Adulting Requires Cheesecake (Book 4, Lonstino & Greenwood Series)

Chapter 8 - Emergency

MICHAEL

Mom holds my arm as I try to follow Luke. Jordan stares at the ground while Tristan and Oliver seem to be in the know. The people waiting in the emergency room stare at us, but I won't give them the pleasure of a show.

"What happened while I was away?" I whisper to my mom, who loosens her grip on my arm.

"Your Dad's health has been delicate in the past year. He's been to a specialist who has tried several treatments and we had discussed surgery. I never imagined it could happen so soon."

"And if they can't operate?" The idea of what could happen fills me with dread. He's battled ulcers since I can remember, but he always made it seem more an inconvenience than anything.

"We can only trust the advice of the doctors," Mom says, and Tristan places his arm around her shoulders. She's probably as worried and scared as I feel now, but won't show it.

"I... I need to talk to Luke."

"Michael, give him time," Tristan says. "He'll come back when he's ready."

"He needs me." Is all I say as I walk towards the exit.

Outside, I find my Luke sitting on a bench with his head almost between his knees.

"Luke, are you okay?" I sit next to him and rub his back.

"I'll be... I'll be..." He says between shallow breaths while he rocks his body. I then notice an open pack of a pill on the bench.

"Is this yours?" I ask, and he nods. "This is not your fault, you know?"

Luke doesn't answer and only moves his hair away from his face with a shaky hand. We stay like that until he calms down enough to break the silence.

"It's a prescription for anxiety," he says. "Therapy wasn't enough to get Hannah out of my system." He leans back on the bench and lets out a deep breath. "Dad has been so sick, Michael. We had to beg him to see the specialist. Surgery was an option and I don't think he gets to choose anymore. All he is worried about are the shops and that he will have to give the control to someone else. People expected me to jump and say I would do it, but I can't Michael. Those places are his dream, not mine."

"If the doctors conclude he's fit enough for surgery, he will have to give the control to someone else. Unless he wants to close them temporarily."

"He will never close them. The idea only will send him to his grave."

"Luke, don't worry about anyone's expectations. Dad and everyone else need to accept that you have your own life to live and dreams to follow. I would be surprised if Mom doesn't have a plan in place or at least in her head to deal with the stores. Would you like me to arrange an Uber for you to go home? I can stay with Mom. She's been tough, but I don't know for how long."

"No, it's okay. The medicine is helping me. I'm sorry for taking my frustrations on you in there. Dad has been stubborn and you being here wouldn't have changed the situation."

"I'm not angry. I just feel as if I'm being kept out."

Luke sighs. "It's still the same since we were kids. It starts with a stressful moment that turns into a stomach ache. Then it becomes unbearable and ends up with him throwing up blood. If Mom is right and Hannah is back in Lonstino, then that's the cause of the added stress for sure."

My blood freezes in my veins at the mention of our biological mother and knowing I could have crossed paths with her when I went to visit my parents. I know she can't hurt me anymore, but just like Luke, that trauma lives deep in me.

"What... What was she doing... There..."

"I don't know exactly. One of my friends who works at Serendipity messaged me that she saw Uncle Greg having a slight altercation with Hannah at the supermarket last Wednesday. One thing is knowing she's around; another is that she has contacted our family. Michael? Are you okay?"