Chapter 10Ben
I felt like I was leaving something behind when I sat on that plane going back to Pennsylvania. The new, adult connection we’d been making was something I hadn’t expected but already cherished.
And then, just like that, I had to leave.
My dad’s health was tricky. The early warning sign that had been misdiagnosed had led to a massive heart attack due to some issue or other. I didn’t want to memorize the details of what the doctors said, purely because I knew it would lead to obsessing about the what ifs of the situation.
Dad was weak, which was hard to see, but Mom had everything under control by the time she told me to go back to my actual home. Except, now home felt like a certain rescue in Illinois and my brain had a hard time accepting that. Not because I was feeling n
