Page 17 of Free Heart
How your pubic hair is straight not curly
Your fingers
Your view of the world
Your accept
*YOUR ACCENT
Your face
Your asshole
I love your asshole. It’s the best I’ve ever tasted. Prettiest too
Your frown even though it makes me sad to see it
Most of all your smile.
YOUR SMILE
God, I love your simile, Doc
Smilel smilele SMILE
Your beautiful smile
Just thinking about it makes me horny
*Happy
Horny and happy
I love you more than the sky
OK, tired now and autocorrect is dumb. Love you. Bye
As I read, my shoulders relax and tears come to my eyes. I smile and laugh as I take in Dan’s drugged-up confessions. He’s going to be mortified when he reads them later. Or maybe he won’t be…he’s always a lot more matter of fact than I expect. Itisn’t a real surprise to find that he’s equally direct when high, just effusively so.
Checking the time, I see Dan’s already in surgery. The nurse had told me yesterday it would take a few hours, and so there’s no rush for me to get to the hospital now. I can shower and take my time before heading over.
But first…
I take a deep breath, steel myself, and tackle the other messages and voicemails on my phone. There’s a text from Pete giving me the day off, which is helpful because I don’t have a way to get back to the Yosemite area. Even if I could afford to grab an Uber or cab, I can’t imagine going in and making lattes for people today.
Heather has also texted saying she’s heard the news and won’t expect me in for the rest of this week—unless I think the kids will be a good distraction or I need the money. She adds on at the end that she’ll be praying for Dan.
There are “thinking of you” messages from Celli and Gage.
Social media is a disaster, though. There are some messages from friends, but mostly from strangers. Dozens from climbers and folks I’ve never met before, but who seem to know of—if not actuallyknow—Dan. It’s crazy how fast word gets around on the internet. There’s a message from Lowell, saying he’s keeping up with Dan’s situation through Rye, but to never hesitate to reach out to him for help.
There are some texts from Peggy Jo asking me for updates. I take a few minutes to send her a reminder that Dan’s in surgery this morning, and I won’t have new information for her until it’s over. She replies—Dan texted me ten times in the night. My phone is set to go on Do Not Disturb at nine, so I missed them. He was high as hell. What a lunatic that boy is.
He texted me too,I reply.Also with a bunch of nonsense
Oh, I doubt it’s nonsense. Just unexpected stuff. He’s too honest for nonsense even when he’s drugged. Told me my grandbaby looks like a bald demon.
Surely he meant a bald angel
