We walked into the cafeteria, and I was surprised how together Drew looked. He wasn’t happy- I could see that- but he wasn’t crying, or angry, or … dead, either. He was just sad. Sad, but okay. I sucked in a deep breath and led him through the line, hoping that maybe he’d be able to start over soon, move on.
Maybe he’d just needed to see her one last time.
We were met by Angela, who sat with us and kept us talking. Well, kept me talking. Drew didn’t seem to be up for that yet. I tried to include him, encourage him to talk, but he didn’t respond.
Patience, I told myself, He’ll come around.
All my nights of too little sleep were catching up to me. All the emotional stress I’d gone through in the last 24 hours didn’t help either. Tiredly, I said to Angela, “I have to go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” Drew didn’t look up as I stumbled away.
In the bathroom, I splashed my face with water and took a few deep breaths