He’d laughed at her then, but after working so many hours on the floor, he greatly appreciated his giant lunch.
He went back to work, a little stiffer than before, but completely full. They put in a total of twelve hours that day. Craig thought it would never end. He was relieved when Steven finally said it was time to pack up and go home.
“You’re slow,” Steven commented, giving Craig a ginger pat on the back, “but at least you’re steady.”
“Thanks Steven,” Craig replied. “You’re terrible at explaining things, but at least you were enough of a sucker to take me on today.”
Steven let out a hearty laugh “You’re welcome.”
Craig got home and took a hot shower. Though he initially intended to stretch his legs and back, he felt rather relaxed after the shower and decided to take a seat on the couch. He told himself he’d sit for just a few minutes, but as soon as he sat down, he practically melted into the cushion. It was so comfortable that he could hardly trouble himself to lean forward and grab the TV remote. He put on a cooking show and dozed off immediately.
He awoke early in the morning when he heard Kali come into the house. Excited by the prospect of seeing her, he hopped off of the couch and gently knocked on the door separating their living spaces. He paused for a moment to listen for her usual annoyed sigh, but heard nothing. He knocked a bit louder, then listened again.
Almost pressing his ear to the door, Craig thought he could make out a noise – but no, it couldn’t be. It sounded like someone crying. Did something happen to Kali? One of her cats? Without thinking, he tried the door handle, and surprisingly, it turned.
He quietly opened the door and peaked his head in. There was only one light on, and in the darkness he could make out Kali’s small figure huddled on the couch. She was sobbing.
“Kali, are you okay?” he called from the doorway.
“Yes, I’m – ” She made some sort of a hiccup-sob hybrid noise, then started crying again.
Craig rushed over to her. There was nothing more he’d like to do than scoop her up in his arms and comfort her – but he realized that was probably inappropriate. He settled for sitting down beside her.
“What’s going on?’ he said gently. He saw a box of tissues in the far corner and fetched them for her.
She accepted a tissue and blew her nose. “Thanks.”
“Here,” he said, handing her two more and accepting the snotty tissue in return.
She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “My patient died.”
“Oh,” Craig replied. That was a bit awkward. His initial thought was to make a joke, but he couldn’t think of a single thing that wouldn’t be horrible to say. “I’m sorry.”
Kali pinched her lips and nodded. “Yeah, me too.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Craig hated silence.
“Was it that toad Betsy’s fault?”
Kali laughed.
Good – at least Betsy was always a safe target.
“No,” she replied. “He had an accident.”
“You mean Betsy dropped him on the floor?”
“No,” Kali smiled. “Nothing like that. He had – he came in after a car accident.”
Craig frowned. “Oh.”
“And the last few days, I’ve been taking care of him. He was just a kid…and his parents were finally able to make it in today, because they live halfway across the country…” she broke down into sobs again.
Craig felt his jaw tighten. He hated to see her so upset. He wished he could bring the kid back from the dead. Something. Anything. He handed her another tissue. She looked so small and alone sitting there on the couch, all curled up. He couldn’t stop himself – he inched closer to her and put an arm around her shoulder.
She didn’t snuggle into him or anything, but she didn’t push him away either.
“It sounds like there was nothing you could have done differently,” he said softly.
Kali shook her head. “He was only twenty…same as my little brother. And to see his parents come in, and they just – ” She stopped talking and closed her eyes.
“It’s okay,” Craig said.
She started crying again, more quietly than before, and leaned into him. He wrapped his other arm around her and held her as she sobbed. He decided it was best to say nothing.
After a while, Kali stopped crying and seemed to only be sniffling. Craig suggested that she go upstairs, take a shower, and go to bed. She nodded and went upstairs without saying another word.
Craig stared at the dark hallway where she’d disappeared. He had about thirty minutes before Steven would be there to pick him up. Initially, he’d planned to tell Steven thanks, but no thanks – that he couldn’t stomach another day on the job. But now…
Not only had he gotten Kali in trouble at work, then he decided that he’d quit the job she got him because he was sore. And lazy. Craig felt ashamed of himself. How could he be such a baby when Kali’s job was so much harder?
He straightened out, joints and back making concerning popping noises, found Kali’s lunch bag and washed the containers. He refilled them with what he thought she’d had in her lunch before – carrots, hummus. He made her a turkey sandwich, and since he didn’t know how to hard boil eggs, he threw in a baggie of little chocolates he’d found in the pantry. After setting her pink lunch box in the fridge, he wrote a quick note to make sure she didn’t miss it.
He threw together his own lunch as well, making a mental note that he needed to pick up the next grocery bill after he was paid.
Craig went outside, watching his breath in the cold morning air as he waited for Steven to arrive. Luckily, Steven was a punctual man and Craig only had to wait about five minutes.
“Morning Craig.”
“Morning Steven,” Craig said, settling into the passenger seat of the truck.
“I was afraid you might not show up today,” Steven said with a smirk.
Craig laughed. His whole body ached. But the little pit of shame that burned in his stomach was worse than being sore. “How could you ever doubt me?”
Chapter 9
By the end of her string of overnights in the ICU, Kali was exhausted. She tried to reset her sleep schedule on Thursday by staying up until 2 PM and then taking a short nap. It sort of worked, but she still felt a bit delirious. And a little itchy.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that the itchiness was from flea bites. Craig’s rescue kitten Chip, as adorable as he was, came with some unwanted guests. Normally, Kali would’ve noticed fleas immediately, but she simply wasn’t herself that week. The sleep deprivation and the loss of her twenty year old patient left her in a bit of a daze. Nothing was a better example of that than the fact that she broke down in front of Craig. Kali never broke down in front of anyone. Not anymore, at least. And she definitely never cried in anyone’s arms. That was really something new for her. Yet his strong arms were really quite nice…
She snapped herself out of it. There was no need to think about Craig’s strong arms. His arms were for ripping up kitchens and bathrooms and stuff. At least that was the message she got through her best friend Ashley – apparently Craig was quite the help on the job. His amnesia caused some issues, sure, but overall he’d put in a lot of hours and Steven couldn’t be happier.
Ashley not only heard things through Steven, she also saw for herself when she stopped by on her day off to bring lunch for the guys. She was just tickled to meet Craig.
“Kali,” she’d texted immediately, “why didn’t you tell me that Craig looks like he belongs on a magazine cover?”
“I didn’t think it was relevant,” Kali responded. There was no point denying that he was attractive, but she didn’t have to gush like a schoolgirl.
Ashley wasn’t convinced. “It’s always relevant. And here I thought you were hosting some sixty year old man, not a swimsuit model!”
Swimsuit model? Kali found it odd that Ashley was imagining Craig in his swimsuit. Or maybe she
saw him with his shirt off. It didn’t matter – Kali’s relationship with Craig was strictly professional. She didn’t date patients – she didn’t date at all, in fact. Ashley knew that. She hadn’t been on a date since her fiancé died when they were both 19. There was that one time that Ashley tricked her into a double date, but that didn’t count because Kali went home as soon as politeness allowed.
Kali knew it was only a matter of time before Ashley blabbed to her family that she had a “swimsuit model” staying in her rental. It was perfect timing, then, that Kali was going home for her brother’s birthday that weekend. She could tell her parents about Craig, they could meet him, and they both needed a place to stay while her townhouse was sprayed for fleas.
It was still a bit awkward to bring it up.
Kali started with, “It’s kind of an odd situation, mom.”
“Why is that?”
“Well – he was my patient in the ICU. Just for a day. And then later, I found him at the food bank. He had nowhere to stay, so I let him stay in the basement. But now he’s working with Steven, so – ”
“Oh honey, that’s such a kind thing for you to do!”
Her mom didn’t seem fazed at all. Kali explained the amnesia, which her mom found fascinating.
“Of course you can bring him!” she’d said, almost a bit too quickly. “We’d love to have him!”
“Thanks, mom. See you Saturday!”
Kali couldn’t tell if it was her mom’s friendly midwestern hospitality coming out, or if Ashley told her how attractive Craig was. She decided not to dwell on it.
On the drive up, Craig asked nearly a hundred questions about her family. Kali was somewhat amused by how interested he was.
“So your dad – he still runs the paper mill?”
“No – he did when we were growing up. But it burned down when I was fifteen.”
Craig cringed. “Best not to bring that up, huh?”
“No,” Kali laughed. “It’s okay. We were all devastated at the time, of course, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise.”
“Is this your confession that you set the fire, then?”
“No,” Kali replied, keeping her eyes on the road, even though she wanted to shoot him a dirty look. “That’s not what I’m saying. It was just that the business wasn’t doing great, and after that, a lot of the mills closed down anyway.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And when my dad got the insurance money – ”
Craig interrupted her, “Was this before or after you hid all the evidence of your involvement in the mill’s demise?”
“They did an investigation and found out that it was caused by a lightning strike!”
“You’re kidding!” Craig exclaimed. “I did not see that coming! You used some sort of witchcraft to call the lightning?”
Kali continued, ignoring him. “After he got the insurance money, he wanted to open up another mill. But my mom wouldn’t let him – she knew that we’d be bankrupt within five years.”
“And you’d have to go back to working the carnival booth, wasting your magical powers on guessing people’s weights again.”
She turned to him for a moment to give him a stern look. He smiled broadly. It was easier to just go along with his nonsense at this point. “Exactly. You figured me out. So my mom convinced him to build a daycare instead.”
“Oh, that’s quite different than a paper mill.”
Kali nodded. “She’d always wanted to run one and it was the perfect opportunity. Plus, when a lot of the other mills closed down and people were looking for work, we were able to watch their kids for cheap. Or let’s be honest, most of the time it was free.”
“That seems like a poor business strategy,” Craig replied.
“Well – yeah. But we got by. And we helped the people in our community get by, too.”
“Ah,” Craig said with a smile. “I now see where you get your martyrdom.”
“Yeah.” Kali frowned. She wondered if Craig came from a family that didn’t think it was important to help others. It certainly seemed like it. Then again, he had no memory of his old life. Perhaps he ran with a crowd of other beautiful, swimsuit model people who spent their free time admiring themselves in mirrors. She reminded herself that he probably had a beautiful wife in that old life – someone who may be frantically looking for him. Not frantically enough, apparently. A laugh popped out of her mouth.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing. Are you sure you don’t want to post your picture online somewhere so your family can find you?”
“Absolutely not,” he said firmly. “One day when you were at work, I watched that movie Overboard.”
“Never saw it,” she replied.
“In it, Goldie Hawn falls off a boat, ends up with amnesia. Not unlike yours truly. And a guy who has a grudge against her shows up pretending to be her husband. Brings doctored photos and everything.”
“Wait I have seen this,” she said. “You’re afraid that a man will show up to claim you and you’ll fall in love with him?”
“Precisely.” He dropped his voice, “And I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that someone might hold a grudge against me.”
“Fair point,” she conceded.
By the time they arrived at her parents’ house, Craig knew most of the history of each member of her family. It was a bit odd that he was so inquisitive, but she also wondered how well he’d remember what she told him. Maybe he had some short term memory loss as well. She made note of it – he needed to follow up with a neurologist if his memory didn’t return soon.
Kali pulled into the driveway and before she even put the car in park, her mom ran out of the house waving manically.
“Welcome home sweetie!” she said, tapping on the driver’s window.
Craig waved back. “Haven’t been home in some time, eh?” he asked Kali.
“I was home three weeks ago,” she replied in a low voice. She opened the door and gave her mom a tight hug.
“Hey mom, how are you?”
“I am so happy to have all my babies under one roof this weekend!” She turned, arms open, towards Craig. “And you must be Craig! I’ve heard so much about you!”
Craig accepted her hug. “Not from Kali, I’m sure?”
“No,” Kali said flatly. “You don’t have to be so nice to him, mom. He’s not the king of England.”
“Or am I?” Craig said with a mischievous smile.
“Maybe the king of fleas!” Kali called over her shoulder, walking into the house. Her mom was way too excited to meet him, and she suspected that Ashley had something to do with it.
“Thank you for having me, Mrs. Mitchell.”
“Oh please, call me Candice!”
Kali rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long weekend.
Chapter 10
They walked into the house and were immediately greeted by a small, wiry dog. Craig kneeled down to pet him and was promptly knocked over when a larger black Labrador came bounding out of the kitchen.
“Nice to meet you too!” Craig said through laughter.
“Cookie!” Candice exclaimed, exasperated. “That is not polite!” She pulled the dog off of Craig, allowing him to stand up.
“Sorry, it was my mistake, making myself a target like that.” He stood and dusted some of the dog hair off of his jeans.
“Don’t let them push you around,” Candice said. “Especially if they try to knock you off of the couch tonight. Oh, I’m making up the couch for your bed, I hope that’s alright?”
“Sure, that sounds perfect.”
“You can just leave your bag here for now. Marcy! Ella! Your sister is home!” She went into the kitchen to address a timer that was going off.
Two girls with the same striking dark hair as Kali emerged at the top of the stairs. They froze when they saw Craig.
“Hello,” he said with a small wave.
The one with the shorter hair and heavy eye liner descend
ed the stairs first. “Hi, I’m Marcy.”
“Ah yes, the musician of the family. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Craig.” He extended his hand and she accepted it with a blush.
The second girl followed and extended her hand. “Hi.”
“Hello – Ella, right?” Craig said, shaking her hand.
She nodded. “That’s right, the brains of the family.”
Kali snickered. “When did you come up with that Ella?”
“When I got a 4.0 last semester!”
Marcy crossed her arms. “Didn’t you get a B in art?”
Ella shrugged. “They don’t count that when you’re applying to college. Art isn’t a real subject.”
“Yes they do,” Marcy protested, “all of the classes count!”
“Even music? That seems dumb,” Ella said.
Candice popped her head out of the kitchen. “Girls, no fighting on your brother’s birthday!”
“Yeah,” said the man who just strolled into the living room. “Save it for your own birthday!”
“Hi dad,” Kali said, giving him a hug. “This is Craig, my first tenant.”
Craig felt nervous, but he wasn’t sure why. He quickly stuck out his hand for a handshake. Kali’s dad looked down at it, then back at Craig, hands still in his pockets.
“So you’re the man living in my daughter's basement, rent free?”
Craig swallowed hard, almost like a cartoon character. Kali failed to mention that her dad was as stern as she was. “That’s right, sir, but very soon I hope to – ”
He roared with laughter, pulling Craig into a hug before he could finish talking. “I’m just messing with you, kiddo.” He patted him roughly on the back. “I’m Fred, welcome to The House of Mitchell.”
“Hi Fred, great to meet you,” Craig said, still a bit startled by it all.
“Don’t mind the twins,” Fred continued. “They’re just mad that we make them share their birthday every year. And their room. And their identity – we only registered one of them when they were born, so now they have to alternate who gets to go to school every day.”
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