Chapter 140: A Little Chat With Danny
"I’m going to stay," said Max. "With her. For the afternoon."
"Good," said Sean.
Max looked at him. "Sean."
"Yeah."
"What you did today," said Max. "Fourteen families. A five million dollar fund. Dr. Grace finally having the resources to do what she’s been trying to do for eight years." He paused. "I know you said to stop thanking you. I’m not thanking you. I’m just telling you that I was here. I watched it happen. And I won’t forget it."
Sean looked at him for a moment.
"Go be with your sister," he said.
Max nodded and stepped back from the elevator. The doors closed.
—-----
Outside
Sean walked through the lobby and out through the main doors into the afternoon.
James was at the curb, the car waiting, patient as always.
Sean stood on the hospital steps for a moment before going down them.
"Home, sir?" said James.
"Home," said Sean.
He looked out the window as the car pulled away from the hospital. His phone buzzed. Dr. Grace.
All fourteen billing accounts have been notified. I have been fielding calls from families for the last twenty minutes. I want you to know that two of those calls were from parents who were crying before they finished their sentences. A pause in the message thread. I have also been asked by three separate nurses what happened and I told them something changed today and they would see the difference by the end of the week. Another pause. I’ll have the administration meeting scheduled tomorrow and the formal proposal to you by Thursday. Thank you, Mr. Miller.
Sean read it twice.
He put his phone in his pocket and looked out the window at the city moving past.
—----------------
Few Minutes later
Sean had already moved further away from the hospital when he had a thought for him just to move forward the plan for him and Danny to have their chat today.
Sean pulled out his phone.
Danny. Are you free this evening?
The response came back in under a minute.
Depends whats this about Replied Danny
I think its better if we had our chat today,are you free today Sean typed.
Yeah i am. give me twenty minutes im at my place
Send me the address.
Danny sent it. A building about fifteen minutes from the hospital, the kind of address that suggested a young man managing his expenses carefully without making it obvious he was managing his expenses carefully.
"James," said Sean. "Change of plans. I have an address."
He sent it through.
"Of course, sir," said James, already adjusting course.
—----
Danny was standing outside his building when the Rolls Royce pulled up.
He was wearing jeans and a dark hoodie, his hands in his pockets, and he looked at the car the way he always looked at things he found impressive but wasn’t going to say so. He got in the back with the specific energy of someone trying to be casual about sitting in a Rolls Royce and not entirely succeeding.
"This car," said Danny.
"It’s a car," said Sean.
"It’s really not," said Danny. He looked at the interior. At the wood trim. At the stitching on the leather. "It’s really, genuinely, not just a car."
"James," said Sean. "This is Danny. Makima’s brother."
"Good evening, sir," said James, glancing in the mirror with the warm professionalism he reserved for people Sean actually liked.
Danny looked at the rearview mirror. "Does he always do that."
"Always," said Sean.
"Class," said Danny. He settled back into the seat, still taking in the interior, and then seemed to decide he’d given it enough visible appreciation and looked at Sean. "So. Where are we going."
"Somewhere we can actually talk," said Sean. "You eaten yet."
"I had something at two," said Danny.
"So no," said Sean.
"I had something," said Danny.
"James," said Sean. "The place on Morrison. The steakhouse."
"Very good, sir," said James.
Danny looked at Sean. "A steakhouse."
"You had some questions," said Sean. "Before that, let’s have some steak."
Danny nodded eagerly, already imagining the steak. His mouth watered at the thought of it.
Sean smiled and let out a quiet chuckle. "James, I think you should hurry it up."
"On it, sir," James replied as he shifted gears.
Danny grinned, and a moment later, both he and Sean burst into laughter.
—----------
The Restaurant
The steakhouse was warm and dark in the specific way good steakhouses were, the kind of lighting that made everything feel like a conversation worth having. The maître d’ seated them at a corner table without Sean having to ask for it, which Danny noticed and filed away with the expression of someone updating a document in real time.
They ordered. Danny studied the menu with the focused attention of someone who had been planning what to say on the drive over and was now using the menu as something to do with his hands while he organized his thoughts.
The waiter left.
Danny put the menu down.
"So," he said.
"So," said Sean.
"I’ve been wanting to have this conversation for a while," said Danny. "Since the party actually. The freshman one." He looked at Sean directly. "I was there."
"I know," said Sean.
Danny paused. "She told you."
"She told me," said Sean.
Danny absorbed that with the expression of someone deciding whether to be embarrassed about it and concluding that he wasn’t going to be. "Then you know why I was there."
"You wanted to see me so we could talk," said Sean. "Her words, not mine."
"Yes, I did," Danny said. His expression grew serious, the lighthearted mood from moments ago fading away.
Danny sat back in his chair and looked at Sean with the eyes he shared with his sister, same shape, same sharpness, though where Makima’s carried the specific steadiness of someone who had been through difficulty and come out the other side, Danny’s still had more edge in them. "She’s different since you showed up."