Secrets Left Neglected

Chapter 8

Tadhg

"No way, the Roses are on a roll this season, that's never gonna happen, you guys have no-"

"What? Shut up! We are so going to kick their-" I say, cutting Courtney off. As I'm about to finish my sentence, the sight of Caoilainn sitting across the cafeteria with Nick makes me lose my train of thought. Something about the look on Nick's face gives me pause, but I'm not sure what it is. He seems...eager.

They're sitting alone together, and Nick has Coda with him. Coda is Nick's therapy dog. He must be taking him over to the children's hospital with him this afternoon.

When Nick's brother Gabriel was three, his cousin Rachel was pushing him in a coach. They were celebrating Samhain and everyone came dressed up in Halloween costumes. A lot of the older kids and adults were roasting marshmallows for smores around a fire pit in Nick's uncle's backyard. There's a bit of a slope in his Uncle's backyard, especially preceding the fire pit.

When Rachel was riding Gabriel around she tripped and lost control of the coach. She wasn't able to regain control of the thing in time to prevent Gabriel from falling forward over the edge of the fire pit. It was a terrible accident.

Luckily for Gabriel, most of the worst burns were sustained on his hands and arms, just barely missing his face. They were painful for him but because he was so young they healed fairly well. His left leg, however, was injured quite badly from his knee to his thigh. He sustained third degree burns in that area and needed a skin graft.

When Gabriel was in the hospital's burn unit Nick went to visit Gabriel everyday. When the risk of infection passed he brought their family dog, Max, in to see Gabriel which made him very happy. Nick believes it helped move the healing process along.

When Gabriel finally came home Nick decided that other children in the hospital could benefit from time with pets as well. A few years later, after Max passed, Nick talked to his parents and they helped him get paired up with Coda, a lilthe white greyhound who has proven to be quite gentle. Nick joined our college's pet therapy group as a freshman and has been a member ever since. He graduates this June and intends to continue in animal therapy for his BS degree at a four-year college.

As I walk through the gym I hear Courtney trying to get my attention.

"Is anybody home? Tad-hg? Hel-looooo, Tadhg? Where'd you go?" waving her hand in front of my face, Courtney breaks my concentration.

"What was I saying?" I ask her.

"You weren't saying anything. One minute you were talking about the team and then all of a sudden you disappeared on me." Courtney explains. She looks at me and then follows my line of sight across the gym. When it lands on Caoilainn and Nick she says, "Oh, good. There's Nick. He'll know where Pete is. We're supposed to meet up after school but my mom asked me to work at the shop. Her co-worker left early with the flu." Courtney runs ahead of me while I drag my feet.

When I come up to the table, Ruari and Siofra enter from the back entrance in time to meet up with me at the same time. "What's up, Ruari? How's it going, guys?" I call out sitting down on the bench across from Caoilainn.

Before then Caoilainn hadn't noticed me. When she catches my eye she looks away quickly and then glances back at Nick, biting her bottom lip and looking down at her hands. Before I can get comfortable she leans in closer to Nick and faintly whispers to him, "I like you, Nick. You're a great guy, but I...I don't think I can. I hope I haven't offended you."

Nick smiles at her and whispers back, "Of course not, Caoi, of course not." She offers him a weak smile before turning to look away from our group. When Nick turns his attention away from her and on to something Ruari asks Caoilainn starts to organize her things at her seat.