Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose

The first face I see when I noh into the core facility is Grow, my father’s night nurse. Her expression is fill of aggravation. He must be in a particularly bad mood tonight. I can hear her sigh of relief as I walk towards her. I Know my father is getting wese daily. It makes me angry at how he set all of it in motion with his drinking.

“Thank God you are here,” Ginny says as I finally reach her.

“How bad is it tonight?” | ask.

“He has been calling me by your mother’s name all night. Each time I tell him I am not her, he gets increasingly agitated. I stopped correcting him and decided it was time to call you.”

I nod at her, then take a deep breath to prepare to talk to my father. With the state he is in now, I know it will be like talking to a brick will. I give Ginny a pat on room. I hesitate for a second. Nights like the shoulder before walking down the hall that will take me to my father’s room. When I reach for the door handle of his this usually end up with him being sedated when he gets violent.

with one last deep breath. Itum the **b and push the door open. My father is sitting with his back to the door in the recliner I bought him for Christmas. On the elevision in the comer, is a football game. College football, from the looks of it. I can sense his anger the instant 1 step into the room.

I walk to the side of his chair so I can see his face and he can see mine. “Pop, the mine called me again.”

His once raven black hair had now gone gray. His forest green eyes have faded in color as cataracts have started to steal his vision. There are now deep fibwn lines hieves and etched on his forehead. The way he has aged over the years still staggers me from time to time. Before my mother died, he was strong, healthy, and

of life. The day she died; all life drained from him. The rest faded as time marched un

We were never close as I grew up. My time away from him made things better for me. Gave me time away from his abuse. Neglect is abuse. From what I was told by Aaron’s mom, the day I left, my father climbed the rest of the way into his whiskey bottle. Not reming back out of it again until his body began to fail him.

By the time I went home for the first time, he was already in a care facility. He was forced to get sober and treated for cirrhosis of the liver. Eventually he was cleared to be a candidate for a liver transplant, but so far none have come up as a match for him. Transferring him to California with me has been a challenge.

The change of scenery, nurses, and not knowing anyone here has taken its toll on him. Most days, he is very lucid and tries to charm the staff. It is the nights while is alone to think that he has problems telling the past from the present. I know he will miss my mother until the day he dies. All I can do for him now is to be there when he needs me.

“What are you doing here? Where is your mother? Tell her I want my dinner.”

“Mon is out right now, she had to run to the store.” A lie I tell him every time he is like this.

He huffs out a breath before going back to watching his football game. I sit in one of the extremely uncomfortable visitor chairs and wait. This will not be the end of hists tonight. Moer will come when mom doesn’t bring his dinner even though he ate dinner in the dining room with all the other residents earlier this evening.

An hour passes and, like I expected, the fireworks start again. He looks up from the game and his expression is wild. Anger that my mother isn’t here with his dinner. Stumbling from his chair, he screams her name as if she will just magically appear. My heart goes out to him over her loss. His pain differed from mine on so many Jevels.

I lost my mother, friend, and my shoulder to lean on. He lost so much more than that His friend, confidant, lover, wife, and mother to his son. Her death rocked us to the core and shattered the foundation that our small family was built on. It could have been repaired or ruin if my father hadn’t climbed into a bottle of

whiskey instead.

By the time I returned home, there was no way to repair all the damage. Being here for him now is all I can do. No matter how hard he makes it for me.

“Beth, g**it, where are you!? He yells. Loudly.

“What is taking her so long at the d* store?”

I can either try to calm him down by telling him she will be back soon, or I can break the awful truth to him again. Neither option ever ends well. The third option is one that I hate doing to him, but sometimes it is the only way to calm him down. Tell him I will go look for her, leave the room, then find Ginny to have him sedated

That option always leaves me with a sick feeling in my stomach afterwards.

“She probably went to the bakery too on the way home. You know how she can get to talking to Lori while waiting.” Lori was the baker’s wife. They used to live above the bakery when I was a kid.

A satisfied look comes over his fee when I mention the bakery. He loves their blueberry m**n for breakfast and their apple pie after dinner. This pacifies him for now as he sits back in his recliner and goes back to watching college football. Looking at my watch to check the time, I see Ginny will be in to help him into bed in an hour. I will stay until he is settled into bed, then a little longer intil I know he is sleep.

Seving that my fath

my father was absorbed with his football ime, I stepped out into the hatway to call Aaron. I was supposed to be at his place hours ago

– After three rings, he picks up. The sound of feminine laughter in the background let me know he figured I wasn’t coming over and sought another form of

companionship.

“Yo, where the hell did you go tonight?”

“Which stop do you want first?”

“That bad, huh?”

“Well, let’s just say the night didn’t go the way I wanted, but it headed that way.”

Who did you almost score with?” Aaron is a perpetual teenager in some ways.

“will give you one guess?”

He let out a low whistle as he made his guess without the need to say her name. “I was curious about how long it would take you two to get back in the same orbit.”

“We didn’t start the night out well. She shot me straight to the work colleagues in an email as I was leaving the liquor store. That sent me straight to that dark place in my head, so I headed to your place.” 1 fill him in on the rest of what happened after I arrived at Annora’s house, s*the almost getting her naked on the kitchen counter part. I ended with telling him where I was now.

y the old b**d?” Aaron’s voice is harsh, but I know he cares more than he will let on

“Demanding to know where my mother is and throwing tantrums.”

“I am sorry he goes through that all the time. I don’t know how you handle him.”

“One day at a

y at a time.”

Aaron fills me in on the events of his night. When his date giggles in the background, I bid him goodnight, then tell him I will see him at the office tomorrow. After hanging up the phone, I notice Ginny waving me over. I peek in on my father before thead to her desk. He has fallen asleep in his recliner. That is a good outcome. There would be no need to sedate him.

Joining her at the desk., I informed her of what I saw in his room. She calls for an orderly and between the there of us; yarput my father to h choice to give him a mild sedative to help him stay asleep. As much as I would like to avoid sedation, I know he will wake again on his own

Ginny makes the

Is it selfish of me to just want him to sleep through the night so I can go home? My guy conscience says yes, but I allow Ginny to do it. I want a shower, my bed,

ha-decent night’s sleep.

Having had a taste of Annora again tonight, I know my sleep will be full of memories of that long ago summer.

Fourth of July – the past

Laying by the lake on a blanket with Anne snuggled close to me must be my favorite time of day. The stars t**ed overhead in the night sky. The sound of the water lapping along the edge of the lake. Sounds of laughter floating to us from acro the lake as the Fourth of July festivities begin.

Knots form in my much as I think of how fast the summer has flown by Sean Sember will be here, and we will have to say goodbye to each other. I don’t want that day to come, but I know it will come all too soon. Annora will go off to England be a doctor and I will go to Fort Jackson in South Carolina. Walking away

from her will be hard.

We an

are only eighteen, but I know that if we gave this thing between us more time, it could be something worth fighting for. She is worth not getting on that plane in September. I could follow her to England, find a job there, and make a life with her she will let me.

“Hey, what are you thinking so hard about?” Her yase brings me out of my thought; as I look down at her upturned face. Unable to resist, I bend down to give her a quick peck on the Tips

“Not much, why?

“asked you if you wanted to go grab a burger, then go find a seat for the fireworks play.”

“Oh, how about wor

watch it from here?”

“But the food bents are over there,” she says. Then she pouts and points across

“Ok, how about we go eat then come back here?”

*You just want me

to yourself while the fireworks distract everyone.”

“You bet I do.”

“Join me and my family for burgers and fireworks now, them later, when no one is looking, we can sneak away to the cabin. You can have me all to yourself for a few hour before my parents notice I am missing”

The way she presses her body against mine makes me agree with anything she wants. With a laugh, she stands up and pulls me up with her. She gives me one long kiss before bending down to fold our blanket. My mind is in a log as she tugs my hand to guide me to the other side of the lake. She knows mactly what she is doing to me and is using it to her advantage.

Throughout dinner, my mind keeps wandering to the end of summer. Coming up with many activities for the two of us to do before we have to say goodbye. I want to give her the best time of her life so that she never forgets me. I hope she never forgets what we have here and now.

Later, while the reworks are going off in the night sky, she slips her hand in mine, then whispers seductively in my ear. “Let’s go to the cabin now.”

She didn’t have to ask me twice.

We made love to each other for hours, then we spoke about all the dreams we have for our future. Dream that we both knew may never happen. We let our young hearts beat as nee while we fell asleep.

Present Day, Quin’s bedroom

with me

I wake up sweating profusely as the sounds of Annora’s mans follow me out of my dream. That was the same night she gave me the medal that I carried

til today. Looking down at my sweat covered body and my raging erection, I know that I have only two options tonight. Take my hard c**nd take a cold *sheer.

I think the latter will be the wiser choice. I haven’t been reduced to m**n in years. Not going to start now. Not with Annora pight my way and the way I know she wants them to, we will recreate those memories and firses ones soon. Friday afternoon if I have may way.

If things go Right after, she tells me whatever she wants to discuss with me. The image of her laid out on that kitchen counter, maked for my eyes only, has me growing stiffer. Shaking my head, I get out of bed and set about getting that cold shower out of the way and back to bed. Five am comes entirely too soon for my liking.