Poisoned LIght

Chapter 8:

Hannah spots me getting my morning coffee.

"Are you okay?" she asks quietly.

"I'm cooping," I reply. "I actually got seven hours of sleep last night. That might be because I was so tired though."

"Did you hear from Patrick?" she continued, concerned still.

"Yeah, my mom is supposed to call tonight," I explain.

"He was worried when you didn't answer and he went by your apartment and you weren't there," she replies.

"I fell asleep at Jack's," I mumbled embarrassed.

"Again? What's that the second time you've stayed over?" she asked interested.

"Third, though I slept on the couch two of those times," I reply.

"Where did you sleep the third time?" she asked.

I shrugged at her smiling.

"Michael, tell me about," she says punching my arm playfully.

"His sister helped me plan for it. The younger one, she's in high school. She told me he liked amusement parks so I kind of took him to one, on his birthday, last Sunday," I reply. "I was just trying to be nice, I didn't expect it to turn into anything. But he kissed me."

"Do you like the kid?" she continues.

"Oliver's great," I reply. "It kind of reminds me of me and my dad before I was diagnosed and he saw me as different."

"When were you diagnosed?" she asks.

"I was eight. There had been no previous history of it in our family so I wasn't tested at birth. Patrick didn't have it. I fell off the playground and I dislocated my shoulder and the bruising was huge, and it was there for weeks so they took me to the doctor and they ran tests and found my low-clotting blood cell count and put me on a supplement for it but I still bleed when I get injured badly," I explain.

"Are you going to tell your mom about Jack?" she questions.

"She'll probably ask how my love life is going when she calls. I think the last relationship I told her about was Max," I reply.

"Max? Max was an asshole," Hannah comments.

"But he was hot," I reply.

"He was a six," she comments.

"In your book," I reply.

We got to class and it went by in a flash, we got lunch together and attended our afternoon classes before I drove her home and went home. I made myself dinner and sat down to work on my homework.

By the time, I finished it was 8:30 pm.

My phone started ringing, I looked at the name, it was my mom.

"Hey," I answered.

"Michael," she breathed. "It's been so long."

"I saw you at Christmas, mom," I reply.

"You mean aside from Monday night? You know if your father had his way I'd never see my baby," she mumbles. "I'm sorry about him."

"Don't apologize for him, it's not your fault. He's just..." I trail off knowing she'll scold me for calling him a dick or asshole.

"Not your favorite person?" she puts in politer terms.

"Sure," I reply.

"Do you want to tell me about your nose?" she asked.

"It's a long story and it's not important really..." I start.

"Michael," she warns.

"So, I was hired by this guy to look after his son. He's divorced from his ex and anyway I found the guy who hired me in an alley, he looked like he'd been punched in the stomach so I went to help him despite him telling me to leave and his ex, kind of punched me in the face," I explain.

"Did you go to the hospital? Did you press charges?" she questions.

"I was bleeding from my nose, mom, and he ran off. He helped me back to the apartment and made sure I was okay," I tell her.

"Why didn't you go to the hospital? You know that this could be a serious injury. You could be bleeding internally," she continues worried.

"My nose stopped bleeding and the swelling was decreasing normally and the bruises were healing normally, I'm fine, mom. I promise," I reply.

"The kid wasn't there, was he?" she asks.

"No, Jack has a restraining order against the guy so I don't know what he thinks he's doing," I continue. "He showed up at his house once, too, he had to call the police."

"He kind of sounds like your father in a way," my mother murmurs.

"He is in a way, I guess," I reply.

"Do you have a boyfriend? Tell me, you've moved on from that Max guy. I never did like him," she changes the subject.

"I know, that ended a while ago. Umm...I do have someone I like but I'm not sure about it yet. But yeah," I tell her.

"I'd like to meet him if everything goes well," my mom replies. "You'd have to come later though, after your dad's gone home, I'll try talking to him about you two and Jasper but he's stubborn, always has been."

"When do visiting hours start? Maybe I'll bring him early, he normally works at night," I reply.

"Nine or ten, I think. Your father's shift is from nine till five most days," she replies.

"Are you going to do chemo?" I ask suddenly.

"It depends on how this thing with Patrick and Jasper goes and when their wedding is going to be. They want me to come, and I want to go but it takes months to plan a wedding and if I'm honest, I might not make it but I do want to set things straight for you boys before I go. Get you two and your father on the same page. I want him to go to your weddings if I'm not around. I want him to be there for your grandchildren. I want him to be a part of your lives and love you regardless of who you love," she says, I can hear her sniffling.

She was crying. If I was stressed over my relationship with my father, I could only imagine how she felt being sick and trying to keep her family from going at each other's throats.

"I don't have class tomorrow, maybe I'll come visit you in the morning," I whisper.

"I would love that. Thank you, Michael," she replies still sniffling.

"You're welcome, mom," I reply.

"I should let you try and get some sleep since you're having trouble with that. I still think you should go to the doctor, if not for the bruise, for your sleeping problems," she replies.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I reply.

"Good night, honey," she replies and hangs up.