Chapter 11: Luna

            I stared at the slightly gray haired, glassy-eyed nurse’s nametag throughout the entirety of her explanation about my father’s current condition. She talked for a solid three minutes, but all I gathered was that her white badge identified her as Dorothy. When I finally lifted my eyes, I noticed that she was looking at me with intense concern, almost as if she was waiting for me to say something. I think she knew that I hadn’t been paying attention to her. She finally said, “Well if you have no questions, just hand me that paperwork, and I’ll show you to your father’s room, dear.” As I handed her the clipboard, she glanced down at the blank pages. My panic must have shown in my eyes because Dorothy then said in a very soothing voice, “Not to worry, not to worry. We’ll take care of this after you’ve seen your father.” I already liked her better than the receptionist.

            I focused on looking at the floor and counting my steps as I followed Dorothy down the hall. Counting always puts my mind at ease, or at least it used to. Counting. Equations. Rocket. AH! I made it to step number thirteen before I noticed the tip of Alex’s brown leather shoes out of the corner of my eye. I’m going to have to tell him about this. He’s going to figure it out either way. He’s being so sweet, and he drove me all the way here. He even let me cry on his shoulder. I thought that was only in movies. He deserves to know the truth, right? But what could I possibly say? “Hey, Alex. Just so you know, my mother passed away when I was born, and I haven’t talked to my drunkard, supposed-to-be father since I was eighteen. I know I told you a completely different story than that, but I thought you should know the truth now. My bad.” Yeah. I’ll get right on that… Not. I was now hyperaware of how closely Alex was walking behind me, and it made me more nervous than I already was. He hadn’t signed up for this when he asked me to dinner. What am I getting myself into? I don’t even like my father… At all!

Dorothy came to a stop at room 170, and asked Alex and I to wait outside for a moment. She walked into my father’s room, but left the door cracked. I heard her say, “Mr. Smith? Mr. Smith, I’m your nurse for tonight’s shift. My name is Dorothy. You’ve got some family members waiting outside to see you. Are you ready for them to come in?” I don’t know if I actually heard his sharp intake of breath, or if I just imagined it. After a few seconds of silence he replied, “Family? Yeah, they can come in. That’d be real nice.” Dorothy popped her head out and said, “He’d like to see you all. Remember to stay calm when you see him, no matter how alarmed you may be. We don’t want to have to sedate him again.” Sedate him?! What?! Noticing my alarm, Alex took my hand, and led me into the room.

“Luna? Is that you?” my father asked.

“Um, um, uhh, yes. It’s me. Hello, dad.” I shakily replied. OH MY GOD, HE HAS NO LEGS. HE HAS NO LEGS!!!!! Stay calm. Stay calm. How?

“Well, well, well. Would you look at that? Gee, kiddo. You’ve grown up, haven’t you? You look right like your mother, you do. Not as pretty as her though. Been a long time, ‘eh? How ya been? Better than me, I'm sure. Say, did ya ever end up making anything of yourself or what?” He said, smirking. It's nice too see you again too dad. It's only been about 8 and a half years. Some people never change.

I stared at him briefly, contemplating what to say. I decided to be nice, because, after all, the man didn’t have any legs. Not to mention that Alex was in the corner, drinking in every word we said. My father scratched his forehead, and I noticed that he was also missing his left pinky finger. Just one finger? What kind of accident did he have exactly? BOTH of his legs are missing, but just ONE finger? Did he deserve the benefit of the doubt this time? Probably not, but I was going to give it to him either way.

“Dad, all of that can wait. You’ve just had a severe accident. How are YOU doing?”

“Well, ya know, I’m just a bit pissed off really. Tried to straighten myself up and get to work on a regular basis, and look what happens.” He gestured towards what he had left of his legs. “Maybe I shoulda went in a little more sober, huh?” He started to laugh heartily at his newfound wisdom. Of course he would be laughing.

“I’d been doing real good for about a week though. I’d only had a drink a day.”

He was just the same as he’d always been. Useless. No good. Lazy. Alcoholic. The anger inside of me started to swell up like a balloon, despite the twinge of guilt I felt in my stomach for it. I hoped that steam wasn’t billowing out of my ears. Alex sat in the corner, obviously confused, but trying to take in the situation nonetheless. He was such a good man. Why couldn’t my father be like him? I was about to go and talk to him when I heard a knock at the door. I told my father to excuse me and went to see who it could be, because nurses don’t normally knock.

I opened the wooden door, and nearly had a heart attack. TERA! TERA BEAR! Wait, what? Tera?

“TERA?!? Oh my god. What are you doing here??” I half screamed, forgetting we were in a hospital.

Tera had been my office mate before Alex. When it became evident that NASA would be lying to the American people about going to the moon, Tera started leaking our deceit into the media. She’d always despised lying, and was so angry with NASA for its treachery. While I understood her reason in doing what she did, I still didn’t agree with it. She got caught only a few months into the operation, and was fired immediately. Her name is still pretty much taboo amongst my colleagues. We’d been office mates for about 3 years prior to her leaving NASA. I knew her, and the smile she greeted me with, very well.

“I heard about your father. I’m so sorry Luna. I came as quickly as I could. What can I do for you?” Tera replied, looking intently into my eyes. She could probably tell I was on the verge of a breakdown. I felt instantly at peace seeing her though. We’d always had something. A connection? A bond? A love? I’m not sure, but whatever it was hadn't faded with time, obviously.

“Of course you found out. How do you find out all your information anyways? Is that just one of the many perks of being an investigative journalist? I can’t believe you’re here. Thank you so much. Really. You didn’t have to come.” It was becoming more and more difficult for me to talk. I felt like my throat was closing up. I was sure that the breakdown was about to happen. There are way too many things going on in my life right now, or at least too many for me to handle.

“I have connections. Now, answer me. What can I do for you? I can tell you’re very upset. What do you need?” She asked me again. Yeah, she can tell that I’m about to cry… over my father. I swore to myself that I’d never do that again.

“Well, if you don’t have anywhere to be, you can stay here with--”

“Luna, what’s wrong?” Alex interrupted me, stepping out into the hall. He gazed at Tera quizzically.

Tera diverted her eyes from Alex’s pointed gaze. Alex looked at me questioningly.

“Uhm, Alex this is Tera. She used to be my officemate. Tera, this is Alex. He was the Head of Photography for the… Well, you know.”

“For the fake moon landing?” Tera said sharply.

“Oh, yes. I’ve heard your name before, but I don’t think we ever actually met.” Alex said, holding his hand out to greet Tera.

“Hi, Alex. How do you do?” Tera replied shortly, blowing his gesture off completely. “Now, Luna, please tell me what I can do. I know you’re a wreck. You’re fidgeting. Would you like some coffee?”

“I’ll get it for her. Would you like anything else, Luna?” Alex said firmly, looking directly at me, and avoiding Tera’s glare.

“She doesn’t like anything with her coffee. And she likes it black, by the way.” Tera responded smartly.

“Yeah. Yeah, what Tera said. Thank you, Alex. I’ll be right here waiting for you.” I stammered. Great. Just great. Why is this happening right now?? Alex doesn’t want to pick a fight with her. She was trained at NASA too, after all.

“It’s not a problem. I’m here for you, anytime.” Alex said, giving Tera one last look.

I stared at the ceiling, not wanting to meet either of their eyes. As Alex walked off, I looked back at Tera. She was staring at me, accusingly. I can’t believe she’s here. She hasn’t even kept in touch. And why was Alex being so territorial? Were he and I supposed to be together now? If that’s the case, he could’ve informed me. He knows how I feel, I can tell. Ah. AHHH.  I hate when she looks straight through me like that. It’s almost like she knows exactly what I’m thinking. Does she know I’ve missed her?

“It seems we have some catching up to do, Star.”