Page 8 of Love Unwritten
I take a deep breath and voice the opinion Nico will hate to hear. “You’re going to have to tell him about this.”
His arms tighten around me. “I will.”
“When?”
He flinches. “After our trip?”
I pull back to get a better look at him. “No. You can’t wait three weeks to tell him about something like this.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s your dad. He deserves to know what’s going on with you so he can help.”
“Telling him now won’t make a difference.” His shoulders slump like they are single-handedly carrying the weight of the world. “My eyes aren’t ever going to get better.”
As much as I want to deny the truth, Nico is right. Nothing we can do will change his diagnosis, but that doesn’t mean he needs to struggle by himself. He can count on us to support him through it all.
“If you’re scared, I could talk to him for you.”
A look of pure desperation flashes across his face as his fingers dig into my arm, right over a tiny group of butterfly tattoos. “No! Please, please, please, Ellie. Don’t say anything yet. At least not until after our trip.”
“Why do you want to wait?”
“Today, he smiled, and yesterday, he laughed!”
The chasm in my chest deepens as I remember the sound that took me by surprise. While Rafael’s laugh wasn’t loud or powerful, it was soft and impactful enough to make Nico smile for the remainder of the day.
“He never laughs anymore.” Nico’s misty eyes make mine tear up as well. “I don’t want to ruin that before our trip.”
My deep breath might not calm my heart, but it gives me a moment to clear my head. “I need you to be honest with me and tell me how bad it has gotten since your exam in January.”
He asks to use my phone and pulls up an example of his current vision. It has begun to dim around the edges, as if he is seeing the world through a pair of binoculars, which was a symptom the doctor warned Rafael about given Nico’s advanced medical state. His tunnel vision isn’t as bad as I had originally thought, but it still worries me given how young he is.
While I don’t want to risk my job for a secret, I’m not sure I have much of a choice unless I want to break Nico’s trust. If his safety were truly at risk, I would betray it in a heartbeat to protect him, but I’m going to choose to believe him.
I release a heavy breath. “I’ll give you until after your birthday party.”
His face turns a sick shade of green. “But that’s in a week!”
“It’s either that or we tell him tonight.”
It kills me to put my foot down, especially when Nico pouts and says, “I don’t want him to be sad before our vacation.”
“That’s fair, but you know it’s the right thing.”
His reply is nothing but a deep sigh of resignation.
I lift his chin so he can look me in the eyes. “He may be temporarily unhappy, but the trip will help him feel better.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.” Okay, I may not know for certain, but I’ve never heard a single person say they had a bad time in Hawaii.
With all the effort Rafael put into planning this special trip for his son, including canceling the original Europe itinerary all because Nico became obsessed with Hawaii this year after watching a hundred hours of content about the place, I know he will have a good time.
Or so I hope.
“Okay. Fine. I’ll tell him after next weekend.”