Broken Pieces

Chapter twenty-one

Andrea hadn't stopped talking about last night since we started driving to the hospital. Actually since she came home this morning, she rarely slept home at times. I thought Kevin was okay so I didn't think it was bad that their relationship was moving too fast since that was how Andrea worked.

I had been half listening and I knew she knew that but would still force me to listen in hopes that I would be jealous of all the ‘fun’ they had last night.

“Adam is just so funny and such a great guy.”

I shook my head while mentally smiling at her suggestive tone but keeping a straight face. Andrea was obsessed with talking about Adam to get a reaction from me and she would never get it with how obvious she was being.

“I just think anyone that dates him would be such a lucky lady.”

“Why don't you date him?” I asked with a fake curious look.

Andrea scoffed and I looked at her to see her face, a mask of frustration.

“I thought you wanted to be the lucky lady.” I said with an innocent shrug.

“I know you are not serious about that and besides I am already a lucky lady.”

That earned a snort from me and Andrea laughed. After her laughter died down, she sighed. “I just think that you have made a lot of progress with making friends and trying to socialize. You actually like our new friends and they are people I like too, not like the ones you made the last time you tried to socialize. I just want you to take it to the next level and try dating.”

I ignored her jab about my old friends and asked, “Did Adam talk about this with you?”

“No,” she said but didn't need to reply because I already knew the answer. Adam was only interested in being friends but this wasn't surprising because it wouldn't be the first time Andrea tried to make me date someone she thought was interested in me just because she approved.

“He doesn't need to tell me anything. He is just scared of rejection and that's why I came up with a better idea, I think you should ask him.”

I gaped but she didn't acknowledge me. “He is being too slow and the right way isn't to give you time. He needs to take you by force.”

My head reeled back in shock and I was sure that if I was the one driving, we would have had an accident.

“Andrea! Are you sure you aren't sick in the head more than usual?”

Andrea eyed me as she heard the shock I felt in my voice. “Don't you want to marry and have children? When do we know if someone interested in you comes again.”

Her last words made the image of a man with greyish blue eyes flash across my mind before Andrea’s voice came through.

“What if another girl steals him from you?”

“He is not mine to be stolen.” I cried in exasperation.

Andrea was about to retort but we had reached the hospital and I flew out of the car to escape her.

After a lot of fawning over my dad by both of us, he finally got tired of us and sent us on our way. He was enjoying the care center than normal. He hated it most times but this time was different because he made friends. A man who’d had a leg amputated because of an accident and another man having difficulty walking after he was saved from a burning building. Their misfortunes shouldn't have felt like a blessing but it was better than seeing my dad miserable and lonely whenever he went there.

My dad liked being independent and he saw his ailment as a very big blow to his pride. He refused help after the accident but after it finally got to his head that even the force of his will to help himself wouldn't make him capable of doing everything himself, he accepted defeat. He still refused help for certain things but he had eventually gotten use to the idea.