Free Mesmerized by Audra Cole, Bella Love-Wins

care. He starts to shake as his sobs become louder. My own tears fall onto his shirt as I press my cheek into his chest. My fragile heart shatters at the full strength of his emotions.
    I don’t know how long we stay intertwined, but neither of us makes a move to separate.
    When we do finally part, I take his hand and lead him to the nearby bench. We sit facing each other and I take both of his hands in mine as he starts to explain everything to me.
    “I guess she was given the diagnosis a couple of weeks ago, but they didn’t want to tell me then, because I was still on set for my last project. They thought it would distract me from my work or that I would back out of the film. God, how selfish does that make me seem? They should have known this was obviously way more important.”
    I listen calmly, not wanting to interrupt in order to reassure him that they know how much he cares.
    “So, that’s why they wanted me to come home immediately after it finished. She is going to have a double mastectomy to try and get rid of it, and hopefully eliminate the chance of it coming back again.”
    I nod along as he explains, suddenly not really sure what to say. I have never known anyone with cancer. My grandparents are still around and, while aging, they are fairly healthy. It’s hard to imagine the prospect of losing them, let alone one of my parents.
    “So, everyone is at my parents’ house to help out and be there for support. I really appreciate that they are all there, but it was feeling a little claustrophobic. I just needed to get out for a while.”
    “When is the surgery?” I ask, after a pause.
    “Next week.”
    “Wow. I’m so sorry that this is happening. You know how much I love your family.” I pause, trying to push away all the memories that are threatening to swallow me whole. “Your mom is strong though. If anyone can make it through this, you know that she can.” I offer a slight smile and a squeeze of his hands.
    “Yeah, I know. She will.” He returns my sad smile. “She has to.
The ironic thing is that I left this town, to chase my dreams. I guess that I got everything that I wanted. I have the movie deals, the money,
the
fame. But here I am, and not all the money in the world can give me the things that I
’m finding mean the most.
”
    A long silence stretches out, both of us lost in our own thoughts. Brandon is staring off into space, his eyes are dry but red now, and he looks tired. I doubt he has been sleeping well since returning home and dealing with this emotional bomb on top of everything else.
    A pit forms in my stomach at the reminder that I’ve been causing him more pain in the middle of this struggle.
    I squeeze his hand tighter, as if to wordlessly apologize for adding to his grief. He returns the gesture, and his hands are so warm and comforting that I don’t want to let go.
    I realize that while lost in the moment, I’ve dropped Maci’s leash but when I look back towards the pond, I can see her laying at the edge of the water. The ducks seem to have gone back to their nests for the night. The sky is overcast and rapidly getting dark. I have no idea what time Ashley is supposed to get back, but I know I need to get Maci home and try to wash her off a little so that Ashley doesn’t have to deal with a dirty dog when she has a big jewelry project already looming over her.
    As if reading my thoughts, Brandon stands and pulls me up from the bench. “Sorry to dump all of that on you. I guess you probably need to get the little troublemaker home.”
    He snaps in Maci’s direction and she leaps up to run to his side. He pets her head and scratches her ears.
    I smile at the way Maci is relishing the attention.
    “Yeah, probably should clean her up a little too,” I say. “What about you? Are you going to go back to your parents?”
    He shakes his head. “No, they’re going over to my aunt and uncle’s house for the rest of the night. They have some game night thing they do. My