Lahat ng Kabanata ng I Never Hated You : Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 160

The doctor’s voice was gentle enough to make Mark even more worried than he already had been. He gripped his mother’s hand a little more tightly, then tried to focus on what the doctor was saying. “We’re still monitoring the situation. The tests show that it was a stroke, and it’s safe to say that there will be some lasting effects, but I’m afraid it’s too early to be moredefinite than that.”“He’s getting worse,” Mark said, fighting to keep his voice under control.“Yesterday his speech was slurred, but we could both tell what he was trying to say. Today, it’s…it’s not words at all!”His mother nodded her agreement but didn’t speak. Mark knew that she didn’t trust herself not to cry.“Your father’s brain has suffered a serious injury and it’s swelling right now in reaction to that. We’ve given him some medication to help that go down, but the best tool will still be time. I know it seems like we’re not doing much, but our focus right now is on preventing another stroke andmaking su

He looked up to see her walking toward him with a dark-haired teenage boy. The kid was wearing a pair of overalls with no shirt underneath. It wasn’t clear whether the outfit was meant to be a parody of a stereotypical hillbilly or whether the kid was sincere.Elise didn’t seem to care. “Alex, this is Lucas. He’s maybe going to be working here.” She looked around at the clean buckets drying in the sun and nodded grudgingly before turning back to Alex. “Not too much more to do with these. Help him finish up and then throw down some hay. Then show him how to measure the feed for the barn animals. And don’t teach himyour tricks—no special treats. Follow the list.”Alex grinned at her, then leaned around and grabbed one of the dirty buckets. “I hate this part of the job,” he said quietly to Lucas. “I’m glad you’re almost done!”“It’s not bad today,” Lucas said, “But I bet it’s rough in the winter.”“In the winter, she lets you use warm water! It’s actually better, because it thaws out yo

“Okay,” he said. “How much longer for your session?”“I’m done now,” Alex said firmly. He turned back to Oliver. “Thanks for your time, Father Williamson. I don’t think I’m going to make it to the next meeting, though. It’s a bit…a bit God-y, you know?”Oliver raised an eyebrow. “What exactly were you expecting from a church-run youth group?”“It’s what I was expecting,” Alex said quickly. “But not what I’m looking for right now. Thanks, though!” He grinned at Mark and turned toward the door. “It’s what I was expecting until I went to that first meeting with you.” His voice was too quiet for Oliver to hear, but Mark still cringedinternally. It wasn’t like their usual youth group sessions were godless bacchanals, but maybe they did stray a little too far from the religious principles of the sponsoring organization. After all, the church not only owned the space they used, it also paid Mark’s salary.He looked back at the other three teenagers sitting with Oliver. They had sometimes co

Things at the farm were going well, and it made Lucas nervous. He liked the animals, the chores, the people—the whole job. He spent most of his time with Elise, not talking much, just slogging through the hard work of looking after all the different animals. She wasn’t exactly bubbling over with feedback but he was pretty sure he was doing an okay job. She’d started trusting him with some of the more delicate procedures, which seemed to be a good sign. And she’d let him start tinkering with an old truck she’d stashed away in the drive-shed. She’d said he could have it for a couple hundred dollars and he was pretty sure that by the time he had thetruck running he’d have that much money saved up. It would sure beat riding one of the halfway house’s bikes way out to the farm and back each day.And Alex was a regular feature of the place. Lucas was supposed to work an eight hour day starting at five thirty in the morning, so technically he should have been long gone by the time the kid g

Mark had only been back at work full time for a few days and he was having trouble getting back in the swing of things. Nothing serious, but he was certainly needing more breaks than usual, slipping away to the empty pews for a few moments of peace and prayer before returning to the pile of paperwork that had built up in his absence. He was on one of these breaks when he heard an angry voice from the vestibule and turned to see two men, one gripping the other by the arm…Not two men. A man and a boy. A man and Alex. The man wasn’t quite dragging Alex but his grip was firm and commanding. He spotted Mark and growled something at the teen, who nodded reluctantly, then started to speak. But the man just jerked them both forward.Mark stood to greet them, his hands open in front of him. “Alex, hi. Is everything okay?”“No, it’s not,” the man responded. “What the fuck has been going on between you and my son?”Not words any man wanted to hear from an angry parent, but even worse for a gay