Page 136 of Fierce-Matt

“I don’t blame you, Dad. Have you been walking to the bathroom on crutches?”

“No. They help me into the wheelchair, and then push me there. I tell them I can get on the toilet myself, but they don’t believe me.”

“How are your ribs doing?”

“They hurt,” he said. “What happened to them?”

“You broke them when you fell. That’s part of the reason you’re still here. You lack the strength to get yourself to the toilet until your ribs heal more.”

“Well, someone should have told me that. I’d start lifting weights then like I used to do.”

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry over this conversation.

Her father was lapsing in and out of the past and present.

“I’ll let them know that. Maybe they can bring some hand weights in for you to do.”

“Why am I here again?” he asked.

“You fell and broke your leg, Dad. A week ago. It’s not been that long and you’re still healing.”

Her father’s face got red. “Did EJ push me? That boy always had some evil in him.”

She put her hand on her father’s. “No. He didn’t. EJ hasn’t been around in years. You fell off the ladder in the store.”

“We sold the store months ago,” her father said.

“Not yet,” she said. “We’ll be closing in a few weeks. Then you and Mom will be free of that stress.”

“Your mother wants to travel. I promised her we would travel after selling the store. Do you know if she’s made the arrangements yet?”

A tear rolled down her cheek. This was just so hard. And her mother witnessed this day in and day out while Anya tried to stay away.

She couldn’t hide forever.

“You’ll have to ask her that.” Her phone vibrated in her purse. She pulled it out. “It’s Mom now.”

“What’s going on?” her mother asked frantically.

“Dad had a surprise visit from EJ.”

Her mother snarled. “Say no more. Are you there yet with him?”

“I’m talking to Dad right now. Do you want to talk to Mom, Dad?”

“Yes,” her father said.

“It’s fifty-fifty,” she said, handing the phone over. That was their code in front of her father that he was in and out of the past and present. They used percentages now on how good or bad he was.

“Amber, can you come and get me out of here so we can go on our vacation?”

Anya sat back while her mother talked to her father.

She knew things were going to get worse and they were.

A woman popped her head in. “Are you Anya?”

“Yes,” she said.