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"And he says he's fine but I just get scared. Because like cole tore his shoulder and was out for the season. And so did one of Trevor's teammates." Elyssa rants to her mom in the car. "I get that. But you have to trust him. He did say that it's not a tear. He's a big boy." Lisa kind of laughs as she says the last part. "Yeah. I'm just trying not to worry. Lindy said he's not playing tomorrow so that makes me feel a bit better." Elyssa shrugs as her mom puts the car in park. "He's in Bruce hall." Lisa says as they get out of the car to pick up Elyssas little brother. Elyssa follows her mom to the right building. "Baby brother!" Elyssa cheers as he lets them into the building. "What's up!" He smiles, hugging his sister, then his mom. "Ight Ima need help with my bags." The women follow the boy up to his room to get his stuff for thanksgiving break.
"So tomorrow we're meeting dad?" Elyssa confirms with Teddy as they enter their childhood home. "Yep. For lunch." He nods. "Then don't forget, in 2 days, on thanksgiving, we're all going to grandmas." Lisa tells the siblings. "What do you think dads gonna tell us?" Teddy sounds nervous. "I bet he got a 20 something pregnant." Elyssa partly jokes. "Oooo, or he's getting married." Teddy joins in. Elyssa laughs, happy she diverted her brothers worries. The small family spends the rest of the night catching up.
"Let's get this over with." Elyssa gets out of the car at the restaurant her and Teddy are meeting their dad at. "It won't be that bad." Teddy try's to make her feel better. She shoots him and unamused look, making both of them laugh. They enter the restaurant, Elyssa following Teddy to find their dad. Once they find him, Elyssa immediately notices how run down he looks. She rolls her eyes, figuring he's using again and is going to beg her for money. "Hey guys." Chad smiles as the siblings sit across from him in the booth. "Hi." "Hey." They respond. "Elyssa congratulations on getting married," Chad begins, "wish I met him first but." He shrugs, taking a shot at her. "Thank you." She gives him a fake smile, absentmindedly playing with her ring. She bites her tongue to keep from telling him why he wasn't invited, and that he's never going to meet Jack. "And Teddy, you're in college now." Chad looks to her younger brother sitting next to her. Teddy tells him all about college and how it's been so far. His face is beaming with a smile. It hurts Elyssa's heart knowing that Teddy still kind of hopes that Chad will be in his life, that he'll be a good dad, or that he'll change. As the guys talk, Elyssa watches the tv in the corner of the restaurant. It's playing a Pittsburg penguins game. Shes partially listening to their conversation though, waiting for Chad to change the subject, she's waiting for him to need something. "Alright," Chad sighs, settling down from laughing at a joke Teddy made. Elyssa and Teddy pay attention to him. "So I didn't just ask you guys here to bullshit around." "Yeah..." Elyssa sighs. "I uhm, I have tell you guys some news. And it's not the best news." He's searching for a reaction. Elyssa raises her eyebrows at him, telling him to get on with it. "I found out a couple weeks ago that I have stage 4 liver cancer." The words feel like they're choking Elyssa. She forces herself to breathe, looking over at teddy's reaction. His face is pale, he looks like he could be sick. She grabs his hand in hers, squeezing it to silently remind him that she's there. There's a looming silence over the trio, the siblings trying their best to process the information. "O-ok..." Elyssa lets out, "what does that mean?" "It means I'm going to die." Chad flat out says. Elyssa clenches her jaw, angry that he said it like that. "Probably a couple months. I can't afford the hospital bills and all that so my doctor just told me to live my life." He shrugs casually. Elyssa grows angry at Chad. The way he's telling them, the words he's using, how he suddenly wants to be in their lives just as he's dwindling away. She wants to walk away, to leave him there alone in the booth. But she knew Teddy would stay. He still cares about Chad. He's too sympathetic toward his dad. Elyssa feels like she's going to explode, so she found a better option. She abruptly gets up from the table and goes to the restroom. She paces around, forcing herself to breathe. She wipes her sweaty palms on her pants. It feels like an elephant is sitting on her chest and the world is moving a mile a minute. She pulls out her phone with shaky hands and checks the time. 5:09 pm. She opens her phone and calls Jack, hoping that he's not at the rink yet. After three rings, he doesn't pick up. Fuck. She knows Megan is with her family and doesn't want to bother her so she doesn't try. She continues to pace around the small bathroom, trying to calm her oncoming panic attack. She closes her eyes, focusing on her breathing. Her phone buzzes in her hand.
Jack🥰 Hey I can't talk rn. I gotta put my phone away once warm ups start. Everything ok?
Elyssa felt weight come off her chest. She's no longer alone.
Lyss I think I'm having a panic attack. I can't breathe Jack🥰 Ok. Just breathe as deep as you can. Do the countdown thing
Elyssa follows his instructions, happy he didn't ask questions. She finds 5 things she can see, 4 things she can touch, 3 things she can hear, 2 things she can smell and 1 thing she can taste. Thankfully, her heart slowed and she knew that she could begin to calm down.
Jack🥰 How are you? Lyss That helped. Thank you Jack🥰 I'm glad. How's it going with your dad? Lyss I'll tell you later. Call me after the game? Jack🥰 I will. Love you Lyss Love you
