Page 79 of This I Promise You
“I told you it was.” I try to laugh.
“You okay?” He grins caringly at me.
“Yeah, just tired.” I grin big for him.
While the blue and red knights get ready for the next match I dig back into my chicken. They don’t skimp on this shit. It’s good, really good. But something just feels off.
The corner of my vision blurs in my left eye and I freeze up. No. Please no. Not on vacation. But then it’s gone as quickly as it came. Okay. All good.
The announcer calls out the next match, riling up the blue and red sections. My friends are yelling and screaming, and I join them when he calls out the blue knight. They ride their horses up to the marks and lift their lances.
I reach forward, but I don’t know why. I do it again, and my eye starts to blur again. What the hell?
“You okay?” Paul takes my hand, the one not reaching into nowhere.
“Uh…” I start, but I don’t know. My vision isn’t getting worse, but my body just feels off. “I feel weird.”
“What?” Aidan’s attention snaps from the field and he leans in. “Easton, you okay?”
That’s when my entire body seizes up. My arms and legs start to shake, but I can’t speak. I can’t stop the shaking, and I’m scared. What the fuck is happening? I can’t even move my eyes. But I hear the crowd yelling around me, screaming, but not for me.
“Belle!” Paul is yelling. “Easton! What’s wrong with him? What’s happening?”
My body jerks and I slip from my chair. My head hits the edge of something solid and everything goes blank.
Paul
Straight to Voicemail
“His dad’s not here! He’s all alone back there after having afucking seizureand you won’t letanyof us fucking see him? I’m his fucking boyfriend, you good for nothing piece of worthlessshit!”
I’ve been trying to get someone to answer my motherfucking questions for two shithell hours, butnothing.
“Paul, Paul, stop,” Huxley urges, whining for me to calm down. She’s exhausted like the rest of us. Tyler pretty much fell asleep on Aidan's shoulder ages ago. “The man’s just doing his job—”
“I don’t give a flyingfuck. Whatever he’sdoingisn’t his job!”
“Paul, seriously stop.”
“Sir, please have a seat and calm down, otherwise I’ll have to call security.” The look on this man’s face says he’s had enough. I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to deal with a pissed off me either. That's why they should justlet me see my boyfriendalready.
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been here for sixteen straight hours and I refuse to tolerate this. I don’t get paid enough for that. Sit and be quiet or leave. I don’t care which.”
Aidan pipes up from across the waiting room. “That’s the nice way of him telling you to eff off.”
“Fuck you,” I retort.
Aidan rolls his eyes.
Huxley sighs then yawns, leading me back to sit down across from Aidan and Tyler. “Paul, sit. I’m going to get some coffee.”
I sit on the edge of my seat and lean my elbows on my knees. “Aidan, what the fuck is going on? Just fucking tell me, dude. I can’t deal with this shit. You’re not giving me answers, they’re not giving me answers.” I throw my hands up in defeat. “I feel like I’m literally about to explode.Please just tell me.”
Aidan’s cheeks puff as he blows out air and readjusts himself in his seat. Tyler stirs and yawns. Aidan apologizes to him and faces me.“Fine, I guess if it’s between you getting us kicked out of the hospital and me telling you what’s going on, I’m stuck. But like I’ve told you a million times, this really is East’s story to tell. Not mine.” He sighs heavily, clearly uncomfortable.“East has MS, multiple sclerosis. It’s a disease that attacks the central nervous system like the spinal cord and…the brain.”
Excuse me, WHAT? “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. He has MS andnever fucking told me? What the hell! How did I not know? How did I not see?”
“It’s not an always thing. Sometimes East is good for months at a time without a relapse or whatever. Other times he gets really tired and misses some class for a day or two. His biggest issue is with his eyes. They go blurry sometimes and he can’t see right.”
