Chapter 59: Day 58
I couldn't hide my hands from shaking when I handed Kyle the card for his 58th birthday. He looked so sickeningly pale that day. "It's okay, Renata," Kyle said in a hoarse voice. "They gave me pain medicine because I felt some pain in...in I guess my bones. It hurt like a bitch earlier compared to now."
"I can't believe you can still talk that much while in pain," I replied, trying to offset the fact that I hid my hands inside of my jean pockets because they were still jittery.
Kyle gave me a smug smile as he said, "Well, at least I'm not like you. You don't even have to talk for me to read you, Renata." Kyle opened his birthday card with a look of surprise before reading aloud: "Your wife passed away. You spend your first birthday alone in twenty-three years, looking at pictures of the beautiful life you made, and get birthday phone calls from your children."
"First off...pfft!"
Kyle's shoulders shake with silent laughter. "What?!"
He then showed me the inside of the card and pointed his finger at my take on a headstone. "You managed to make something that's supposed to be a symbol of sadness appear comical. Bravo!"
"Oh well, you know me. Always trying to get a laugh out of you, Killjoy."
"That nickname won't stick."
"Try me," I replied. "You said, first of all. Do you have any other complaints you'd like to address?" Kyle smirked and tilted his head to look up at me from where I'm standing. The moment he does, I sit down quickly so he wouldn't have to strain himself.
As if reading my mind he said, "You can stand if you want, Renata."
"It was kind of rude of me to do so," I replied with a shrug of my shoulders.
"Rude? Throw that word out of the window," Kyle said as he pointed to his square of a window, letting some weak light in. "Life is too short to worry if you're being rude or disrespectful." I'm about to tell him how wrong he is, when he looks at me. Despite his palor, his eyes lit with an intensity that made me pause. "Besides, if I was better...I'd trip over myself every single day if it meant I'd be able to look up at your face."
"You're changing the subject," I replied in a sing song voice. "What is your other complaint."
"Not a complaint, Renata; a question." Kyle glanced at his birthday card for a moment before asking, "Is my wife dying a message?"
"It isn't, Kyle. That's just life. People you love either live or die."
Kyle smiles wanly. "You know what, Renata. For a moment, I thought you just wanted me all to yourself. My beautiful mistress."
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