The Tour

thirteen / goodbye

Rachel looked up from her phone with a sigh. "Well, I guess that it's time for me to head into work."

    She stood up from her seat next to her son and gave him a smile. The mother leaned down and wrapped her son in a hug before straightening up and grabbing her purse. "I love you," Rachel said with a smile.

    "I love you too, mom," Will replied.

    "And I love you too, River. Thanks for keeping Will company when we can't," she beamed at me. I gave her a smile from my spot in the chair on the opposite side of her son.

    "My pleasure, I'm just waiting for the day when he kicks me out again," I joked, earning a laugh from her and a pout from Will.

    "It was one time..." he said lowly.

    "Anyway, you two have a good afternoon. I'll bring some dinner from home when I'm free later, Will, and dad should be able to come too," she responded to her son before heading out the door.

    A few minutes after she had left, Will and I settled back into our usual routine of watching The Office. He had already had physical therapy today, which now included strength training with his arms in another area of the hospital, and he was pretty tired out from it. I glanced over at him fifteen minutes into the first episode and found him already passed out.

    Once I was satisfied that he would be asleep for a while, I took out my computer and headphones. I had been watching the replays of the heats from last year's Maui Pro, and I had a few more to finish up before this year's event. The film was helpful for both analyzing the break and how my competitors would surf it, and I was confident that Coach John would be pleased that I put the work in.

    I managed to make it through four heats before I heard Will stirring beside me.

    "What are you doing?" he asked in a low, groggy voice, making me jump in surprise.

    Quickly, I managed to close my laptop and take the headphones off. "Uh, just some stuff to prep for Maui."

    "Oh, okay," he responded as he rubbed his eyes.

    "I actually leave tomorrow."

    "Geez, Riv, didn't want to give me much warning, huh?"

    I made a face, realizing that it might have been better to tell him earlier. "I'm sorry, I just felt bad and didn't think of a good time to bring it up."

    "Nah, it's all good bro I'll survive. But not having enough time is a crap excuse, you spend eight hours a day here every day," he chuckled lightly while turning back to the TV.

    "You're right, I guess I just didn't want to bring it up," I allowed.

    We proceeded to watch the show in silence for another hour, except for the occasional laugh when something amusing happened. Will was getting close to his previous sleeping position again, his head sliding down to the side of the bed that I was sitting on.

    "I'm so tired," he groaned, his eyelids fluttering.

    I reached over, unable to resist combing through his hair to get it back into place. "You should sleep then. I might have to leave before you wake up though," I said softly.

    "Sorry I'm so boring."

    A smile appeared on my face at that, knowing that he probably was sorry, but I was just thankful that he was around to be boring.

    "I'll miss you," Will followed up, his voice even quieter this time as his eyes closed.

    "I'll miss you, too. Keep healing up for me while I'm gone."

Alrighty this chapter was short as heck but it's going to get the job done. See ya on the flip side dudes