Page 72 of Level Me Up

He clears his throat; it is almost like he is mentally preparing himself for what he is about to say. “Since you took that so well, there’s something else I wanted to tell you.”

I blink at him.

He hesitates, “Uh, I’ve…I’ve met someone.”

I start to laugh. Again, these emotions are all over the place. “Dad, that’s great! Tell me about her.”

He just stares at me, dumbfounded.

“Dad? Tell me about her,” I repeat, smiling at him.

He quickly shakes his head, “Oh, right. Well, she is the realtor that came and looked at the house. I met her through a friend, and she wanted to look at the house. After she came by, I didn’t see her again. When I called her weeks later to tell her I changed my mind about the house, we went out for lunch to talk about it. Then it kind of went on from there.” He stops for a moment, presumably to give me time to process, but I just keep smiling. Then he continues, “She is really great and hasn’t once pushed me about the house. I’ve talked to her a lot about you and your Mom and the house. She is very understanding. She really makes me happy. And she calls me on my bullshit about working too much… and she really wants to meet you.”

My smile widens. My mom hated it when my Dad worked too much, so I’m pleased to hear there is someone hassling him again. “She sounds great, Dad. Does she have a name?”

He laughs, “Yes! Her name is Anna.” He lets out a sigh of relief. “I hope you can meet her soon.”

I nod, “Is she here with you?” I really do want to meet her, but I’m surprised that neither Gia nor Ruby mentioned a woman with my Dad.

His face sobers, “No, I asked her not come. She was actually going to drive up the other day, but once I knew you were going to be OK, I figured you wouldn’t be up for meeting your Dad’s new girlfriend. I told her to stay.”

Feigning shock, I say, “So this thing is serious then? You just referred to Anna as your girlfriend.”

He laughs, “Yes, kiddo. It’s serious.” And pats my hand.

We go back to talking about recovery and we both decide that I don’t need to go back home with him. He agrees that Gia helping me is the best decision. But he insists that he will stay in Chicago for a few days after I’m released from the hospital. He also asks that, if I feel up to it, in a couple weeks he and Anna will come and visit me again to see how I’m doing.

My body has gone through absolute hell but I’m finally in a good place with my Dad. It makes me feel incredibly light and happy. I might have broken bones, but I'm not actually broken. I will heal and be whole again.

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