Fireworks

51

We hang up after Arlo tells me he's already on his way to the hospital, and I bring the phone back to Hoffman. We sit in comfortable silence while we wait, and I'm eternally grateful to Hoffman for not asking about why I'm here.

Hoffman texts Arlo the floor number and directions to where we're sitting, and it doesn't take long before he shows up. I can hear his hurried footsteps before he rounds the corner, and when my eyes do lay on him, it's like I can breathe again.

"Hadlee," he breaths, brows creasing. He rushes towards me and sweeps me into a hug. I'm slightly surprised by the reaction, but don't mind being held for a little while. After the past few days, I could use a good hug.

Hoffman silently dismisses himself, and I give him a grateful smile over Arlo's shoulder as he disappears with a small wave.

"Jesus, Hadlee, I wish you had called me after you got to the hospital." Arlo breaths, setting me down. His eyes are running rapidly over me, and he only seems to get more worried, which confuses me until I look down at myself.

Yeah, I don't look that great. I'm still wearing the casual dress I'd worn to Hoffman's birthday party, and the skirt is wrinkled and flat. I haven't showered or eaten since almost three days ago, and I've gotten close to no sleep.

"I had a feeling you would forget to take care of yourself." he frowns, digging around in a backpack I'm just now noticing. "I brought you a change of clothes and some food. Do you want me to take you to my place or your dad's place to shower? While you do that I could make you some hot food instead of just snacks."

I shake my head, "No, I need to stay here. There's a shower connected to my mom's room, I'll just shower there. And whatever food you brought is fine, you didn't have to do that."

He frowns but says, "Okay, whatever you need. Do you want to go back to your mom's room now?"

I nod. "Yeah, I didn't mean to fall asleep out here, I was just trying to stretch my legs. We should go back."

He lets me lead the way to the room, and I hesitate for a fraction of a second to let him in the room. I don't want him to see my mom like this. I push that aside though, knowing it's irrational, and let him take one of the plastic seats against the wall.

He promises he'll watch my mom while I shower and change, so I take a little bit of time in the bathroom. After I catch sight of myself in the mirror, I realize I need it. My hair is greasy, and the braid I'd pulled it into wasn't in great shape. My eyes had deep dark circles around them and looked slightly sunken, and somehow I looked thinner. No wonder Arlo was worried.

The 20 minutes under the hot water is relaxing, and my stiff muscles feel a lot better after I stretch them under the hot spray. My scalp and skin feel raw with how hard I scrub them, but it makes me feel clean and more alive. I brush my teeth and hair and pull on the comically large jeans and tee-shirt Arlo had packed for me. I use a zip tie I find in the cabinet to hold the waistband up and cuff the pant legs. The shirt is comfortable and soft and smells like Arlo.

When I reemerge from the bathroom, I feel a lot better, and Arlo is sitting in the exact spot I left him, staring at my mom.

The table next to the chair he pulls out for me is full of food. He peeled an orange for me, and packed the same cauliflower salad he'd made for me the night I stayed at his place. There were other nuts and crackers and juices for me, too, and he tried to force it all down my throat.

It was familiar and comforting. Over the past month, I'd found that a large way Arlo displays his affection is by constantly feeding me. Encouraging me to eat, checking to see if I had eaten, sharing his own food with me. So this felt like an amplified version of all of that, and it made things feel slightly normal again.