I pointed at the door we were looking for. “Look, this is it.” Not waiting for him, I knocked lightly and pushed the door open slowly, gesturing for him to go in first.
A familiar woman with dark blonde hair was sitting in a recliner turned toward a small television on the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. But it was the elderly man lying in the hospital bed with his arms at his sides that I focused on. He had a few tubes hooked up to his arms and one into his nose, and most importantly, his eyes were glued to the television too.
I guess they hadn’t heard me knock, because the second Zac took about four steps into the hospital room, Paw-Paw Travis gasped and followed that up by smiling so big, it took up the majority of his lined and weathered face. At eighty-nine years old, his hair was all white and fluffy, where usually he had it all combed and nice looking.
“Zac,” the old man crooned as he lifted his head and flashed his mouthful of dentures. I knew they were dentures because he’d let me see them once when they’d gotten loose. Paw-Paw Travis must have caught sight of me hovering behind his grandson because he breathed out, that big smile still on his face as he gasped my name in that thick drawl that even put Zac’s to shame. “Bianca.”
At least he recognized me.
“Hi, Paw-Paw Travis,” I greeted him just as Zac made it to the bed and instantly bent over, slipping an arm under his grandfather’s head effortlessly, his free arm curling over to hug him. I smiled and didn’t miss the harsh hiccup that took over Zac as he said who knew what kind of words into the older man’s ear. I glanced over at Ms. Travis, Mr. Travis’s daughter, and caught her sitting up and smiling tiredly over at her father and son as they embraced. “Hi, Ms. Travis.”
Ms. Travis got to her feet with an exhausted sigh, and we hugged. I’d known her just as long as I’d known her son. We hadn’t been all that close while I’d been little—she’d been a mom figure that worked a lot, and she’d kind of intimidated me once when she’d literally grabbed Zac by the ear and dragged him out of Mamá Lupe’s house—but over the years, we’d grown closer through Boogie. “Bianca, thank you so much for bringing him,” the woman said.
“It was nothing,” I replied, still in the middle of a hug. “Any news?”
She pulled back and lowered her voice just enough to whisper, “We’re waiting for some test results. We were lucky I found him so soon.”
“I’m so glad he’s fine. I’m sure it scared the hell out of you. Do you need anything? Can I do anything?” I asked the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who towered over me. I’d asked her once how tall she was, and she’d laughed and said five-ten.
“No, no, I’m fine. Boogie ran out and got us some supper earlier.” She squeezed my hand and lowered her voice even more. “Has my baby boy eaten anything?”
Her baby boy. Pfft. I almost laughed.
We both glanced toward the bed and found Zac stretched out on it beside his grandfather, facing him, head cushioned on his biceps as they whispered to each other. This grown-ass man on the bed with his equally long grandpa was pretty freaking adorable; they looked like time-lapsed twins.
And despite how cute Zac looked with Paw-Paw, I was about to rat him out to his mom anyway. I wasn’t sure I’d ever done that before. That was one of the main reasons why he and Boog had always let me hang out. Well, that and the life-saving thing, I guessed. Snitches get stitches, bitches, Connie had taught me when I’d been like… five.
I’d been around when Connie had taught her daughter the same saying—minus the bitch part—and had impressed my sister by dragging my thumb across my throat while she’d done it. We’d had a good laugh over it later when my niece hadn’t been around. I needed to go visit them again soon.
“No, not with me. He’s been really worried.”
“Like he should be.” She sighed, attention still focused on the two generations of men. “Thank you so much for going to find him for us. Boogie said he had to call and get you out of work to go get him.”
“It’s not a big deal. I was almost done with my shift when he did. It was no problem.”
The same milky, light blue eyes as Zac’s, but on a much more feminine face, slid in my direction. Ms. Travis was beautiful. A thinking and judging beautiful woman who knew from our last interaction that I still hadn’t seen her son in years. I bet she hadn’t forgotten that part.
“It’s hard to keep track of him nowadays. If he could find it in him to settle down and stay somewhere, buy a place of his own, we wouldn’t have to be searching for him all the time. God knows I send him lists of houses every other week close to Paw-Paw and me, but he just won’t set up roots with anything or anyone,” she told me quietly and with an exasperated expression.
The only thing I could do was smile at her and nod like I understood.
And I guess, in a way, I did.
And if that comment about settling down with anything and anyone wasn’t my cue to get the hell out of there, I didn’t know what was. “If it’s okay, let me give Paw-Paw a hug, and I’ll get out of here before you get in trouble for having too many people hanging around.”
Ms. Travis nodded.
I made my way over to the bed as Zac and Paw-Paw continued talking to each other. As soon as the older man spotted me though, he stopped talking and gave me a tired but somehow bright smile. His deep, sweet voice was weak. “You came all this way to check on me?”
“You know I did.” I smiled at him before eyeing Zac and feeling a small part of my expression drop off. I glanced back at the older man. “Did you like the present I brought you, Paw? He was pretty hard to find.”
Mr. Travis’s hand, connected to tubes, slid across the bed and patted his grandson’s denim-covered hip. “Best gift anyone has ever found for me. Bless you, sweetheart.”
I leaned forward and kissed the older man on the cheek. He still had the faintest hint of cologne clinging to him. I liked it. “Do you need anything?”
“To get out of here.”
I grinned. “I’ll put in a good word for you with the doctor, okay? Maybe he’ll let you out of here sooner. We’ll smuggle you out if not.”
“That’d be real nice, sweetheart. How’s work?” he asked on a sudden yawn.
That was my second sign to bounce. “I’ve got a new boss, and he’s a jerk, but I’m hanging in there.” I reached down and combed his hair to the side with my fingers as he yawned again. “I’m going to get out of here before they kick me out. They don’t want your fan club taking over the whole floor. If you need anything, give me a call or have someone else give me a call, okay?”
His smile turned soft, and I did my best to keep ignoring the set of eyes that had been aimed at me from the moment I’d approached the bed. “I will,” he assured me.
I stroked Mr. Travis’s hand, his veins big and blue and purple, as Zac sat up a bit.
Right. Time to say bye. And I was going to do it right, because Mamá Lupe would haunt me in my dreams tonight if I didn’t.
And also, life was fucking short, and I wasn’t harboring any resentment. Just some melancholy and bittersweetness in there. That was it.