Pat

Please don't die

After Becky left that weekend, it was back to me and Pat. We didn’t talk to each other much and the routine become basic.

I’d make breakfast and make sure she had it and left her either watching telly or with her phone. I’d sleep for a few hours before waking up to prepare lunch. After lunch, we’d go for walks around the neighbourhood just so she could stretch. I had gotten her a cane for that purpose because she didn't want crutches or a wheelchair.

I would then help her take a bath before taking mine. Preparing dinner and having it came after I took another nap and I’d start working after helping her back to bed for the night.

“Mom, when are you coming to visit me?” Chance asked when I called home.

“I can’t make it this weekend but I’ll come soon enough,”

“That’s what you said last weekend and the one after that. Don’t you love me anymore?”

“That’s not it my love. It’s just that Pat has been sick and I can’t leave her alone,” I should have known better than to use those words with him.

“I want to see her mom,”

“Baby you can’t. She’s not really accepting guests because of her condition.”

The following Saturday he and my mom were at Pat’s house. I was just as shocked as Pat was.

“I’m sorry we didn’t call before we came,” my mom said, “But Chance told me if we called first Pat would refuse to see us because you told him she didn’t want too many people around,”

“That's because having too many people around can be overwhelming for the both of us buy you are always welcome here, mom,” Chance was standing a distance away from Pat. “Come sit next to me Chance,” Pat told him and he hesitantly did so but he started crying. “What is wrong Chance?”

“I don’t want you to die,” he said crying so hard I felt his pain.

“I’m not dying baby boy, okay?” he nodded and gave her a hug.

“What happened?” my mom asked as I served them some snacks before lunch.

“I got into an accident. A drunk driver hit my car,”

“When was that?”

“It happened on the day I came to visit. As I headed home, this drunk driver was on the wrong side of the road.  I had a lot on my mind so I was also partly to blame. I tried to swerve but it was already too late. The impact of the collision threw the other driver out of the car. I watched him fly past me. I got away with these injuries he wasn't so lucky,”

“I tried calling you that night but your phone wasn’t going through. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I lost my phone that night and I also didn’t want people to know what happened,”

“I found out about it almost two weeks later,”

“Why? You two are best of friends,”

“We had a disagreement and we weren’t talking to each other,”

“About what?” Chance asked.

“About some minor issues. Issues that when I now think about were not worth it,” Pat said and I just looked at her.

“Don’t let petty issues come between friendships. We all have disagreement but how we solve them is important. Forgiveness is a must,” mom said.

As she spoke, Pat looked at me then looked away. I wondered if my mom would say the same thing if she knew the kind of relationship there was between Pat and me.