“Fuck, man. Sorry I didn’t get your call earlier,” Marcus continues. “I was out with this guy and, well, went back to his place, and my phone died, so by the time I got home and got your message, I—” his eyes land on me. “I’m sorry; I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you?”
“Avalon,” I reply. “I’m Zeke’s girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend?” His eyes go wide, and then he bursts out in laughter. “Zeke Harris has a girlfriend. You’re fucking kidding me. I knew that son of a bitch was happier than usual recently.”
“And this one,” Declan points to Ember, “has known since February.”
“And she didn’t tell you?”
“Why is this still on me? Zeke also could’ve told you guys,” she argues.
“Trust me, we tried to tell you guys earlier. I was actually supposed to meet all of you tonight. Under different circumstances, obviously.”
“So, why didn’t we meet earlier?” Jeremy wonders.
“Every time we were supposed to meet, something came up.” I don’t need to discuss my family drama with people I just met. “Fletcher almost caught us together after you made it to the finals.”
“I wondered why Marcus told Jaxon he wished he could’ve made it to that game, but Marcus had supposedly driven Zeke’s car down for finals,” Fletcher continues. “So, were you in the car when I ran into him?”
“Guilty.”
The ICU doors open, and Zeke walks out; he looks a little more put together now than he did when he went back there.
“Hey, man,” Marcus pats Zeke on the back. “How’s she doing?”
“She’s doing better than I am.” A soft laugh escapes his lips. “I see you met Avalon.”
Zeke smiles at me as Marcus nods his head.
“Yeah, and you have a lot to catch me up on.”
“I will,” Zeke responds. “Hey, Stewart, my um, my mom wants to see you.”
“See me?”
“Yeah,” he says. “I should’ve known the second my mom found out you were here; she wouldn’t care that I was.”
“That’s not true,” I argue as I walk back toward the ICU. “Are you coming?”
“She actually wants to see you alone.”
“Oh,” I mumble. “I wonder why.”
“Knowing my mom, she’s sick of me worrying about her and wants to just chat with someone she loves.”
I give him a small nod and then make my way back to the ICU.
There you are.” Elise smiles as I enter her room. It’s strange seeing her like this. The last time I saw her in the hospital, the machine she was hooked up to was barely noticeable. Now, it’s hard not to notice all of them. “I wasn’t sure he’d actually send you back.”
“Zeke would do anything for you,” I respond. “You know that.”
“Can you sit with me for a minute,” she begins. “I was hoping to talk to you.”
“Of course,” I continue, “you can always talk to me.”
“It’s about Zeke.”
I should’ve known she’d want to talk about him. I know she worries about him just as much as he worries about her. She once told me that she hated how much pressure her cancer put on him.