Pitbabe S2, Chapter 30 pg 9
Pitbabe S2, Chapter 30 pg 9
“Of course I am. How else would I have made it this far?”
“Then why were you so stubborn when I was around?”
“Just wanted to mess with you,” Babe said shamelessly, grinning. “Plus, you had that old man force me to go every month. If I didn’t, he’d probably tie me up and drag me to the hospital.”
“What’s that got to do with me? Maybe Uncle just cares about you.”
“Don’t play dumb. I know you told him to do it. How else would he know which days my appointments were?”
I didn’t bother denying it, because it was true. I’d asked Phii Alan to remind Babe every month about his doctor visits. Phii Alan always reported back, “He went, don’t worry,” every month. But honestly, I still wasn’t completely reassured. Babe can be so stubborn that he might’ve fooled someone like Phii Alan easily. I couldn’t keep checking on him myself without feeling like I was overstepping, so all I could do was worry from a distance and hope Babe would ease up on his stubbornness a bit.
“How do you get to the doctor? By yourself?”
“I go with Phii Alan sometimes, Jeff other times,” Babe answered casually, though his response surprised me a little. “They didn’t tell you?”
“Nope,” I shook my head slowly, wondering why those two never mentioned they were the ones taking Babe to the doctor. That would’ve put me at ease so much more. “They just said you went. That’s it.”
“Those two take turns bringing me every month. Last time, they both went, holding my hands like we were playing happy family.”
Picturing Babe’s story made me chuckle. At the same time, I felt grateful to both of them for taking such good care of Babe when I couldn’t be there for him. If I had to guess why they didn’t tell me directly, I’d say it’s two perspectives. For Phii Alan, he probably wanted me to believe Babe could handle himself without me or anyone else hovering over him. For Jeff, part of it might be the same reason, but another possibility is that he wanted me to worry about Babe so much that I couldn’t stand it and would eventually come back to him.
I can tell Jeff didn’t want Babe and me to break up, which is kind of surprising. Normally, that kid doesn’t care about anyone’s love life, not even his own. He seems fine with people coming and going from his life—stay if you want, leave if you don’t. But when it comes to me and Babe, Jeff always seems annoyed whenever the topic comes up.
Even though they bicker a lot, deep down, I think Jeff loves Babe.
“Thanks for going to the doctor.”
“Why say thanks? I took myself there, not you,” Babe looked at me like I was an idiot again, but that wasn’t important. “Stop treating me like a kid.”
“I’ve never seen you as a kid, Babe.”
“But look at the things you do.”
“I’m just worried,” I said, my teasing tone shifting to a wide-eyed, confused kitten look that threw him off. He was trying to pick a fight out of habit, but I didn’t respond the way he expected. “I was scared you’d get sick when I wasn’t around. But when you said you’ve been going to the doctor regularly, I felt relieved.”
“You told me to go,” he said, locking eyes with me, his gaze hard to read—a mix of boldness and fear. His words made everything click. “In your notes, and that night we broke up, you kept repeating, ‘Don’t forget to see the doctor.’ How could I not go?”
Honestly, it’s not great that he took care of himself because of my pleas. If I had a choice, I’d want him to love himself enough to do it on his own. I want him to realize how much he’s worth taking care of. I want him to expect more from himself, to see a long, happy life ahead, whether I’m there or not.
“Then I was right to nag you so much.”
But for now, this is probably enough.
“From now on, you’ve gotta take care of me like before, okay? Both of us together. It’s exhausting doing it alone.”
I hope I still have some time left. I don’t know how much or how little, but I hope it’s enough for him to learn those things from me.
“Okay, okay, we’ll do it together.”
Please.
Just give me a bit more time.
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