Lilly opened the door and was relieved to see that May was awake and watching a nature program on her small television. She made her way in with a wide smile on her face.
"Aunt May, good morning," she said as she sat next to her.
"Lilly! Hello sweet one," May whispered and gave her a faint smile.
"How are you feeling today?" Lilly asked.
"I'm doing okay. They had to replace my IV line today. It hurt," May said as she settled her head back onto her pillow heavily. It seemed just saying those three sentences had made her tired.
"I have someone that I want you to meet if that's okay?" Lilly asked and gestured toward the door, not wanting to tire May out with a prolonged visit. May looked confused but gave her a nod. Lilly went to the door and ushered Jaycee in.
"Jaycee, this is my Aunt May. Aunt May this is Jaycee, my girlfriend. She came all the way from Atlanta to meet you," Lilly said as she gave May a bright smile.
Aunt May just stared at Jaycee, the confused expression only growing more pronounced and Lilly felt her heart begin to hammer.
"Atlanta? Girlfriend? Does Mitchy know about this?" May asked with a deep frown on her face.
"Aunt May, I've been living in Atlanta for the past ten years now. Mitch and I haven't been together for a long time," Lilly said, feeling her face heat with embarrassment. Had she picked up on something between her and Mitch? God, why was this happening?
"I don't... I don’t understand..." May said, her eyebrows furrowing with confusion and mild panic.
"It's okay, Aunt May--," Lilly said, panicking as her eyes darted from a stricken-looking Jaycee to her upset aunt.
"I don't understand any of this," May mumbled anxiously, now looking frightened and lost. "I don't understand..."
Lilly looked at Jaycee apologetically.
"I'll just wait outside," Jaycee said, now looking like she was near tears.
She watched her go and closed the door slowly as she turned to Aunt May pushing down her frustration. She has no control over this, she reminded herself and sat back down, rubbing her aunt's arm soothingly.
"It's all right Aunt May. Everything is fine, okay?" she said, trying to calm her.
"When am I going home, Lilly?" May asked in a frightened whisper.
Lilly tried valiantly to hold back tears as she searched for an answer that she could live with.
"We'll have to talk to your doctors, May," she said, unable to keep her voice from cracking as she wiped at her eyes. God, she wasn’t ready for this. She wasn’t ready to lose May like this.
"Sit with me for a while?" May asked as her head rested back against her pillows and her eyes began to close.
"Of course, Aunt May. Of course, I will,” Lilly barely got out before she sat heavily in the chair next to her aunt, took her hand and silently wept.
Chapter 9
Lilly looked on with a small grin as Jaycee was being chatted up by Hank, one of the bar regulars. She'd wanted just a quiet night in with Jaycee, who was still upset about the visit with May, but she didn't have a choice when Mark had called her two hours before his shift saying he was too sick to come in.
"Uh oh, looks like trouble!" Hank said good-naturedly as he pointed to the bar's front door. Lilly looked up from pouring a fairly decent Black and Tan and saw Mitch, Fish and a couple of other men she didn’t know.
She smiled wide when she saw Fish catch sight of her. His eyes danced with merriment and his face split into a wide grin as he began stalking over to her. She delivered the beer quickly and came around the bar, lifting the counter door and meeting him a few feet from the bar.
She was immediately hoisted up into his arms and spun around. She laughed loudly as she grabbed onto his neck and tried to keep her legs from bashing any chairs or patrons.
"As I live and breathe! Lilly Tan! How in the hell are you? I heard you were in town!" he said in his usual rapid-fire pace, making her feel wistful and so happy to see him at the same time. She was so relieved that he seemed to harbor no ill will toward her about what transpired between her and Mitch all those years ago.
He set her down gently but didn't move away as he looked at her expectantly, eyes bright.
"I'm doing well, thank you. And yep, been here for a couple of weeks. May asked me to..." She faltered not quite sure what Mitch had told him. "I'm here for May," she said finally, and his eyes went from bright to knowing sympathy in a heartbeat as he pulled her into a tight hug.
"I know, Lil. I know, and it fucking sucks," he said quietly in her ear. She smiled faintly at his succinctness and nodded, not trusting her voice to respond as she pulled gently out of his embrace.
"You guys here to cause trouble?" she asked lightly, preempting the somberness before it took hold. He rolled with the change in subject easily like she knew he would as he stepped back and raised his hands up, nearly touching the ceiling with his impressive wingspan.
"When don't the BlackJacks cause trouble, Ms. Tan?" he said, each word getting louder as the patrons at the bar hollered and clapped, used to the firefighters coming in and livening the place up, respectfully of course.
"Go grab a booth and I'll bring you the usual," she said with a laugh as her eyes landed on Mitch and the firefighter winked at her. The familiarity of the gesture reached into Lilly's heart and gave it a pleasant squeeze and she forgot Jaycee was even there until her girlfriend caught her attention as she was pouring the pitcher for them.
"Is that who I think it is?" Jaycee asked as she jabbed her thumb over her shoulder indicating the firefighters in the booth behind her, eyes full of mischief and rapt inquisitiveness.
Lilly felt a surge of guilt and took almost a full ten seconds to answer. She knew exactly who Jaycee was referring to. Jaycee had heard a lot about Mitch, usually when Lilly had been drunk and before she and Jaycee had become intimate. She racked her brain trying to remember all she'd said about her, but then decided she was better off not trying to recall.
"It is. She and Fish come in when they are off shift sometimes," Lilly said as she set some mugs on a tray.
"She's very..." Jaycee said and slowly turned around, taking a longer look at Mitch as her sentence hung unfinished.
Lilly knew exactly what she was being careful not to say. Mitch was very butch. The opposite of Jaycee, who was as femme as they came.
"Well, I guess no one can accuse you of having a type," Jaycee said with a light chuckle as she turned back around.
The comment seemed innocuous enough, but it rubbed her the wrong way. “You're surprised I'd be with someone so butch?" Lilly asked, saying the last word like a homophobic epithet.
"Hey, I didn't mean anything rude by it," Jaycee said defensively.
Lilly sighed, knowing she'd reacted too harsh. She put down the glass she was washing and looked at Jaycee. "It's just that she got a lot of shit back in school... for the way she looked. I guess I'm still sensitive about it," Lilly said.
"You've been broken up for ten years," Jaycee said softly, as if trying to remind Lilly of that fact. It felt condescending and Lilly pursed her lips to keep from saying so.
Jaycee must have read her displeasure at the comment because her eyes softened. "I get it. I really do. I grew up in a rural part of Georgia and kids who were different were bullied relentlessly."