She pushes my father out of the way and exits the room.
We all remain silent for the longest time. Nobody moves for what seems like forever.
Then Jersey stands and smiles at Mick. “Mommy’s gone. Time to party.”
My dad snorts, coughs to hide it, and turns away. We both know where he learned this line. I’m embarrassed that I’ve been so careless about what I’ve said around my little and very impressionable brother.
“Jersey, come here,” I say, holding out my hand.
He comes over and takes it, his expression softening.
“You know you’re not supposed to say stuff that makes Mom mad like that.”
“She got mad at me.”
“Yeah, but you were lighting the hospital on fire. That’s not cool. Only assholes light hospitals on fire.”
“I don’t want to be an asshole.”
“Well … then … don’t call Mom names and don’t play with fire. I’m pretty sure I already said this to you a couple times.”
“But fire is fun.”
I yank on his hand gently to make sure I have his attention. “No. Fire is dangerous. Fire hurts people. It can burn you and melt your skin right off like butter. Do you understand?”
He nods, but I see a flare of defiance in there. It makes me sigh. This will not be his last fire. Not by a long shot.
“If you want to play with fire, you have to wait and only do it with me or Dad, okay? Promise me.”
“I don’t wanna.” Jersey looks over his shoulder at Mick who’s come out from his pillow hiding spot. Thankfully he’s not laughing anymore.
Mick gives Jersey frown. “She’s right, J-Man. Fires are really dangerous sometimes. It’s not a game.”
Jersey sighs out heavily. “Fine. I’ll wait for you or Dad. Or Micky Mouse. I’ll wait for him.”
My father walks over and puts his arm over Jersey’s shoulders. “What do you say we go find Mom and apologize?”
“I don’t want to. I want to stay with Sister.” Jersey takes my hand and squeezes it.
I pat him on the fingers and fake a huge yawn. “Oh, man, I am soooo tired. I think I’m going to take a nap so I can get better and come home tonight. I hope someone bought me some pizza or something.”
Jersey yanks on my hand, making jabs of pain shoot out from my chest. “We can get pizza, right, Dad?!” He looks up at our father with shining eyes.
“Yes. Pizza night sounds like an excellent idea.” My dad leans over and kisses me on the head. “I’ll come back for you later. Doc says you should be able to leave around six tonight.”
“Don’t forget my clothes,” I say at his back as he’s leaving, my brother in hand.
“Flannel. Gotcha.”
I look over at Mick. “Better make it jeans and a t-shirt.” I don’t want him to have to keep seeing me at my worst. “And a brush! Don’t forget a brush and a toothbrush too.”
My dad waves absently over his shoulder as he gets a tight grip on Jersey. “See ya later, alligator.”
“After a while, crocodile,” I say quietly as the door shuts behind him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THE SILENCE STRETCHES OUT LIKE a rubber band between Mick and me. The pressure is mounting to the point of being unbearable, but he seems untouched by it. The only sounds in the room are the beeps from the heart monitor over Mick’s bed, and it’s back to counting out a normal rhythm.
I lie there staring at the ceiling, my mind rushing from memory to thought to memory and back again, a thousand miles an hour. Everything is a jumble and I have no idea where to go from here. Do I talk about our date? The weather? Colin? Teagan and Rebel? The court case? The price of tea in China? The eternal question of what exactly it is that the fox says? Because I’m pretty sure it’s not ‘a-hee a-hee a-HEE’.
Mick saves me from trying to figure it out by talking first. “Your family is awesome.”
I look over to see if he’s joking, but he has an easy smile on his face.
“Are you serious? They’re insane.”
“They’re fun.”
“Mick. My brother just tried to light your bed on fire.”
“Nah, he was just playing.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” I say, smiling. Talk about a good sport. Man, anyone else I know would have called the cops on that little shit.
“I never had a family like that.” His voice is small. Sad. Maybe wistful.