I swallowed. I didn’t want to admit this part. “Daniela tried to get him to cheat on Molly with her when we knew he was plastered.”
“But he didn’t, did he?” Mom didn’t seem as confident as I expected. Maybe she wasn’t as blinded by Ben’s perfectness as I thought.
“No. He wanted nothing to do with Daniela.”
Dad nodded. “Of course not. Ben had a one-track mind when it came to girls. You saw that and wanted to feel that way too.”
Mom looked at me. “That’s why you did it, isn’t it? You were jealous.”
“Yeah, and I liked her.”
Dad half laughed. “Liked her? Maybe you had a crush, but do you really think that’s what it was about?”
“It doesn’t matter. I was stupid, and I realized it pretty quickly afterward.” I think Dad was right. I was jealous. I’m pretty sure I liked Molly because she was the girl I couldn’t have.
Mom patted my leg through the blanket. “It was stupid, but Ben couldn’t have been that angry about it. It was years ago.”
“He’s angry. You should have seen the way he looked at me. And Molly—” I didn’t even want to think about what she thought of me now. We fought all the time, but she never actually hated me. “There’s more. I also sent a stupid picture that was pretty much the reason Molly decided to go to B.U.” I’d given Molly such a hard time about hurting Ben, but really I was the one who started the whole mess.
Mom smoothed out my blanket. “Molly wanted to try something new. If it wasn’t college, she would have done it later on, or worse, would have regretted her decision not to.” I wasn’t sure whether Mom was just trying to make me feel better or if she really believed it.
“I still messed things up for them.”
Mom rested her hand on the bed next to me. “That doesn’t explain how you ended up flipped over in a ditch.”
“It doesn’t? I was upset. I drank a little more than I should have.”
“A little more?” Dad shook his head. “How much did you drink, Jake?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“This has to stop. If it wasn’t your fight with Ben it would have happened anyway. We’ve been pushing it under the rug for years, but you have a problem.”
“I’m not an alcoholic if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Like hell you’re not.” He looked down and up again. “I’d know. I’m one too.”
I went to cross my arms but the tube from the IV stopped me. “What are you talking about? I’ve never seen you take a drink in my life.”
“Why do you think that is?” He ran a hand through his graying hair.
“I thought it was because of Grandpa…” I knew Dad’s dad had drinking problems. He’d been in AA my whole childhood.
“It was partly, but I really stopped because I almost missed Ben’s birth.”
“Shit.” The word slipped out before I could think.
“Jake!” Mom snapped at me.
“Sorry.”
“I’m lucky your mother didn’t kick me to the curb. Thankfully, your uncle got me in there in time. I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol since.”
I didn’t know what to say. Why was he only telling me that now? Maybe if I’d known… I stopped that train of thought. It probably wouldn’t have changed anything. It’s not like I would have wanted to listen to him.
Dad didn’t wait for me to respond. “I already called Jim Morgan. He thinks he can keep you from doing any jail time because it’s a first offense, but there’s no way you’re getting out of this without at least some community service. You’re also going to lose your license. Jim thinks it might only be the minimum one year, but a 0.3 alcohol level is not a minor offense.”
Jim Morgan was Dad’s attorney. He’d only be talking to him about me for one reason. “Wait, I’m getting a DUI?”
“What did you think was going to happen?”
“I’m in the hospital…”
“Because you drove drunk. Thank the Lord you didn’t hurt anyone else.”
I hadn’t even thought about that. What if I’d hit someone? It was one thing to get myself sent to the hospital. If I’d hurt or killed someone else—I couldn’t even fathom it. I put my head in my hand. “What happens next?”
“You have a court date set up for next week. Now we wait to talk to the doctors and get you home.”
I looked up when I heard someone knocking on the open door.
“Can we come in?” Molly asked tentatively. Ben waited with her.
I made myself smile at her. “Yeah, definitely.”
“Why don’t we let you all talk? We’ll be in the waiting room.” Mom patted my hand before getting up. Dad gave me a small smile and followed her out.
I waited until my parents disappeared through the doorway. “I really fucked up this time, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you did.” Ben pulled a chair over, gesturing for Molly to take the one Mom had been using.
“I’m sorry.”
Ben leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “For scaring the hell out of us? Mom probably lost ten years off her life.”
“For this and the other stuff.”
“Am I pissed you tried to wreck my relationship with Molly? Yeah, but it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“That was ages ago, Jake. We were kids.” Molly touched my arm gently. I wasn’t used to her talking to me nicely.
“You really don’t care?” I’d spent the last six years worried that Ben would find out. What kind of guy tries to screw his brother over like that? It had to have been my low point. It didn’t help that Daniela suggested it right after we’d hooked up. We were both using each other. I was the closest thing she could get to Ben, and she gave me sex without asking for anything more.
Ben straightened. His expression told me he wished he was anywhere but there. He wasn’t the only one. “I already told you I was annoyed, but it’s over. Let’s stop talking about it.”
Molly looked like she wanted to say something but closed her mouth.
“Just say it.”
She studied her lap. “Did you really have a thing for me?”
I smiled, waiting for her to look at me. “Yes, as misguided as it was.”
She laughed. “I had a crush on you once too.”
“You did?” Ben and I said at the same time.
“For over a year, actually. I thought I’d lost my mind. I was supposed to hate you.”
“What changed your mind?” I asked.
“I fell for Ben in eighth grade.”
“Your crush was in middle school? That doesn’t count.”
“What did you expect? Ben and I started dating when I was fifteen.” She rolled her eyes. Usually it annoyed me when she did that, but I liked it this time.
“It’s good to have the real Molly back.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know how to deal with you when you’re nice.” I smirked. Smirking always pissed her off.
“Like you should talk? Are you ever nice?”
“Just like old times.” Ben put an arm around Molly’s shoulders.
That conversation went better than I expected. Somehow I knew I wouldn’t be able to fix the DUI problem as easily.
Chapter Four
Emily
“You came back.” Jake grinned when I came in that night. He was sitting up in bed, and he looked ten times better than the night before. He set aside a magazine. He moved it too quickly for me to see which one it was.
“I told you I would.” I picked up his arm and put the blood pressure cuff on.
“Yeah, but I was kind of afraid you’d switch patients at the last minute.”
“Nope. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me tonight.” I pressed start on the monitor.
“I don’t think ‘stuck with’ is the right choice of words. More like, I’m the luckiest patient on the floor.”
“I’m also seeing another patient next door…but he’s unconscious.” I removed the cuff, and took his hand so I could get a pulse ox on his finger.
“So I’m okay as long as you don’t get any ideas when he wakes up.”
“He’s eighty-six.”
Jake smiled this breathtaking grin. “I think I got this one then.”
I laughed. “I need to take your temperature.”
“Please do.”
I put the thermometer under his tongue, and he watched me intently the whole time. Had he been an old man, I would have called it gross. Coming from an attractive twenty-three year old, it didn’t bother me.
The thermometer beeped, and I removed it from his mouth.
“How did it go with your family?” I probably shouldn’t have asked, but he’d seemed so nervous about it.
“Better than expected in some ways, and worse in others.” He struggled to sit up more.
I helped him with his pillows and his hand brushed against mine. The brief contact was comforting, and I wanted more of it. “Isn’t that how most things usually go?”
“That’s very true. Can I ask you something now?”
“Sure, but I might not answer.” Talking about him was one thing, but I didn’t particularly want to talk about myself.