remaining tension in my system. I took a step forward only to have Brewer's teeth once again close around my hand. This time, I forced myself not to yank it away. There was very little pressure as Brewer held my hand in his mouth. I stood there, not knowing what to do. Before I could ask Gideon how to react, I felt Brewer tug my hand. It didn't hurt in the least. I gave in and took a step in the direction the dog was trying to get me to go. One step, then another, then another. It was slow going, but amazingly enough, I didn't run into a single thing as I followed Brewer in a semi-circle, presumably around the table I'd been about to run into.
"I'll be damned," Gideon said.
Brewer released my hand a moment later but stayed by my side. As before, when I took a step, Brewer stayed pressed up against me. I stopped and glanced in what I hoped was Gideon's direction. "Has he ever done this before?" I asked.
"No," Gideon said. "He'll grab my hand to get my attention, but that's it."
I knelt down so I could get closer to the dog and then I gave him a good rubdown on his face. "Thank you, boy," I said. I was rewarded with several sticky dog kisses. I kept my hand on Brewer's head as I stood.
"How are you feeling?" Gideon asked. Normally, when someone spoke to me, I had a habit of dropping my eyes so I wouldn't be looking in some random direction because I wasn't able to pinpoint the person's exact location. It was my way of covering up for my disability. But I found myself looking for any shape that could potentially be Gideon so I could be talking to him.
"Okay," I said. "What time is it?"
"It's almost six p.m."
So I’d been asleep for several hours. "Are you hungry?" Gideon asked.
Surprisingly, I was. But even if I hadn't been, I needed to get back into the routine of eating on a regular schedule so I could get my blood sugar regulated again. "Yes," I said. "You can just take me back to my cabin, I'm sure I can find something. The power will probably be back on soon anyway, right?"
There was a long silence and then footsteps. I focused on the sound rather than the shapes I couldn't really make out. It seemed like Gideon was to my left and was coming closer to me. A strange, nervous energy came over me as I stood there waiting. I remembered my earlier reaction to him when he’d confronted me with the note I'd left for my brothers during my weak moment with the insulin. This time, though, none of that fear was there.
It really didn't make any sense because it wasn't like I had suddenly come to know Gideon any better. The fact was, though, that he’d had every opportunity to hurt me and had done nothing but help me instead. I remembered how he’d carried me up the porch stairs and to his room with very little effort on his part. As gruff as he was, he'd still only been kind to me. Yeah, he’d called me a few names, but they weren't anything I hadn’t deserved. I had been selfish and rude.
"The power’s back on at the cabin, but it will take several hours for it to heat back up. Some of the food in your fridge is probably still okay, but some is probably spoiled. You’ll want to check it before you eat it."
I heard what he didn't say. How was I going to check it if I couldn't see it? But that wasn't his problem, so I simply nodded my head and said, "Okay."
"Here," Gideon said right before he pressed something into my hand. It was two somethings, actually. Both my controller for my insulin pump and my phone. "They're both charged," Gideon said.
"Thank you," I murmured as I held the familiar objects. The phone felt both good and bad in my hand. Part of me really wanted to turn it on and call my brothers, but that was exactly why it also felt bad. Nothing had changed. I wasn't ready to reach out to them just yet.
Gideon must've seen how I was holding the phone or something because he said, "Call them, Lex."
I knew he had no way of knowing about my brothers, but I figured he was referencing them as a whole. He wouldn't understand why