“I stopped going to Bray when Dad was hospitalized. He’d been hospitalized overnight a few times before, for the chemo and radiation and all. But this time, it was serious. The hospital basically became his new home. He didn’t have the money to pay for it. His insurance wasn’t great. I didn’t know how we were going to deal with it. All I knew was that convincing him to pay for my horseback riding lessons was the last thing I wanted to do.”
We’re still in my room. I chew my bacon contentedly enough, but my mind is less content. This is a story I’ve never told anyone. Joey deserves it, and I’m not afraid to open up to him; I know I can trust him. But it’s still scary. I know that, after this, there’s no going back.
“You wouldn’t have had to pay,” Joey tells me. “You know Ol wouldn’t have m
