The following morning, Nathan kissed Sydney goodbye and set off on his forty-five minute drive. Arlen told him that David wished to see Nathan alone and Nathan agreed. Sydney hadn't spoken to David once since the night she confronted him and she found it odd that Nathan's presence was the one requested...truthfully, so did Nathan.
He rode in silence, something he usually never did. He thought about what David might say...what he might say back...and none of his imaginary scenarios ended well. Nathan was told, point blank, that he "wasn't good enough" for the woman he loved and the words still made him seethe. He was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his hands were beginning to go numb. Just when he was having second thoughts, he turned into the parking lot, shut off his car, and opened the door.
The building was unassuming, which was the idea. Its appearance was somewhere between a hospital and an office complex. It was a far cry from where he thought David would be, but perhaps the plusher sort of facility wouldn't do this time around. He walked through the front door and the air-conditioning made its presence known, sending a chill through Nathan's body. He spotted what he took for a reception area, and a few minutes later he was being escorted down a long, beige hallway.
"I don't expect you'll have any trouble, sir," the young man escorting him began, "but if you do, there's a call button inside the room right next the door."
"That's encouraging," Nathan mumbled. He knocked on the door, wanting to get this over with and ready to defend himself to the fullest. When the door opened though, this thought pattern changed.
"Nathan...you came." David's voice was tired, as were his eyes. He moved aside. "Please, come in." Nathan walked through the doorway and into the small, efficiency-like room. "I really never thought...oh, please, sit."
"Um, thanks." Nathan sat on a small brown couch against the wall; David took a seat in the matching chair across from it. Aside from these, there was a bed under the window and a shelf full of books, nothing more.
"Not what you were expecting, I know. I did the 'fancy rehab' before...obviously, it didn't take." Nathan didn't respond to this. "I'm sure you want to get this over with."
"Bit," he said, flatly.
David sighed. "Arlen told me what happened a couple of weeks ago." He ran his hand through his hair. "She's...okay?"
Nathan nodded. "She is now. Shaken up for a little while, but..."
"But she has you to look after her." A faint smile crossed his lips. "To save her from rogue gym teachers."
Nathan cocked his head. "Are you making a joke out of this?"
"What?" David sat up straight. "No, of course not, I...quite frankly, Nathan, I don't know how I'm to act around you."
"How about not like an..." He bit his tongue.
"Yes, I was an ass. To both you and Sydney."
"Why am I here, David?"
"Selfish reasons, I'm afraid. I need to make amends to those I've wronged. I'm sure I don't need to tell you the process."
Nathan shook his head and countered, honestly, "I never went through things long enough to reach that point."
"Didn't see recovery through?"
"You're in medicine, David, you know neither of us will ever be 'cured' of anything." He looked around the room. "You may be going through something more intense here, but unless you really want to change..."
"I do...don't you?"
"What do you mean 'don't' I?" He rose from his seat and began to pace. "You...you still don't think I'm your version of good enough for her do you?"
"I'm not saying that."
"No, but you're doing an excellent job of implying." His muscles tensed. "I told Arlen I'd come here and hear you out. Try to help for his sake and you're..."
David stood now, stopping Nathan and placing a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't going as I wished. I am sorry for my behavior, Nathan. Truly."
Nathan pulled away and walked toward the door. "I think my coming here was a mistake."
"No, please wait." David looked at Nathan with actual sincerity. "How much has she told you about...what we used to...how we were as a couple?"
"Aside from using herself to..."
"Aside from that," Davis said, ashamed. "Has she said anything else? Maybe not recently, but..."
Nathan rubbed at his eyes. "David, why would she? What is she supposed to be doing, comparing us? Measuring up who the better man is?"
"Learning from her mistakes, that's all." David swallowed hard. "I'm the biggest she ever made, I'm sure of it. I stole a number of years from her, caused a rift between herself and parts of her family, and made her..." He sounded disgusted with himself. "I made her feel that she had to whore herself to me...and I loved it." He wiped at his eyes. "Reality and I have issues, you see. I like to be the center of everyone's world and when I'm not...I do very stupid things to get their attention."
"I don't know why you're telling me any of this. All I want to do is punch you."
"What's your favorite thing to do with her? Something that isn't sexual."
Nathan was appalled. "Okay, maybe it was my fault for letting you hear us that night, but we do a lot more than roll around in bed."
"Such as?"
"You know what, fine. I don't want to be here and if this is what it takes to leave..." He leaned against the wall. "We talk...constantly and about everything imaginable. Wants, fears, seriously everything - and ever since our time away together neither of us hide a thing. We go on adventures, or at least they felt like adventures...sneaking around made us find new and out of the way places and try things we never would have otherwise, and on the few occasions that things didn't go as planned, it was still fun and stress free, something neither of us are used to. We cook together, and have fun doing it, we..." He saw the look in David's eye. "What?"
"Nothing, go on."
"She did mention that you never bathed or showered together..."
"Of course not, that's...that's alone time, she said so herself..."
Nathan laughed. "Funny, she said you liked to spend too much time washing your hair..."
"We never even attempted...."
"Well, since you want to know things so badly, we spend that time together often. Either in the tub or in the shower...she loves when I wash her hair." He smiled thinking of her, wanting to be with her right then and there. "This is ridiculous. It's like you want fodder for..."
"No, I need to hear this, you...you don't understand. You can't."
"She likes for me to read to her at night...I think it's one of her favorite things we do together."
"Like a child?"
"No, like an adult that wants to spend time with another adult doing something in bed other than having sex or watching television."
David tried to slide things to a negative subject. "Have you slipped since you've been seeing her?"
"No," Nathan replied coldly, but then he took in the entire situation and tried to be a better man. "She tried to do...what she did with you. She did do it, then told me about it and for a brief while I..." He licked his lips and looked at his feet. "But I loved her too much to let things go on that way. I made it a point to deal with my problems and be thankful for what I had instead of focusing on the bullshit."
"No...no ultimatums from her?"
"Ultimatums? What? No. She offered me her support, gave me my own choice and...I chose her. I already made firm decisions concerning my relationship with my daughter, making the same choice for Sydney was easy...and she made keeping my promises to Susan that much easier."
"Well, Nathan...I was so very wrong in my first impressions of you."
Nathan rolled his eyes, but David didn't see. "I've been here less than twenty minutes."
"Yes, and in that time you've made it abundantly clear how much she loves you...and you her. No more problems from me, I promise."
Nathan never truly worried about David causing any rift between he and Sydney, but now it was quite clear just how much stronger and healthier of a relationship he had with her...he wanted to go home to her even worse than before. He sat down across from David and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "David..." He paused for a moment, hoping he wasn't going to make things worse for the partially broken man in front of him. "Did Arlen give you an ultimatum or a choice?"
"After Sydney kicked me out?" he laughed. A smile then lit up his tired face. "He gave me a choice."
"I'm pretty sure you know we've both ended up with the right people, hm? We just have to remember what we have to do to keep them. We can't be selfish and we can't be weak...but if weakness finds us, they want to be our strength."
David reached out for Nathan's hand and Nathan took it in his own. "You'll take wonderful care of her...and she'll do the same for you."
"That's the plan," Nathan said, smiling. "Do you want to be part of Arlen and the little one's life?"
"I wasn't sure for quite some time. Well...that's not true, it was more that I was terrified, but now it's all I can think about."
"Good. Work for it. They deserve that."
"I will."
