“Gage, what happened?”
He barely glanced back at me as he quickly walked with Wyatt, but then he seemed to rethink his choice and he slowed just slightly so he could talk to me. He was still on the move and I could tell he was crying. “My, uh, parents were in an accident on their way up here,” I barely heard him say. My heart dropped when we’d stopped at Wyatt’s truck and Gage threw his bag in the back. “My dad didn’t make it.”
“Oh my gosh,” I whispered, putting a hand over my mouth.
“My mom is barely hanging on. We’re uh…”
He only shook his head and swallowed, so I wrapped my arms around him as my own tears started to fall. “Let me come with you, Gage.”
He kissed the top of my head but said, “No, I’m just- I’m just gonna go with Wyatt…” He pulled away to look at me for a moment and my heart was breaking for him. He kissed me on the lips and moved to the truck. “I’ll call you, Ellie.”
I stepped away to let the truck pass, and I could feel my shoulders slump instantly. I don’t know how long I stood there before I noticed Harlan standing some distance away. He had my things in his hands as he cautiously approached me.
“Family emergency?” he asked softly.
I nodded. “His dad died,” I mumbled. I was truly upset by that, but I was also upset because I couldn’t be with Gage. I understood he still needed time to process everything, but I guess it just kind of hurt.
Harlan scratched the side of his head as he thought for a moment. “Where do his parents live?”
“Uh, down in Medford. But they were on their way up here to see the game and… They were in a car accident, I guess. His dad didn’t make it, and his mom is barely alive.”
“ ‘Barely alive’ meaning they’re trying to keep her alive or—”
“I don’t know, Harlan,” I said rather harshly. Taking a deep breath I added, “I’m sorry, I just—”
“No, it’s okay,” he replied. We both stood there in silence for a few seconds before he asked, “Is there a hospital you’d like me to call?”
I hadn’t even thought about that, but it didn’t matter anyway. “I don’t know anything. He just… He didn’t want me to go with him and—”
“Ellie, don’t take that personally, okay? He has no idea how to manage other things right now and even the smallest of decisions can be impossible to make. He’s just decided to face this. Whether you came with him or not had absolutely nothing to do with you. Just give him some time. Okay?”
I barely nodded and took my things from his arm.
“Do you want me to take you home? I feel uncomfortable allowing you to drive in the state that you’re in.”
“No, I’m fine,” I said, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.
“Where are you headed?”
“Uh…I don’t really know,” I realized. “Um, probably my sister’s house.”
“Let me take you there.”
“That’s okay, Harlan. I’m capable of driving, and I don’t want to leave my car here.”
“You don’t have to; I’ll drive you in your car.”
“What about your car? There’s no way you should leave your car here.”
“I don’t really care about the car, Ellie. I just want to get you there safely. Felix can drive my car home.”
“Your brother lives with you?”
He gave me a partial smile. “Yes, he does. Does that surprise you?”
“Uh…” I kind of shook my head. I wasn’t thinking straight and I didn’t even understand why I’d asked him that.
“Let’s find your car,” he said. He waited for me to point him in the right direction, or move, or do something. “You did drive here, correct?”
“Yes,” I replied. “I’m just trying to remember which row I’m in…”
“What make of car is it and what color?”
“It’s, uh, white—there I am,” I pointed to the next row.
He followed me to my car, and as I fumbled to find my keys, I dropped everything on the ground. Of course half my purse contents dumped out onto the pavement, including a couple of very personal items. I hurried to scoop everything up before Harlan could help, but he was already knelt down, gathering what he could.
“Uh, I got it, thanks,” I mumbled, shoving it all into my purse. He didn’t say anything, and I didn’t expect that he would, but I was still really embarrassed anyway.
“Let’s have your keys,” he told me, holding out his hand. I set them in his palm and immediately headed for the passenger’s door. When he’d unlocked the car, I just tossed my things on the seat behind me.
“You are comfortable with driving on the right side of the road, aren’t you?” I couldn’t help but ask.
He started the ignition and smiled at me. “I don’t know. Occasionally I get mixed up, but hopefully I’ll be all right this time.”
It made me smile and I was glad for the distraction. But I did sit for a minute in silence as Harlan drove us away from the ballpark. I listened to him leave a quick voicemail for his brother, and then there was silence again.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he finally said.
I glanced at him and sighed. “I’m just thinking about Gage. I’m worried about him.”
“Mm. I take it he’s very close to his father? He had plans to work with him after university, so I presume a person wouldn’t do that unless they truly wanted to.”
“Yes, he was very close to his dad. His mom not as much, but his dad was pretty special to him.”
“Does he have siblings?”
“A younger sister at Berkeley. I’m sure she’ll be flying up as soon as she can. And he’s got Wyatt, I guess. Their dads are brothers. Some of Wyatt’s family lives in the area, and then the rest of Gage’s extended family is in Colorado—another aunt and uncle and some cousins, his paternal grandparents, and a few other relatives. His mom’s family is in the Oregon/Idaho area.”
Harlan barely nodded as he merged onto the freeway. “It sounds as if he has support, so that’s a good thing. What about, eh, religion? Is his family religious?”
“Yeah, they’re Christian, and his mom is pretty involved in her church and stuff. So yeah, I’m sure there will be lots of people willing to help out or give support but…” I sighed.
“But you’d like to as well,” he concluded. “You’ll get a chance, Ellie. Just give it some time. And when Gage is ready, he’ll let you know. But I’d also like to remind you that everyone deals with grief in a different manner, so the worst thing you could possibly do is… Well, just don’t expect anything. You can’t expect that he’ll do this or that, or even respond in a way that you think that he should. Well I’m not even an expert, but if you’d like an expert’s opinion, I do have a colleague that is specifically a grief counselor…”
I slowly shook my head. “No, that’s okay. But thank you.”
He nodded. “Just let me know if you change your mind.”
The ride to Dawn’s felt really long, even though it was only fifteen minutes. Harlan walked me inside, and as a way to feel like we weren’t alone, I turned on the TV. I knew Felix would be picking up Harlan when his game was finished, but for the time being he was stuck with me.
I did take a quick shower though, and put on some comfortable clothes. My phone had never been but three feet away from me because I was hoping and praying that Gage would call me. If he did, I would be out that door in a flash to wherever he was.
Out of pure desperation, because I felt helpless and didn’t know what else to do, I just sent him a text that said: I love you. I literally sat there on my bed for five minutes and waited for a reply, but I didn’t get one. Then I remembered that Harlan was in the next room, so I made my way to the couch where he was watching Law & Order.
“I don’t understand how they make so many of these programs,” he commented.
“They just open up the newspaper and point.”
“And build and create from there?”
> “Sure, why not. You’ve never done progressive storytelling?”
He laughed. “I think progressive storytelling would be quite fun with you, Miss Abbott.”
“Maybe you could guest star on Law & Order as a doctor. You could throw in all kinds of weird English phrases along with hypo-whatever and insolence.”
He laughed out loud and corrected me, even though he knew I was being facetious.
“Somnolence.”
“I like insolence better.”
“I’m sure you do. You’re a cheeky little lass.”
I knew what he said, but when he spoke it all together it sounded like something else. He saw me hold back a laugh and he rolled his eyes.
“That’s called an ‘arse,’ ” he informed me.
“Oh yes, I guess I’ve heard that before,” I smiled.
“You are quite cheeky, you know.”
“Yes, I know. You’re talking about my personality, right?”
“Yes, I’m talking about your personality, not your arse.”
I laughed again. “So what do you say in the ER. Do you use ‘arse?’ ”
“No, it’s rude. I typically say ‘bum’ or ‘behind.’ But the other day I did say, ‘Doctor Cree, that was a very half-arsed attempt.’ ”
“Half-arsed,” I chuckled. “Hopefully it wasn’t a half-arsed stitch job or something.”
“Half-arsed attempt at juggling a soccer ball.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You guys play soccer in the ER?”
He smiled and replied, “In the break room, perhaps. Just a little juggling.”
“You like soccer?”
“Yes, quite a lot.”
“And you’re good at it,” I stated.
“Well,” he shrugged.
“Juggling in the break room? You’ve got to be pretty good to do that inside a room without breaking anything. I would probably break a window. Or the nearest person’s nose.”
“You’d most likely break something on yourself.”
“True.”
We were both distracted by gunshots on the TV. We watched for a bit, neither of us really understanding the storyline. Well maybe Harlan did, because after a minute he said, “They’ll question the lollypop man. He knows who it was but is too frightened to tell.”
I looked at him and asked, “The what?”
“Hmm?”
“The lollypop man?”
“Eh, the, uh…crossing guard? The lollypop man.”
I burst out in laughter. “The lollypop man? Are you kidding me?”
With a smile he motioned to the television. “The sign. It resembles a lollypop—at least in Europe because they’re completely round.”
“It looks like a sign, but okay, I see your point. How come I get laughed at when I say ‘the microphone guy’ because he talks into a microphone?”
“Maybe it hasn’t caught on quite yet.”
“I guess it’s not as cute as ‘lollypop.’ ”
“Or maybe it’s just because he’s called…an ‘announcer’,” he said, feigning awe.
“Ah-ha, I see.”
We talked and watched another half-hour of TV, until Harlan’s phone rang. It was his brother, informing him that he’d arrived.
“I’ll be out in a few,” Harlan told him. He looked at me when he hung up, seeming hesitant to leave.
“I’m fine,” I told him. “I’m just going to stay here, my sister will be home in about an hour, and I’ll just wait for Gage to call me with any news.”
“You have work in the morning?”
“Yes, I have that to keep me busy, too.”
He slightly nodded. “If there’s anything you need, Ellie, please just call. Oh that’s right, you passed my number along to the coach,” he joked.
I returned his smile. “Uh, yeah, I guess I did.”
He found a pen by the answering machine and wrote his number on a card for me. “If you pass it along to someone else, please don’t inform me of it.”
“Okay,” I smiled. “Uh, Harlan?” I asked as he was headed for the door.
“Yes?” He waited with his hand on the doorknob.
“Um, can I meet your brother?”
He seemed surprised at first but replied, “Sure.”
I followed him outside to Harlan’s pretty little Boxster sitting in Dawn’s driveway, and after a motion of Harlan’s hand, Felix stepped out of the car. It wasn’t in my nature to be very social when it came to meeting new people, but I suppose I was just curious to meet someone in Harlan’s life.
“This is my brother Felix,” Harlan introduced. “Felix, this is Ellie Abbott.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Felix said, shaking my hand softly.
“Likewise,” I replied.
“So…?” Felix began, looking from me to Harlan.
“Eh, she’s the girlfriend of Gage Brennan,” he seemed to clarify.
“Oh,” Felix replied, obviously surprised. He looked at me and said, “Is everything okay? Well I suppose it’s not because of how he left the game but…”
“Um, no, not everything is okay. His father passed away and…” I didn’t know what else to say so I just concluded with a shrug.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” He didn’t seem to know what to say either, so because of our mutual connection to baseball I just asked who won the game. “Oh. Well, we did, but only because…only because Gage left early and…”
“What was the score?”
“Four to one.”
My phone rang just then, so with the hope that it was Gage, I quickly went to answer it. But I saw on the caller i.d. that it was just another friend of mine from school, and I decided I could just call her back.
“Well, I’d better let you guys go. It was nice to meet you, Felix. Maybe I’ll see you the next time we play you guys, right?”
With a smile he replied, “Sure, that sounds good. It was nice to meet you, as well. And I’m really sorry about Gage’s father.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
He got in the car, deciding to take the passenger’s seat, but Harlan just remained standing where he was. It felt awkward to say departing words to him after the time we’d spent together, especially with his brother sitting in the car waiting for him. I was very grateful for Harlan’s friendship, so I decided to just give him a hug, thanking him for looking after me.
“And thank you for the laughs,” I added with a smile as I pulled away from him. “And be careful on the dual carriageway.”
He lightly laughed. “Only if you lie on the settee whilst you watch the telly.”
“Yeah, I can do that. The distraction will be good.”
“Okay, then. I’ll see you soon.” He leaned forward and gave me a tiny kiss on the cheek, and then he got in his car. He didn’t waste any time pulling out of the driveway, and he disappeared down the street.
With a sigh I returned to the house, and I really did sit down in front of the TV, but I only stared at it instead of watched it. Dawn came home around ten, and she seemed to be more informed about Gage’s whereabouts than I was. His parents had been taken to Sacred Heart in Eugene, and even though the news about his father hadn’t changed like I’d been praying for, his mom was at least stable now. She was heavily sedated because of the injuries she’d sustained, but so far whatever was done to save her life had worked.
Dawn had talked to Wyatt, who was still at the hospital with the family, but when she’d inquired about Gage, all Wyatt had to say was that Gage had been silent. He mostly just sat in the corner of his mom’s room, or the waiting room, and said nothing.
I truly didn’t know what to think about that, and as I pictured Gage and the heartache he must be feeling, I couldn’t help it when I shed some more tears. Dawn wasn’t used to seeing me cry, so she didn’t know what to say. I only took myself to the spare bedroom so she didn’t have to deal with it.
I felt a little bit of relief around eleven o’clock, when I received a text message from Gage. It was a reply that read: I l
ove you too.
Chapter Eleven
I stayed at my sister’s for the rest of the week, forcing myself to go to work for the next three days, trying not to bother Gage with texts too often. I understood that he didn’t want to talk, and I couldn’t blame him for that. I tried to remember Harlan’s advice to not expect anything, and it seemed to help.
Friday afternoon I decided to make a trip down to Eugene. I didn’t know if Gage wanted me there or not, but I chose to go anyway. I hadn’t even talked to him yet—we only texted because he was usually at the hospital and didn’t want to have a phone conversation in public. In texts he’d only said there was nothing I could do, and that I didn’t need to make the trip. But maybe he just wanted me there and didn’t want to say so, so I made a decision and left before I could change my mind.
When I got to Sacred Heart, Wyatt’s dad was the first family member that I saw. Rick told me that Gage had gone back to the hotel to get some rest—he’d barely gotten any all week. He briefly explained some of the news of late, and then gave me a room key with directions to the hotel. I was really nervous when I got to the room. I wanted Gage to be happy that I was there, but then I reminded myself that he might even feel the complete opposite.
I tried to keep Harlan’s advice in mind and tried not to expect too much.
There wasn’t an answer when I lightly knocked on the door, so I took the key and let myself in. The room was really dark—there were no lights on and the curtains were tightly drawn, and the air conditioning seemed to be blowing on high. When my eyes adjusted to the darkness I could see that there was one bed near the little sitting area, and it was empty. I ventured toward a short hall and found another bedroom, and I could tell that there was a figure lying on it.
I carefully sat on the edge of it where I could see Gage’s face, but I didn’t want to wake him up. However, he slightly stirred, and I felt his hand touch my thigh as he turned onto his back.
“Ellie?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
He didn’t say anything at first, but then he moved over slightly. “Come here. Can I hold you?”
“Yeah,” I replied, feeling joyful for the occasion.
Summer Swing Page 12
