#jeferson

“I am,” you said, beaming.

“Here, I got you a breakfast sandwich and coffee. I hope you like both. I wasn’t sure…”

But he did know both. He knew your favorite food, the way you like your coffee, the way you liked your tea, the way you ate cookies...

“As long as the coffee is so sweet it’ll give me a cavity,” you noted with a grin.

“It should be.”

You sipped it and it was perfect.

“Wow. It is. Thank you. Thank you so much for the food.”

“Well I figured it would cheer you up a little bit, not having a car and all that,” he noted, a light dancing in his eyes that seemed to mesmerize you.

“It did, thank you, but it wasn’t just the food,” you informed.

Jefferson stared at you, shocked a bit. You held each other’s gaze for a moment, slightly leaning into each other before you closed your eyes.

“We should get going. I can’t be late or my boss will have a fit.”

“Right,” Jefferson noted, furrowing his dark brows. He started the car and drove you to work as you chattered a bit about what you’ll face in the day.

He arrived at the storefront and you didn’t want to get out of the car.

“Ugh. I guess I need to go,” you noted.

“Yeah, you probably should,” he quietly said.

“Thank you for the ride. I get off at 7:00…”

“I’ll be here, waiting.”

“Thank you,” you breathed before leaning over to kiss his cheek quickly then hopped out and went in for your day.

------------

At noon, there was a rush. Women liked to come over on their lunch breaks to browse for fun or make quick changes to orders. Jefferson had decided to make your life as easy as he could.

He came in, being the only man in the shop, a few ladies stopped to stare as he approached the counter where you stood.

“Jefferson? What are you doing here?” you asked.

“I just brought you lunch. You don’t have a car, I figured you’d be hungry,” he said holding the bag and cup up.

“Oh, that was so thoughtful of you,” you said sweetly.

“Club sandwich, chips, and tea. Hope that’s okay,” he offered sort of shyly.

“That’s perfect, I just hope I get time to eat it,” you said with a laugh, your eyes pointing to the madhouse.

“Right. Well I’ll let you get back to it.”

“Thanks.”

He turned and left and you got a call from the mechanic.

“Hey, Alice.”

“Hi. Is it ready?” you wondered.

“No, I’m afraid it’s not just the battery,” the mechanic informed.

“Oh no, what is it?” you asked, a sinking feeling hitting your stomach.

“I’m afraid it’s the battery, alternator, and the fuel pump.”

“What? How do all three of those things go out at the same time?” you wondered.

“Beats me. Usually this doesn’t happen but it’ll take about a week for me to fix all of this. And it won’t be cheap…”

“That’s fine...I mean...I need my car...Not much I can do,” you said sighing.

“Alright. I’ll get on it.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as you hung up, you got another call.

“This is Alice.”

“Alice, this is Dr. Whale,” he began.

“Yes?” you said, fearing the worst.

“I’m afraid...your father is having issues with fluid sitting on his heart, we can’t seem to get it off.”

“And he’s still on his diuretics?” you questioned.

“Well..No, we took him off of those because--”

“Because why?” you demanded firmly. “He is a heart patient, doctor. He should never, for any reason, be off his loop diuretics. I suggest you put him back on those, and I guarantee the problem will go away,” you said. Dr. Whale was a good doctor but he had a habit of messing with your father’s prescriptions, when you knew what was best for him.

“Okay, I can do that...But...we have another issue. His feet. The circulation isn’t getting to his toes...Gangrene is starting to set in.”

“But...okay,” you said, starting to panic then calming yourself. “So what does that mean?”

“It means...he may lose his leg.”

“What?!” you shrieked into the phone, a few customers turning to stare at you. You turned around to talk quieter. “So, what can we do?”

“Nothing. His circulation is poor and that’s nothing we can fix or make better. I’m sorry.”

“So what do we do?”

“Well...we wait. We can ask him if he wants to keep his leg. There is a very slim chance that if his circulation gets better it will clear up, but that’s very slim. Pretty soon, the sores on his legs will get worse and worse because the medication in his blood that we’re providing won’t even reach down there…”

“So...We just have to hope he gets better,” you surmised in a dejected tone.

“Essentially, yes. I’m so sorry. If you have time in the next few days, perhaps you could talk with him about amputation…”

“I uh...I’ll see what I can do.”

You hung up and numbly went through the rest of the day. You’d seen your dad come back from some amazing things before. He’d gone into comas and come back better than ever. He’s had kidney failure multiple times and then they start to work again. But this...this was something that would be nearly impossible to do. But this was your dad, you had to hold out hope. You had to be his rock.

Jefferson picked you up and noticed your nature had changed from happy to stressed to downright depressed.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked.

“No...Uh...My dad, he’s sick...And...well...They said his legs aren’t getting circulation so they’re talking about amputation…”

“Oh no, oh my god. I’m so sorry, Alice. What are you going to do?”

You shrugged. “I have no freaking idea. I guess...I’ll talk to him about it. I’d like to go see him but I don’t want to make you chauffer me around town…”

“Nonsense. You want to see your dad, that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

“Are you sure?” you asked, wondering if he was being sincere.

“Absolutely.”

You told him he was at the hospital and he drove there. You practically ran inside, wanting to see your dad.

“Hey, Dad,” you greeted gently as you came in.

“Hey, sweetie.”

“How do you feel?”

“I’m in a lot of pain,” he admitted, and it made your stomach drop. Your dad was always like Iron Man. In fact, it was a running joke in your family. For him to admit he was in pain, it must be a lot. He seemed to be wincing.

“Do you need more pain medication?” you asked.

“Yeah, something better than the weak ass aspirins they’re giving me.”

“Alright.”

Jefferson stood in the doorway, watching you, wishing he could help. He knew how much your father meant to you. You were the spitting image of him, which usually would sound odd, a girl looking like her father, but you were all him. Jefferson had always admired and gotten along with your father, and in the Enchanted Forest he was sick too. It hurt him to see your father in such bad shape now, and to watch you go through this alone.

You came back in the room.

“Okay, they’re coming with more pain meds.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“Oh, Dad, I want you to meet my new friend, Jefferson.”

Jefferson approached immediately and shook his hand, even though it was hard since your father had a shaky grip nowadays.

“Great to meet you, sir,” Jefferson said with a smile.

“Likewise.”

At that moment, a nurse came in and gave him more pain meds.

You started to talk about your car issues, and told him what the mechanic said, and your dad scoffed, making Jefferson smirk. Back in the Enchanted Forest, there was nothing your father couldn’t do. He was a successful tinker of all things, and when he built things, they were built to last through the most wicked of storms and strongest of men.

“Oh hell, I’ve never heard of that before.”

“I know...but...they said it’s happening.”

“I wish I could still walk or I’d fix the damn thing myself for you,” he mentioned.

“I know, Dad. But Jefferson here offered to be my driver until it’s fixed,” you said, looking up and grinning at Jefferson.

“Well thank you for taking care of my daughter,” he noted to Jefferson.

“Please, it’s my pleasure.”