Dylan(41)

“Awesome. You know how kids are with things like that.”

Actually, I don’t, but I don’t say it. “Hey, Miles said there are some street kids that beat him up sometimes?”

“He told you that? Damn.” He sighs. “Yeah. It’s a tough neighborhood.”

Poor kid. I don’t want him to get bullied again, but what can I do?

I chew on the inside of my cheek. “Are you going home soon? How’s Teo?”

“Uh, we’re not going home yet.” The exhaustion is back, thinning his voice. “The doctors say he’s got Lyme disease. Transmitted by ticks. From the garden weeds. He liked to play there in the summer, said it was his jungle. I didn’t know…” His voice cracks, and my chest gives a funny little twinge. “An infected tick bit him. It’s my fault he’s sick.”

Guilt. I know a lot about guilt. I could write a book about it. “You couldn’t know, Dyl. You shouldn’t blame yourself.”

“It doesn’t matter. His fever’s down, but they’re keeping him another day. He got off easy. No long-term side effects, it seems, though he has to take antibiotics for a month.”

Thank God. I heave a sigh of relief. “That’s great. You did good, Dyl. You took care of him, and he’ll be fine.”

“I wish I knew what the hell I’m doing,” he mutters, and he sounds bad. He sounds defeated. “Since Dad left, I feel like… I can’t catch up.”

“You’re doing great,” I say, my chest too tight.

“I don’t know. Since Teo started getting sick, and Miles bullied, and I lost my scholarship… It’s all going to hell.”

God, this is dangerous ground. He’s just venting his frustration, and I’m falling for him all over again.

Don’t go there, Tessa.

“I can help out tomorrow. I can take Miles to school and pick him up again when he’s done.”

“Really?” Relief colors his voice now. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you. Tess, I…” He clears his throat. “I’ll see you around.”





Chapter Eight


Dylan

My thoughts are on Tessa as I return to Teo’s side and settle in for the night. My joints ache, and I wonder if I’m developing arthritis at the advanced age of nineteen, and whether popping Advil like candies is likely to do any permanent damage to my organs. But right now I need to be able to function¸ so that’s that.

Charlie and Kate told me Miles ate dinner and did his homework and is now watching TV. I think about my brother as I sit there, staring at the bare wall of the hospital room. Miles didn’t just tell me about the pen he left in her car. He said Tessa bought him ice cream and talked with him. That she’s nice, and pretty.

Yeah, as if I wasn’t aware of that…

I’m surprised Miles liked her so easily, though. He’s suspicious with people he doesn’t know well, and he hasn’t seen Tessa more than a handful of times in his lifetime.

Tessa… Her image flashes in my mind, and warmth spreads through my chest. If I could love anyone in the world, it would be her.

Damn.

I shouldn’t be thinking of her. Hell, I shouldn’t be here, at the hospital, I should be at work. The gym secretary where I work warned me that if it happens again, I can kiss my job goodbye.

As if I’d leave Teo here alone.

The hours pass slowly. Despite the noise of other children crying and people talking, I’m so wiped out, I keep falling asleep where I sit, by Teo’s bed. The nurses wake me when they come and go, checking his vitals. They assure me he’s doing okay. They tell me I can go home, that they’ll look after him.

I refuse. Not leaving my little brother. He’s already been abandoned by both our parents. He’ll freak out if he wakes up, and I’m not there.

Dawn finally breaks, and I go in search of coffee, hoping it will lift the fog off my brain. I’d inject the stuff directly into my veins if I could. Even after the second bitter cup I’m still bleary-eyed and light-headed.

Fucking awesome.

Zane calls to say he’s dropping by to stay with Teo for a couple of hours, so I can go home, shower and change. That’s great, although the thought of riding the bus home and then back here only to head out again after midday is killing me.

Maybe I need some vitamins and energy drinks. Hell, an adrenaline shot to the heart might work.

The day goes by in a blur. I shamble like a zombie between the hospital and work, where my boss asks me if I’ve been drinking. No wonder. I must look like shit.

I slog through the afternoon, then head back to the hospital. I feel as if I’m caught in the cogs of a nightmare, repeating through every day and night. Finally the doctors grudgingly declare Teo fit to leave, and Erin drives us home.