Page 102 of Rough

“But--”

He shook his head. “No.”

The doctor said having an ablation procedure was his only chance at survival. The last time he had one, he almost didn’t make it through the operation. Twice, they had to resurrect him with the paddles. In the end, the operation took eight hours. At that time, he said he’d never do it again.

It was the only answer, though. He was stubborn, but he wasn’t stupid.

“But--”

“But nothing,” he said, and then he coughed. “Not doing that again. I saw the fuckin’ light last time. Not interested.”

“Pop…”

He closed his eyes.

My mother and Tegan walked in. Mom stepped to the opposite side of the bed. Tegan walked to my side and handed me a coffee.

“He woke up,” I said. “But I think he’s delirious.”

He opened his eyes, searched the room, and focused on Tegan. “Hey, kid.”

“How you doing, Bradley?”

“Been better.”

“You need to get better,” she said. “You’ve got an anniversary coming up.”

He nodded. “Your hair looks like shit.”

She choked on her laugh. “Me?”

He blinked. “Yeah.”

She reached for her hair. “Helmet head,” she said with a smile.

“How was it?” he asked. “Fun?”

She nodded. “It was great.”

“Dumb ass go the speed limit?”

“The entire way,” she lied.

He tried to smile, and then shifted his eyes to me. “Keep her safe.”

“I will,” I assured him.

“You do that.” He closed his eyes. “I’m going to take a little nap.”

And he fell asleep.

THIRTY-ONE

Tegan

Bradley had somehow elbowed his way into my life in a way that no other man had. He made a place for himself in one of the voids in my heart, and then resided there without even asking permission.

He had proven to me that love can find you when you least expect it, even if you’re not searching for it.