Episode 892: All Apologies

Nate sat with his nose buried in a Sudoku puzzle, next to him, a seated Bowie had his head propped up by one hand, while Lila paced the empty center square of space formed by the chairs.

They didn’t exactly rush to greet Sebastian. Bowie nodded. Lila said, “hey.”

Their apathy was understandable, they were preoccupied with their kid’s health, but beyond that, Bas knew he hadn’t exactly been friendly towards them since Lila had spilled the news to Ava that Xavier is Jesse’s biological father.

Bas had felt a tremendous amount of resentment towards Lila, and well, he’d lumped Bowie in with the perceived betrayal, feeling like if his relationship blew up due to a return appearance from Xavier, Lila and Bowie would be to blame.

He now realized how wrong his attitude towards them had been, they weren’t out to destroy his marriage, they’d just wanted to save their child, he’d been horrible to begrudge them that. The only one guilty of ruining his life lately had been him, it was his fault that he’d put distance between he and Ava over this phantom of a guy, and he’d jeopardized his friendships in a similar way.

The night before when Ava had said she’d like to drop off a care package to help their friends through the day if only she weren’t swamped by the months in the making unfortunately timed launch of a book club at the store and she wouldn’t be able to get to the hospital until later, so Sebastian, who wasn’t playing a role in hosting the book club had offered to make the delivery.

“Guys,” he said. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been a better friend lately, when you really needed the support.”

“It’s okay, I get it,” Lila said. “I doubt I would have handled it any better in your situation, I’m not exactly a stranger to insecurity.” She hugged him.

Bowie clapped Bas on the back. “It’s worked out, that’s what matters.”

Bas nodded. “I’m glad Jesse will finally start feeling better soon. It was Ava’s idea to bring you guys a little something while you wait, and she wanted me to tell you again how sorry she is that she couldn’t be here, it’s just she invested a lot of time and money into this book club idea… But if something comes up today and you need us, she wants you to know we will reschedule, just say the word, don’t hesitate. Anyways I just wanted to give you this and apologize and get out of your hair. Maybe you could let us know how it goes, if it’s okay to stop by later to visit, we could hang out with Nate for a bit if you want or just keep you company, whatever.”

They promised to call, and Bas felt better about things right up until he was on his way out and ducked down a hallway he knew from his mom working there sometimes when he was a kid. He knew it would get him to his parking spot faster, which meant he’d get back to help Ava out with her hopefully successful event that much faster, but the moment he crossed paths with a patient on a stretcher, it stopped him in his tracks.

Episode 893: Sorry Not Sorry