Waverly
GIO ARRIVED ON Monday morning with Connor, and a giant bruise on his left cheek.
"Do you need to stick around?" Connor asked.
"I think we’ve got this," I said, smiling. "We’ll be about forty-five minutes if you want to grab a coffee and co back."
"Sounds good," Connor said. "See you later."
I wheeled Gio back to one of the treatnt offices and closed the door. "What happened to your face?"
"I fell."
"Oh yeah?" I cupped his chin and lifted his face. "On soone’s fist?"
He sighed.
"What happened, Gio?" I pressed.
"It wasn’t my finest hour," he admitted.
"How about you tell anyway?"
"I kind of snapped at Katie and made her cry, and her brother got pissed."
"So, he hit you?"
"It was deserved," he said.
"You can’t solve your issues with violence," I said. "That’s really not cool."
"Yeah, well, I can’t continue to be a dick to my friend and then apologize thinking she’s just going to keep forgiving . That’s really the thing that’s not cool."
I bit my lip. "That’s also very true. What does Katie say about all of this?"
"I don’t know," he grumbled. "She’s currently not talkin’ to ."
"Ouch." I sat on the stool facing him. "I’m sorry."
"Don’t be. It’s my fault. I fucked up. I gotta own it and figure out a way to fix it."
"Does she have a favorite spa?"
"Like, massage and shit?"
"Yeah, like massage and shit," I parroted.
"I have no idea."
"Can you find out?"
"Possibly," he said.
"Then, I would find out and buy her a spa day. Maybe buy her and her best friend a spa day."
He sat up a little straighter. "That’s a really good idea, beautiful."
I grinned. "I know."
"It’s probably going to take more than that, though."
"It’s a start, right?"
"Yeah," he agreed. "It’s a start."
"Okay, let’s get to work."
"Fuck," he breathed out. "I really wanna kiss you right now."
"That’s not going to happen."
"Ever?"
"Not at work, no." I stood beside him and helped him remove his arm from his hoodie.
"You scared for a minute there."
"Gio," I warned.
"Yeah, yeah, professional, I know."
"What’s going on with your leg?" I asked as I started to do range of motion stretches on his shoulder.
"I go in tomorrow for another x-ray. I guess they take off the cast, x-ray it, then cast up again?"
"Yes. It’s kind of cool how they take off the cast and then reapply it. Your leg will look tiny compared to your other one. Be prepared."
He laughed. "Yeah, Kate warned ."
"Maybe you’ll be able to put so weight on it with your walker. Then the real fun begins."
"I just want out of this fuckin’ chair," he hissed.
"I know." I smiled. "You will be. Just don’t rush it. You don’t want to do any further damage to it."
"Workin’ on it."
"Why’d you make Katie cry?"
"According to Maisie, I have both anger and entitlent issues."
"Ooph, she said that?"
"She sure did."
"And do you?"
He sighed, taking my hand with his good one and pulling to face him. "I do."
"I’m not done with your shoulder."
"Sit down, baby. I need to talk to you."
I took my seat again and waited for him to speak.
"Sothing I didn’t tell you about my dad is that he was murdered."
I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands. "Oh my god."
"I watched it happen."
I bit back tears. "When you were ten?"
He nodded. "And you’re only the second person in my life that knows that."
"Your mom?"
"No, Connor."
"Your mom doesn’t know?"
He shook his head. "Mom and Dad had gone to the little strip mall to pick up our Christmas gifts, and we were told to stay ho. But I was a nosey little kid, so when Angelica wasn’t looking, I’d hopped on my bike and pedaled my ass up to the store to see if I could snatch a peek. I was dying to know if they were going to buy this limited-edition graphic novel omnibus I’d been eyeing, and rather than just waiting to open it on Christmas day, I’d decided to do so recon. What I saw instead, was so guy beating the shit out of a woman and when my dad stepped in, this guy stabbed him."
"God!" I rasped, tears streaming down my face.
"My mom scread for help as he bled out on the pavent, and I bolted. Just pedaled as fast as I could back ho. Angelica didn’t even realize I’d left. And of course, that began the guilt of everything I wish I could have done, should have done."
"You were a child."
"I know, but back then, with a child’s brain, I just kept everything to myself and slowly went crazy. Until I t Connor. He saved my life. But I have... issues. So I haven’t fully dealt with. And it cos out when I least expect it, and unfortunately, the people I care the most about get the brunt of it."
"Well, I think you need to tell your mom all of this, and I certainly think you need to tell Katie. But your mom deserves to know the truth first."
He sighed. "Yeah, you’re probably right."
"I’m so sorry you went through all of that."
"It was a long ti ago, I just wanted you to understand why this"—he pointed to his cheek—"happened for a reason. It wasn’t out of the blue and it was deserved."
"What could you have possibly done to deserve that?"
"Baby, if soone made you cry, for any reason, I’d have done the sa thing. And believe , I wasn’t nice to Kate. I was a dick. I’ve been takin’ her for granted, and she’s been drivin’ around, being sweet and takin’ ti out of her day to do it, and I was not giving her the sa kindness, so I fuckin’ deserved it. Probably more."
I pressed my lips into a thin line, then let out a deep breath. "Well, then maybe you should buy her a spa weekend retreat."
He chuckled. "Yeah."
"Let finish working your shoulder because Connor’s going to be back soon."
He nodded, and we went back to his therapy.
Razor
The next day, Angelica was the one driving to my x-ray, and she was all kinds of amped up.
"Thanks for doing this, cucciolotta," I said once I was buckled in.
"Happy to help, fratellino," she said, then raised an eyebrow. "Wait, why are you being sweet?"
"It has been brought to my attention that I haven’t been treating my family kindly of late, and I’m trying to make ands."
"Oh yeah? Who told you that?"
"Maisie."
"Oh my god, really?" she breathed out as she drove toward the clinic. "You got chewed out by sweet, delicate, gentle Maisie?"
"I got punched in the face by Flea, then chewed out by sweet, delicate, gentle Maisie."
She gasped. "Flea punched you?"
"He did."
"Why?"
"If you must know, I made Katie cry."
She reached over and shoved her fingers into the bruise on my jaw.
"Ow! What the fuck?"
"That’s for making Katie cry, asshole."
I rubbed the spot she’d just abused and sighed. "Okay, fair."
"Jesus, that’s so not cool."
"I know. I need to make it up to her sohow. Maybe a spa weekend or sothing."
"That’s actually a really good idea. I know just the place."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. I’ll send you the details," she promised, pulling into an open parking space.
After helping into the wheelchair, she guided inside and we waited for the x-ray tech to take back.
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