Page 61 of Seasons of Love
I stood up from the chair and hugged Ted. I'd always looked up to him like a son, but I didn’t know he'd felt the same way. Why was I losing him now?
He stroked my hair, and we stayed like that for a moment until my tears stopped.
"I know Mike did wrong by you, and I know you had secrets to keep from him, but…"
"Ted, we can't get back together, you know that, right?"
He smiled. "I know. It's too late now. Can I ask you something? Will you keep in touch with him? Since you left he hasn't been with anyone. He's lonely, and I think he's still in love with you. I'm not asking for more than a friendly hand. Don't let him lose himself to work."
"I promise, Ted. I do miss him and his annoying habits and terrible taste in music. Does he still play Britney Spears in the garage while he works?"
"He's graduated to Beyoncé."
I snorted.
"And how about you? Your business doing well? Mike searched for you on the internet and said you have a vintage bike shop and garage?"
"Yeah. Business is doing well, and I love Connecticut."
Ted closed his eyes for a moment, his face looked tired all of a sudden, and I wondered if he was ready to sleep again.
"Let me call Mike back, okay?"
"Just one thing, son. Don't let the past drag behind you like a bad smell. We all have pasts. I know you couldn't have done anything about Mike, but you're still young. If there's another chance out there waiting for you, take it."
I thought about Aiden and the conversation we'd had last night when I'd told him everything. Ted was right.
"Ted, my second chance is on the other side of that door a few yards away, waiting for me. He's wonderful, and you'll get to meet him soon."
He nodded and closed his eyes.
I called Mike back into the room.
"So I guess that's it now. We can't fight and you have to be my friend," he said.
"You got the pep talk too?"
Mike smiled. His brown eyes looked at me with the same love they always held, but also more.
I walked over and hugged him. He hugged me back. We were the same height, but Mike always felt like he was bigger to me.
"You still give the best hugs," I said.
"Remember that."
Ted opened his eyes again and raised both his hands. We stood on either side of his bed, holding his hands, and then reached out for each other too.
"Now that's better," he said, his speech a little slurred. "Rose, honey, I'm on my way. There better be cherry pie."
He closed his eyes, and a minute later, the machines Ted was connected to gave us the warning he was no longer with us.
The nurses ran into the room to silence the beeping noise and do what they needed to do. Mike and I held each other as we said one final goodbye to the man that had been a father to both of us.
24
AIDEN
If I was writing my life as it was, I'd have the presence of mind to know I was in shock. But I wasn't writing it, I was living it, and when you're living your life, you don't stop to consider your feelings, your actions, the bigger picture.
