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The Thai House was full of noise at this time of night. It was all forks clinking against glass plates, sizzling meat being tossed in hot pans, and incessant chatter from customers.
In the booth across from Cass, a teenager was whining about how spicy his chicken was while his dad laughed and offered to switch plates with him. Another parent at a separate table didn’t sound nearly as amused as she reminded her young daughter to sit on her bottom and to stop staring at people.
On a normal visit to Cass’s favorite Thai restaurant, she wouldn’t have minded all the noise so much. She was usually far too busy people-watching to mind a little racket. She would get wrapped up in learning about the strangers around her by absorbing the way they expressed themselves through hand gestures and theatrical face movements, or by the way their muscles loosened with laughter or turned taut with tension. She felt included in their lives when she saw them light up as the waiter approached with their food, or when she’d see them shred the straw paper into little pieces. It was even better when her source of entertainment was accompanied by a plate of yum pla duk foo.
But tonight? Tonight was different. Tonight she was here with Dick, and ever since more and more people started swarming in for dinner, the crease in Dick’s forehead had gotten more pronounced, and his fingers hadn’t stopped clenching around the edge of the wood table.
A pair of reflective sunglasses were pressed as close to his eyes as they could get. Cass knew his eyes were closed behind the lenses. She’d realized it as soon as Dick had stopped eating his phat kaphrao halfway through.
Pain radiated from him. She could see it in the tension of his shoulders and in the way he kept his legs ramrod straight instead of resting his ankle on top of his thigh like he normally did.
He didn’t speak as much as he normally did either. Dick was always good at telling her stories and making her laugh whenever it was just the two of them hanging out. But that was before the bullet. Before the amnesia. Before the persistent migraines that could be set off by a loud noise, a light that was too bright, or a strong smell.
Cass knew the influx of people in the restaurant was the trigger for it this time. She felt bad about it. She shouldn’t have suggested coming here when she knew Dick would agree to go wherever she wanted, his new sensory sensitivities be damned. He was thoughtful like that. Annoyingly so.
Maybe if she’d known his limits better she would’ve known to go somewhere a little more off the beaten path. Somewhere quieter where there wasn’t a baby crying off and on. But maybe she was being too hard on herself. She didn’t think Dick knew all of his limits yet either.
Brain damage was tricky like that.
The cushion under Cass groaned when she leaned over the table and rested her hand on Dick’s larger one. Dick didn’t move at the touch but the subtle way he inclined his head let Cass know that his attention had shifted to her.
“We need to go get your meds,” she said. She couldn’t keep sitting here and eating her food when he looked like he was being tortured.
“I’m fine,” Dick mumbled, barely moving his mouth. Cass’s stomach lurched when she realized he was probably trying to limit any movement to his face to avoid tensing his muscles. “Go ahead and finish your food.”
She gripped his hand tighter. “No. We’re leaving.”
Dick said nothing in return, which was all the incentive Cass needed to get the waiter’s attention and to ask for the check and to-go boxes. They bundled up in their winter coats and hats, and then they left with the to-go boxes tucked under Cass’s arm.
A three-legged pup happily greeted them at the door when they got back to Dick’s apartment. Her nails clicked against the floor when she danced around Dick’s feet, and her tail turned into an aggressive windmill that smacked against Dick’s calves repeatedly.
Cass observed Haley from a few feet away. She was bigger than the last time Cass had seen her. She had still been in her teething phase at that point. Cass distinctly remembered getting her fingers chomped on by razor-sharp teeth when she’d fought Haley over a stuffed duck toy. Now Haley had grown into her puppy skin and was closer in height to Cass’s knee.
“Hey, baby,” Dick crooned softly. With one hand pressed against his temple, and with one hand outstretched, he slowly lowered himself to the ground to give Haley a few pats. Haley seemed to take that as permission to slobber all over his hand.
Cass still saw the pain radiating in Dick’s every movement, but it somehow seemed less oppressive now that he was distracted by Haley giving him kisses.
“Baby?” Cass repeated with a curious tilt of her head. That was a new nickname.
As if realizing that she was being spoken about, Haley turned her attention to Cass and wound around Cass’s legs like Alfred the cat tended to do when he wanted attention. As much as Cass wanted to run her hand over Haley’s silky smooth head, there was no way she was bending down when she was carrying the to-go boxes.
She was supposed to be focusing on Dick anyway. Playing with Haley would have to come later.
Cass placed her hand on Dick’s shoulder to get his attention. “Go upstairs and turn the lights off. I’ll bring you your meds.”
It was only after she said it that she wondered if he could even make it up the stairs to his loft in his current state. Surely if he'd made it all the way here, a few more steps wouldn't do him in.
“It’s a nasal spray,” Dick said, shrugging off his coat. He placed it on the hook by the door that was attached to the loose plastered wall. “Look for something in my medicine cabinet called Imitrex.”
“Got it,” Cass said, turning towards the kitchen to go put the food away.
“And hey, listen,” Dick said. Cass stopped in her tracks, looking at him over her shoulder with a cocked brow. “Sorry we had to leave because this,” he pointed to his head, “started acting up.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Cass said without hesitation. “It’s not like you have control over it.”
“I already had a bit of a headache before we met up,” Dick admitted. Cass still couldn’t see his eyes past the sunglasses, but she was pretty sure he was staring at the floor. “I thought it would go away by the time we got to the restaurant but it didn’t.”
Cass shook her head firmly. “You’re not psychic. You can’t always predict whether it will get worse or not.”
“But it usually always turns into something worse,” Dick sighed, shoulders slumping. It made Cass’s spine prickle uneasily. The action looked a little too close to defeat, and defeat wasn’t a word she ever associated with Dick. It wasn’t a word she wanted to start associating with him.
She stepped around Haley and rested her hand on top of Dick’s shoulder. Her own determined expression was reflected in Dick’s sunglasses.
“Next time we’ll prepare for that,” she said, giving his arm a gentle squeeze. “If you’re not sure whether it’s going to get better or worse, we’ll be cautious and make a plan to accommodate it.”
A mixture of gratitude and embarrassment filtered through the upturned corner of Dick’s mouth. “So you’ll be fine if next time we stay here and order Thai food?”
“Yeah, that’ll be great, and you know why?”
Dick hummed questioningly.
“Because it doesn’t matter to me where we go or what we do. As cheesy as it sounds, the point is that I get to spend time with you. And I know you would feel the same way if our positions were switched,” Cass said. “I know you would be wrapping a towel around your head and acting out Rapunzel for me.” She caught Dick’s smile before it turned into a pained wince, and with laughter bubbling up behind her words, she said, “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do that for me.”
“Maybe not for Rapunzel, but you know I would for Ariel,” Dick said.
“Because of her hair?”
“No, because she has better songs.”
Cass rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Point is, we’re doing takeout next time this kind of situation comes up. Deal?”
“Deal,” Dick said right before his face crumpled. He hissed through his teeth and pressed the pads of his fingers against his temples.
Cass wished he had taken his meds already. It was painful to look at him when he was feeling so awful.
She repositioned her hand to Dick’s back and guided him towards the stairs. “No more talking until you’ve had your meds. Got it, Ariel?”
Dick huffed out a strained laugh. “Will do, Sebastian.”