Chapter 11: Life is Short

Jazmin was on campus with Weevil and Parker in the cafeteria when her cell phone rang. She answered and spoke softly. "That's great! Keep me posted," she said, hanging up. "That was Mac. Dick is being released now. Mac's going to stay with him a few days to make sure he's okay."

"That's a relief," Parker said. All of them were still stunned that Dick had almost died. "I just can't believe Dick had a heart attack."

"Yeah, it's freaky," Weevil agreed. He couldn't believe he had to keep his most annoying roommate from drowning. It wasn't too long ago that Weevil wouldn't have been sure he'd actually make the effort. However, he'd learned over the past year that there was more to Dick Casablanacas than meets the eyes.

"I'm just glad he's going to be okay and that he hadn't been surfing alone," Jazmin said with a shudder. "I hate to think what might've happened if he'd been by himself."

Weevil grimaced as he realized something. "Hell," he grumbled.

"What?" Jazmin asked.

"I'm going to be stuck surfing with him every time he wants to go now!" he complained.

Parker laughed at his disgruntled expression. "You're probably right," she said.

"Well, that won't be for a while," Jazmin said. "And Logan and Duncan both actually enjoy surfing. Not to mention he can't go any more like he used to."

"Poor guy. That's going to kill him," Parker said sadly. She'd never met anyone who loved to surf as much as Dick.

They all sat there a few moments feeling sympathy for Dick. Then Jazmin said, "You know this really hits home how fragile life is. You never know when your time is up."

"Life is short," Parker agreed. "So we better not waste it."

Jazmin looked at Eli, regret piercing her. She wanted to not waste another moment with him, but she couldn't quite face intimacy yet with him. She wanted to be everything he needed. However, she didn't know if she could ever be that girl again. It made her unbelievably sad because he deserved so much more. Suddenly, she needed some space away from his loving gaze. "Well, I'm going to head to class. I'll catch you guys later," she said breezily. She stood up and gave them a cheery wave and left.

Eli frowned after her. That was odd. She never walked away from him without some physical sign of affection, if only a kiss on the cheek or a hug. A bit disturbed, he drained his soda and said goodbye to Parker, dismissing his disquiet. It was probably nothing.

*****The Casablancas*****

Wallace and Duncan were putting up a Welcome Home banner Mac had insisted they make for Dick. Neither minded since they both felt a bit at a loss over Dick's brush with death. Of course, they didn't say it in those words, but both men knew that a heart attack—no matter how mild—was nothing to sneeze about.

"I still can't believe Dick could've died," Wallace said when he stepped down from the ladder.

"Yeah, I can't either. I've known Dick longer than I've known Logan. I don't remember anything getting him down for long except a broken arm once. And even that wasn't a big deal. He was ten and called it a chick magnet," Duncan said, smiling at the memory.

"How did he break it?" Wallace asked.

"He fell out of his and Cassidy's tree house," Duncan said.

"I'm just glad Weevil and I went with him that day. No telling how things could've went down if we hadn't," Wallace said with a grimace.

"Yeah," Duncan said soberly. He'd lost enough people in his life. Losing Dick wasn't something he ever thought about. Logan lived life on the edge, and so did Veronica. Dick, though, seemed impervious to most things. "I can't believe he's had a heart problem for years but didn't know."

"Yes, it's freaky. I'm going to go get a full physical asap. My mom already insisted. So did Thea," Wallace said.

"I get one every six months due to my epilepsy, so I know my heart's okay," Duncan said. His blackouts had been enough of a problem to manage. He was grateful, though, that he'd gotten those under control. He hoped it wasn't something he'd pass on to Lily. "I'll probably start getting Lily full examines when she starts school. I hope she doesn't get my epilepsy."

Wallace hadn't considered that. "Yeah, that wouldn't be cool. But genetics is kind of a crap shoot," he said.

"True," Duncan said.

"So since life is short, how do you feel about moving on?" Wallace asked.

"Moving on to what?" Duncan inquired.

"Well, Veronica told me to ask Thea about fixing you up with one of her sorority sisters. She said she knew two that she thought you might like," Wallace told him.

Duncan frowned, not sure how he felt about his friends fixing him up. "I don't know. I guess it's not the worst idea," he said grudgingly.

"Great! How about we do a double date on Friday? I'll pick you up, and Thea and her friend can meet us at a restaurant. Then it's kind of casual. No pressure," Wallace suggested.

"Okay," Duncan said. That didn't sound so bad. No awkward blind pick-ups.

Not much later, Dick arrived with Mac, Logan, and Veronica. He looked pale and tired. His dad came out of the study to greet him.

"How are you feeling, son?" he asked.

Mac led him to the couch. "I feel okay. Better than I did," Dick said as he sat down on the sofa. Mac sat next to him.

"Do you need anything?" Veronica asked.

"A shot of tequila," Dick said with a grin.

Mac frowned. "Not a good idea," she said.

"I was just teasing, babe. I know. No alcohol until I get used to the meds. Doc said," Dick said.

"Good. Make sure you do what the doctor tells you," his dad said. "I just got off the phone with your mother. She wants to fly in to take care of you."

"What?" Dick asked in disbelief.

"I think her and her husband are having some trouble. She wants an excuse to come back home," Dick Sr. shared.

"The doctor said no stress. Having her here would just stress me out!" Dick protested.

"She's your mother, Dick," Dick Sr. reminded me.

"Really? I sure wouldn't know with as much care she's shown me or Cassidy the last few years he was alive. If she'd actually wanted Cassidy with him, maybe he'd still be alive and a plane of people would be, too!" Dick said hotly. "Beav begged to go live with her when you went on the run. She refused and just released our trust funds. She left us with the floozy stepmomma, who was banging my best friend at the time!"

"Calm down, Dick," Mac said in a soothing voice. She gave Logan a worried glance.

Logan sat down on Dick's other side. "Dick, you can't get worked up about stuff. Not now. Not over stuff that's not worth the mental energy. We both know your mom isn't worth it. She has to live with her choices. No point in casting blame. Your brother had a lot of dark things inside him. We don't know what would've happened if he'd left town. Usually, location has nothing to do with someone's desire to kill," Logan said.

"Let's not talk about Cassidy. That topic will just upset all of us," Mac said, glancing at Veronica in concern.

Veronica, however, partly agreed with Dick. She still blamed Duncan's parents for what happened to Lilly. If they'd been better parents, she didn't think Lilly would've been so reckless. Not having her own mom to talk to after her rape had hurt her in ways she hadn't realized until she tried to be in a committed relationship. But she knew she needed to help relieve the tension, not add to it. "Dick, you know my mom came back, and it was great. She really regretted what happened. It didn't make things suddenly okay, but I know I was really glad to have her at my wedding. Give your mom a chance. She may surprise you," Veronica said.

"You think?" Dick asked, a hopeful note in his voice.

"It happened with my mom," Veronica said.

Logan made a mental vow to have a little chat with Dick's mom when she came to town. There was no way he was just going to stand by and let Dick be hurt further by his mother's half-hearted parenting. Logan knew too well how harmful neglect by a parent could be.

"Let's hope your mom is genuine. I'll talk to Betina, though. Don't worry," his dad assured him.

"I'll make sure my mom keeps her busy while she's in town," Duncan offered with a grin.

Dick returned his smile. "Thanks, dude," he said.

The doorbell rang, so Wallace went to the door. It was Chip. "I got the brothers to gather Dick's assignments for the week," he said.

"Great. Come on in," Wallace said.

Everyone looked up at Chip as he entered the room. "Hey, Dick. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Okay," Dick said with a shrug. Chip handed him a folder.

"Here's your assignments for the week. I know you have a syllabus, but professors don't always stick to it. You have at least one brother in each of your classes, so they all told your professors you'd be out for a few days," Chip said.

Mac took the folder. "We'll worry about that later," she said. She smiled at Chip. "Thanks for doing that, Chip."

"Not a problem. Don't forget to give each of your professors a copy of the doctor's note," he reminded Dick.

"I'm on that," Mac said. She's already snapped a photo of it and planned on emailing it to his teachers.

"The guys said they'd be taking good notes for you and not to worry," Chip said.

"Thanks," Dick said. It was good to have friends you could count on.

"I think Dick should go to his room and rest," Mac said, noticing his wane expression. When he didn't protest, she knew how tired he really was.

"I have a shopping list. The doctor said he needs to watch his salt intake," Mac said. "We need to do less take-out."

Wallace reached out his hand to take it. "I got it," he said, glad to have some way to help.

"How will he survive?" Logan quipped.

"With more home cooked meals," Mac said firmly.

"Weevil knows how to cook," Wallace said with a grin.

Logan snickered while Dick brightened at the thought. "Yeah, he cooks good pancakes."

"Don't you think hiring a cook would be the best thing?" Dick Sr. suggested.

"Weevil's grandma is the best cook," Logan said. "She fed me a lot growing up."

"We'll have Weevil talk to her," Veronica said.

"We'll pay her, of course," Dick Sr. said. "I could also call the old cook we used to have."

"Not a good idea. Why do you think I got so hooked on take-out?" Dick said, smiling. "Let's go with Weevil's grandma. See if she has the time to cook a few meals a few days a week."

"Works for me," Wallace said, grinning at the thought of more home-cooked meals. "Mom can make a meal once a week, too." He knew she wouldn't mind.

Mac stood up and took Dick's hand to prod him. "Let's get you to bed," she said.

Dick gave her a leer. "Words I'll never get tired of hearing you say!" he exclaimed, causing his audience to laugh, and Veronica to roll her eyes. "Some things never change," she observed.

Mac smiled. "No exertion for at least a week," she chided.

Dick's mouth fell open in dismay. "You're going to withhold sex? Seriously?" he asked in outrage.

Mac's face turned red as she looked at his father in mortification. Veronica knew how private she was, so she quickly said, "Let's get out of here so Dick can rest."

They all said goodbye and made a hasty exit, which Mac appreciated. She loved Dick, but there were times like now when she hated the embarrassment that went along with dating him. He just had no sense of privacy at all. She gave his father a grateful look when he made a tactful retreat.

"Dick, how could you say that in front of everyone?" she said, throwing herself back down on the couch and putting her hands in her face. Suddenly, it was just too much. The stress of not knowing if he was going to die, finding out he was sick, and now not being able to be close to him like they both wanted. She started to sob.

Dick looked down at her in surprise, quickly followed by contrition. He sat down next to her and put his arms around her. She immediately leaned against him still crying. "I'm sorry, Mac. You know I don't ever mean to embarrass you. You know I'd not hurt you for anything. Please, don't be mad at me!" he begged.

She sniffed and raised her head up. She wiped at her eyes and nodded. "I know, Dick. I'm not mad. It's just too much. I could've lost you! I don't want to not have sex with you! But I don't want you to die. The doctor said that you had to take it easy. I asked him if that meant being intimate, and he said for the next few days you need to have very little activity. That means no sex, no surfing. That means resting," she told him. "I'm not trying to punish you." Tears kept falling as she spoke. She was trying to be strong, but she was so exhausted. She'd gotten no sleep the past two days. Fear for Dick had stolen her sleep.

Dick hated nothing more than he hated the sight of a woman crying—her in particular. He pulled her back against him. "Babe, you know we're going to get through this. I'm going to be okay. I plan on being here a long, long time. I'm sorry for overreacting. I can't help it that you're unbelievably hot, and I'm, like, addicted to having sex with you, though," he said.

Mac laughed—he was so perfect sometimes. She looked up at him. "I love you so much, Dick. I just don't want to take chances. I'll be with you as much as I can, but we should abstain until next Monday. You have your check-up then. It's only six days," she said.

He sighed dramatically and wiped her cheeks. "Okay, Mackie. I'll survive. But I won't like it!" he said, giving her a wink. He kissed her, needing to feel the touch of her lips on his. No matter what else, he knew that he'd be okay as long as she remained by his side.

*****Chapter End*****