyes for a moment. “You have to let me tell my father. He can help.”

“I don’t think your mother will go for that.”

“Fuck her if she doesn’t. My father will want to know about this, and he will want to help. You have to let me tell him.”

“My mother is going to end up having to tell your parents. Please let her be the one to do it. We’re just waiting to see how things are going to play out first. She doesn’t want to lose her job. She wants to continue working through treatments. She was considering not saying anything at all so they didn’t think she was incapable. But in the end, she’s agreed she’ll have to tell them. She’s going to have to be absent too much to hide it.”

“I promise you I will do everything in my power to make sure she doesn’t lose her job.”

“Thank you.”

Raven looked absolutely terrified. All I could do was comfort her. I brought her to me again and held her tightly. Our hearts beat against each other. I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been to think her absence had something to do with me. It was far more serious than that.

I whispered in her ear, “Everything is going to be okay.”

I hated that I couldn’t guarantee that, but she needed to hear something encouraging. She was about to break. I could feel it.

“Where is your mother now?” I asked.

“She’s resting. All of this has really taken a lot of out of her.”

“Should I leave? I don’t want to upset her by being here.”

“I’m not sure anything else can upset her right now, Gavin. It’s okay. If she comes in, I’ll just explain that you came over to check on us.”

“I’m so fucking sorry this is happening.”