Chapter 34: Chapter 34

"What does all of this amount to?" He does so once again.

"This is a surprise for you on your birthday." I respond to him while extending my hand to him. After grabbing it, he follows me into the back of the truck and sits down.

"Could you just explain this to me?" He inquires while sitting down and pointing to the various cushions and blankets nearby.

"We went to a drive-in theater and watched movies that you and your mother used to watch all the time. I could remember some of them, but for the rest, I had to make educated guesses." I stated that I would sit next to him and he would cover me with a blanket.

"I am grateful." Mark says this to me while placing his arm around me and pressing his shoulder against mine.

"No issue, and best wishes on the birthday." I say giving him a hug back.

I tune the radio to the appropriate station and bring the volume up to practically its maximum. I also open the windows in order to maybe improve our ability to hear the conversation. I was only able to stay awake for about half of the third movie. I have no idea when Mark dozed out, but when I woke up, we were still sitting in the back of the truck with him holding me.

He doesn't do anything but read and moan. Because of the movement in his eyes, I can tell that he is awake. I am confident that I will be able to escape his grasp without causing him undue stress.

I turn my attention to the bag of food and begin nibbling on some of the chips that are still in it. I get up because I hear Mark's phone ringing and check it out. Because it's his dad, I pick up the phone.

"Hello." I answer.

"What the devil happened to him?" The cretin John has a question.

"Asleep," I say while maintaining a neutral tone.

"At the stroke of midnight!" The man screams.

I remove the phone from my ear and look at the time display on the screen. It is, in fact, the middle of the day. "Shit!" I mutter softly to myself. We celebrated his birthday by staying out late. I have elaborated. I hope he believes me.

"His birthday?" Most of the time, he questions himself. "His birthday." He makes more of a proclamation than the others.

"Yeah, we were up watching movies until three in the morning yesterday. Hence, he's worn out." I have elaborated.

"All right, inform him that he's free to go for the day." Even though he is almost whispering, I am still able to hear him.

"I will." I was taken aback by that. The call is ended by John, and I head back to the truck.

"Did you say that to me?" He inquires while sitting up straight and munching on some of my chips. I hand over his phone to him. "Is it really twelve o'clock? It's time for me to report to work!" He struggles to get up from the ground.

I take hold of his arm and bring him back down to the ground. "Regarding that. When I answered the phone, he informed me that you were free for the day."

"Really?" He asks, showing the same level of surprise that I had.

"Sure." I answer giving him a smile.

You aren't joking, are you, just because you don't want to be by yourself today, is that right? He asks with an air of skepticism.

"No! I swear. Other than that, the only thing I really want to do today is sleep. Although though I am currently feeling fine, I will have to undergo chemotherapy once more in a few days. I continue to struggle with extreme exhaustion on a daily basis. That is perhaps the reason why I didn't fall asleep until the third movie had finished. I thought the movies were entertaining, but certain scenes were just much too corny for my taste. Do you know what it is that I enjoy most about cheese? Many of them "He interrupts me.

"Are you ok?" He asks.

When I'm chilly, I have a tendency to talk quickly and excessively. I say talking fast again.

"Here." He adds as he removes his jacket and hands it to me before continuing. I want to object, but it's difficult for me to speak quickly because the chilly air is irritating my throat.

"Thanks." I say giving him a smile and leaning into him. "So, did you stay in the theater until the credits rolled on the last movie?"

"Nope. I believe that I was able to fall asleep a little while after you did." He's warming me up by touching my shoulder, according to what he says.

"Would you like to watch it?" I ask. "What I mean is that I won't be able to stay awake to see it, but you can." I went into additional detail.

"Of course, don't you need to attach anything or anything else?" He asks.

"Yep. I'll be standing here waiting for you when you make another attempt to locate the station." I advocate leaving the rear door open.

"Do I need to do anything more than just turn the car back on?" He asks.

"No, my truck is strange, and you'll have to look for it to find it. It's 81.2." I say running away.

"You sure?" He yells after me.

"Do you recall having a photographic memory?" I yell back.

I was only able to stay awake for the first ten minutes of the movie before I slept off. I have the sensation that I'm being lifted, and then I'm positioned in the passenger seat. " Nobody drives my truck but myself." I say I'm still half asleep.

"Quiet, you're dreaming; I'm not driving your car," I said to the other person. He says in a hoarse voice.

I mutter "okay" to myself before going back to sleep.

I have no idea what time it is when I wake up because Mark and I were sleeping in the same bed. My only awareness is that my stomach is growling. I get out of bed, get dressed, and then head to the kitchen.

"Hello there, you lazy slob!" Mark says fixing breakfast. "I was literally on the verge of bringing this to you."

"What time is it?" I inquire, stretching out my yawn.

"Somewhere around four o'clock in the afternoon." As he does so, he hands me the platter.

"Really?" is the question that I pose. "Have you been driving in my truck?" I ask passionately.

He responds with a blatant falsehood, "What no."

"You drove my truck!" I yell out once again, infuriating him further before leaping from my seat and approaching him in a threatening manner.

"No, that was just a dream," they said. He makes several attempts to persuade me to follow him back to the counter.

"So how did I get to be in this position?" I inquire still stalking towards him.

"You, eh... Slept drove." He makes his case.

I can't help but laugh, and my strong exterior crumbles. "Truly that's all you could come up with." I start giggling to myself.

"I panicked." He squeaks.

"Are you serious? You were afraid of me?" I ask, still laughing my head off. "Yes." He states it unequivocally, making no attempt to conceal the truth.

I sober up and merely give a little laugh. "Under normal circumstances, I definitely could, but the side effects of all this chemotherapy are making me quite weak." I'm going to head back to my original location and eat.

"You're still one of the strongest people I know." He says.

"I don't feel like it." I mutter while lowering my head and heaving a sigh.

"But you are." He says this while giving me the same look he did earlier when we were discussing the contract and I begged for some space between us. I am at a loss to comprehend the source of his smirk.

I'd like to ask you something, so I ask, "May I?"

"Sure." He says when he is sitting on a stool next to me.

"It's possible that this does not come to mind, but while we were going over the contract, I asked John about taking time off together. You were making a mocking face at me, but you also had a stunned expression on your face. What gave you cause for surprise?" I ask.

He looks at me with a blank expression. "Huh?" He asks.

"I should have known you wouldn't remember," you said. I say dismissing the idea out of hand.

"I think I recall, but you just stated it so quickly that my brain needed a second to catch up," the person said. He says. After a little break, he continues talking. "That took me by surprise. Nobody, not even my own mother, has ever addressed my father in such a manner before. I couldn't help but smirk since my father finally got what he deserved after all of the demands, and I must say that I'm surprised that you raised your voice."

"Oh." That's all I say. The things that just came out of his mouth have completely taken me by surprise. I can't believe he said all of those things.

"Have I rendered you incapable of speaking?" Mark asks, teasing.

"Shut up." I'm going to take a little bit of this meal here.

You are the one who brought it up. While he speaks, he takes a sip from his apple juice.

"If you utter a single word more, I will put an end to your life." I say that with my teeth clenched tightly together. Mark immediately jumps up from his seat, takes his plate, and then locks the door to the guest room behind him.