"I know you can't help it, Lucas." Mr. Brennahan told him in a soft tone, leaning forward a bit. "I don't blame you for any of this. I know you're trying hard— but your mind is trying harder to hurt you. I don't want you to blame yourself, for something you're trying so hard to control."
Lucas nodded weakly, keeping his eyes closed. "I-I'm just a mess and I'm sorry that you have to deal with me sir. Mmmmm… those pain meds feel nice…" He sighed a bit and seemed to get a bit more comfortable.
Mr. Brennahan watched Lucas for a minute, sighing softly. "You really don't need to apologize…" He whispered, noticing how much more relaxed he was becoming.
"Mm…" Lucas settled down some as the meds kicked back in. "If you say so, sir… is Melissa coming back soon?" He asked softly.
"I'd assume so." Mr. Brennahan responded softly, sitting back in his seat, knowing Lucas would be fine. "She may have gone to the store. But I really don't know what happened. She kinda just disappeared."
"Mmkay…" Lucas yawned a bit, loosening his grip on the sheets. "But now Cody is at home all by himself… d'you think he'll be okay? What if we trained him to be a therapy dog or something?"
Mr. Brennahan listened to Lucas for a minute, letting those thoughts sink in. "That… that's a really good idea…" He mumbled a little, pulling his phone out and falling quiet as he started looking into what Lucas had just mentioned.
"Then he could help me with… uh… this. He already seems to worry a lot when I'm like this and he tries to comfort me, so I think he might do well…"
"Yeah, mhmm…" Mr. Brennahan mumbled, still managing to listen to him as he read through different articles. "That would be a really smart idea."
"And labs are supposedly good for that stuff…" Lucas hummed softly to himself, staring blankly at the wall. "Do you think he could do it?"
"That's what I'm looking at now." Mr. Brennahan hummed, flicking his gaze up at Lucas. He smiled softly to him, before looking back down to his phone. "Though I might have to better research at home."
"Okayyy…" Lucas's voice started slurring slightly again and he seemed to have calmed down. "Cody's a good boy…" He mumbled.
"He is a good boy." Mr. Brennahan hummed, scanning over the article as Lucas grew quieter. It wasn't too much longer until Melissa came back, a plastic grocery bag hanging off her wrist. "Hey, Lu. You still doing alright?"
"Mhmm~…" Lucas pushed himself into a sitting position and yawned. "Your dad put my needle back in for me." He held out his arm to show Melissa, humming softly again. "What kinda ice cream did you get?"
"Why did he have to put it back in? Did you take it out?" Melissa asked softly, keeping up a little smile as she came and sat on the edge of the bed. When he held his arm out, she took his hand and kissed the back of it. "And I got strawberry. Is that okay?"
"We were talking about my dad and I got upset and tried to leave." Lucas said simply, reaching out for the ice cream. "But then the thing fell out and I stayed under the cot for a while instead."
"Mm, are you alright now?" Melissa asked softly, pulling the ice cream from the bag. She grabbed a plastic spoon as well, dropping the bag on the bed to get out of her way. She pulled the lid off before scooping some from the quart, offering him the spoon.
"Mhmm! I got ice cream." Lucas stuck his tongue out a bit again and took the spoon from Melissa to stick into his mouth.
Melissa laughed a little, reaching over and pulling a second spoon out for herself. "Is it yummy?" She asked softly, scooping up some for herself.
Lucas nodded and kept eating his ice cream, although his hands were shaking a lot as he did so. His arms were considerably weaker than usual due to the cuts, but he was ignoring that fact in favor of ice cream.
Melissa let him try for a couple minutes, before setting her spoon aside. "Do you want me to feed you? I'm already full, so I don't mind." She offered in a soft tone, reaching out to take his spoon.
"No, I got it…" Lucas kept eating for a while before he set his spoon down and seemed to be done. "You asked the doctor if I'm allowed to eat or not, right?"
"Mhmm, when I got up." Melissa hummed a little, putting a lid on the container. "Why? Just because you want to know?" She asked softly, dropping it back in the bag.
"Just wanna make sure I'm not gonna throw up or something." Lucas yawned and lay back down on the cot.
"Mm, yeah, that's smart. They didn't tell me you would throw up, so I think you'll be alright." Melissa hummed, taking the bag and dropping it on the floor.
"Do I have to stay here overnight?" Lucas asked with a soft whine. "It's so cold in here… and the bed's less comfortable than your couch."
"Yeah, you're gonna have to stay. But I can bring you extra blankets, if you want. We can stack them under you, and put more on top." Melissa offered with a little smile, gently rubbing his lower leg.
"Okay…" Lucas sighed. "But then you gotta leave me here all alone, Mel… is Cody allowed to come? He's probably worried…"
"I don't know, Lu." Melissa admitted in a soft tone, scooting up closer to him. "I can ask, if you wanna see him."
"Mmmm…" Lucas huddled up on the cot with a soft sigh. "I don't think dogs are allowed if they're not like… therapy dogs."