480 Hours

16 | Learning How to Bend

Margaret Bailey

The next morning was a rush. Without saying more than a few words, Landon packed quickly for our trip, then rushed out the door to the hospital to see his mother. He claimed it was to give me time to pack, but I knew he really was going to ask her permission not to go to Georgia State. I did not blame him in the slightest, as I was sure it would be easier to speak with her without me in the room.

I laid in bed contemplating what I should do. If his mom weren't in the hospital, of course I would have been all but begging him to go with me to a party I had been dreading for the previous five years. However, that was not the case and if she had never gotten sick or had been placed in a different cancer facility, I would have never met Landon. If the roles were reversed, there was absolutely no way I would leave my parent's sides to go to a silly Halloween party with a bunch of people I did not even go to school with.

Slowly I sat up, pulling the sheets up over my lap while unplugging my phone from the bedside table. There were a few excited texts from B, but nothing of concern. I knew Landon had made it to the hospital by now, so no news was definitely good news.

With a sigh, I threw my covers back and set out to find Duke, who had left my room when Landon had earlier. I searched the entire house, almost in a panic, when I heard the back door open. "Hey, I didn't know if your lazy butt was ever going to get out of bed, so I took Duke out for you. He was getting impatient." Liam had been at the house so seldom lately, it was almost strange to see him standing in the hallway, doing something he had done at least a hundred times before.

"Thanks Liam, I just had a lot on my mind. How are you? How is Ariel?" I regretted asking about her the moment the words left my lips. He had not brought her up in conversation for a while, but he was still out of the house often, so I figured they were at least still together. The look of pain on his face said otherwise.

"I'm sorry you have so much going on. Have the nightmares come back?" I shook my head no before he continued. "I think Ariel and I are good. I don't know...For a while we were spending every second together. Now I can barely get her to respond to a text! Maggie, I honestly felt as though I had met my person. But lately, I don't know...she has been really distant and won't talk to me about whatever is on her mind. I don't get it."

I had not realized Liam had such strong feelings for this girl. He had only brought her over a handful of times and never made it seem as though they were that serious. "If I have learned anything lately, it is that sometimes you do not have the answer that will fix everything for those that you care about. Sometimes, you have to just be what they need you to be." I thought of Landon and his mother and again felt guilty about not being able to solve their problem.

Liam looked more stressed than I had seen him in years. For the first time, I noticed the lines around his eyes and the dark circles that accompanied them. Liam was older than me, but for years, we had been mistaken for twins, as he looked young for his age. Now, Liam could no longer be mistaken for a young twenty something year old. He had been through so much in his life from losing our parents, to losing his arm. I did not think it was fair of the universe to throw one more thing in his direction. No one deserved to be happy more than Liam.

"I am just getting to the point in my life where I think I might be ready to settle down. I really thought Ariel might be it for me. We have been talking about our future together like it was a sure thing pretty much since the moment we met. Yet, she doesn't act like she feels that way about me anymore. Girls are confusing." I laughed at his remark before pulling him in for one of our awkward three-armed hugs. We never had been very good at showing affection.

"What about you? How are you and Landon?" I could tell he still felt uncomfortable thinking about his best friend and little sister together, but he was making an effort and I truly appreciated that, as he had never liked anyone I had dated in the past.