Page 83 of The Woodcarver's Model
They turned the corner, exposing a huge expanse of white. Rob’s eyes were having trouble adjusting to the brightness.
“Surprise!” yelled a familiar voice. He turned to see Karen running at him.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Well, what do you think?” She indicated the brilliant field of white. As his eyes adjusted, he realised that it wasn’t snow. It was a field of…paper flowers, and standing in the centre was Mitch, arms outstretched. He ran to Rob, sending up a wave of paper flowers in his wake. He stopped a few yards from the wheelchair and stared at Rob.
“What did they do to you? I am so sorry.”
Mitch fell on his knees. Rob wanted Mitch to hug him, to hold him tight, but instead, Mitch gently took his hand and kissed it all over.
Rob began to cry. “Oh my God, you must have been up for days making those.”
“I had a lot of help. Like you did.” Mitch’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry… I didn’t have time to spray them with your favourite cologne.”
“They’re perfect.”
Others joined the circle around Rob. He saw Sheila, and of all people, Eric.
“What are you doing here?” Rob asked.
“I stopped you from bleeding out, you ungrateful asshole,” Eric said then leaned down and gave him a soft kiss on the forehead.
Rob noticed that Eric wasn’t alone. Beside him stood a young guy with a blue-striped shirt. Eric had his arm around his waist.
Rob smiled. “And who might this be?”
“This is Tylor—with an O.”
“Hi, Mr Hanson. I’ve heard a lot about you. I had to show them how to make the flowers. They’d gone through a hundred sheets of tissue paper before I rescued them.” Tylor wasn’t sure what to do next, so he followed Eric’s lead and gave Rob an awkward kiss.
“I don’t know what to say…”
“Does anybody know if Jessica is on her way?” Mitch asked the crowd.
“Who?” Rob asked.
“Your sister…” Mitch offered.
“Oh my God. I didn’t think about her. She’s going to kill me.” Rob laughed.
“Don’t worry, Robert. I’ll take care of it,” Estelle said. “We’ll blame it on the drugs,”
“Okay, I think we’d better leave you two alone for a bit,” said Karen. “Coffees in the cafeteria are on me!”
“I can get you a staff discount,” Tylor piped in. “Helga in the cafeteria really likes me so I’m sure—”
“Shhhh.” Eric placed his index finger on Tylor’s lips and the small troupe headed off.
“I don’t even know where to start explaining,” said Mitch, still on his knees.
“You don’t have to. If I’d been more up front with what happened in Somalia—which I’ve been completely cleared of, by the way—”
“And it’s a good thing, too. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a gangster’s moll.”
Rob laughed again. “I was just afraid that if you found out what happened, it would scare you away.”
“I should never have listened to my brother. He just kept playing with my mind and made me doubt everything I felt.”
