Two Old Farts

Chapter Seven

He'd been terribly nervous about seeing her again. What if she screamed again? I'll call the cops on you, you ass! Reese winced.

"Do you need anything?" The new worker behind the counter asked.

Reese hadn't even realized he'd walked himself over to the counter already. "Ah, yeah, I'd like to visit a patient named Nova." Luckily, the worker wasn't the woman from before. This one was a man with short red hair and a twitchy nose. He was a lot more agreeable than the woman and helped Reese fill out a visitation form with ease.

"Down the hall and to your left." He said.

Reese found the room quicker than he'd have liked. He wanted time to rehearse what he wanted to say to her. What if she hated him? How does one reintroduce themselves to someone they've fallen in love with and pretend it had never happened?

He opened and shut the door as fast as he could, not wanting to give himself time to overthink it more. Slowly turning, Reese saw Nova.

She was lying in a bed with sheets as white as her skin. Her blinking was heavy and she kept fidgeting like a kid in church. She seemed different, less warm than the Nova before her.

"Hey," Reese said as he approached the bed.

Nova faced him, "Hey, weird old dude."

Weird old dude. That's who he was to her now. All the time they spent together...all the laughing and snide comments and awkward pauses regressed into this haphazard three word judgement. She wasn't his girl anymore. She wasn't his anything.

And that's why Reese couldn't stand to be in the room any longer.

Logan visited the next day and Reese did not. Instead he sat, cowering; in the crappy little chair he'd fallen asleep in multiple times. He did not talk to anyone and he did not look at anyone. A kid barely older than six approached him at one point and said, "My uncle's in here too. My mom says he's got a breathing problem. I can breathe fine, though. Do you want to play I-Spy?" Reese turned to this young boy and practically growled his response, resulting in a couple tears and a murderous look from his mother. What did it matter? Reese wasn't a nice man. He was a weird old dude slash part-time ass.

Steph called him. He didn't pick up. She called him again and he still didn't pick up. Soon, she'd left an irate text on his muted phone. Call me back now or I'll burn all your records!!!

He marched outside, "What?"

"Why didn't you visit her?" Steph barked.

Reese shielded his eyes from the bright sun. Stupid sun, always getting in the way and lighting up everything too damn much. What was the point if it just blinded everyone anyways?

"She doesn't like me, Steph. She doesn't want to see me. Why can't you just understand that?"

"Didn't you not like her in the beginning, Dad?"

"Well, yes," He responded gruffly, "She was annoying. And loud and she talked for too long and about too much."

"And you love her."

"Well I –"

"Dad! Knock it off for a goddamn minute, won't you?" Steph huffed, "Do you or do you not love her?"

Reese pushed up his glasses and took a breath, "I do...love her."

"Then go be with her."

The phone beeped and the call ended. Reese frowned and snapped his phone shut, clipping it back onto his belt's cellphone holder.