Kota glanced at me, silently asking me if I was okay. I nodded to him, trying to reassure him I was fine. My mother was dying. I’d silently known that for years, only I’ve never known why. Putting a name to what was killing her didn’t change things. It only confirmed what I already knew. This wasn’t something she was going to recover from and be better. She was never going to go back to the mother that I had already mostly forgotten.
I may never again live in her house without the fear of what she might do next.
Kota reluctantly moved away from the doorframe. Mr. Blackbourne turned down the hallway to collect Silas and North. Within moments, they were all in my bedroom. Silas sat on the bed next to me. His hand sought out mine, covering my fingers with his against the bed. I wanted to pick my hand up to let him hold it but my nerves were rattling. I wanted to crawl into his lap but with everyone there, it felt like too much. I didn’t have the guts to do it anyway.
Gabriel, Luke, Nathan and the other boys collected on the floor. Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne stood and addressed us.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Mr. Blackbourne said in his stern voice. “Gabriel and Luke are staying here tonight.”
There was a commotion of protest. None of the boys wanted to leave.
“I’m not going to argue about this,” Mr. Blackbourne commanded. “We’ve all got things that we need to do, and they don’t all involve Miss Sorenson. We’ve got to prepare for school on Monday. Victor, get Miss Sorenson a new phone, but bring it to me first. Kota, you’ve already got a job to do. Silas, North, I need you on Academy business. Nathan, you’re going with Dr. Green to the hospital for information.” He pointed to Gabriel and Luke. “You two will wait here until Kota comes for her tomorrow. I don’t care if you have to sleep in the attic, but don’t leave this room unless Miss Sorenson thinks it’s okay and don’t leave this place at all until Kota comes back. Call if anything happens. Call if nothing happens. I want updates.”
I pulled my knees up until they were pressing to my chest, wrapping my arms around my knees. When I did it, everyone stopped to watch me. I had no idea why and I felt my cheeks starting to heat up, unsure of if I was looking stupid or what. I slid a glance to Silas next to me, questioning with my eyes what they were looking at. He gave me a soft smirk, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. Somehow I sensed that it was just that I moved at all and they were super sensitive to what I was doing in the moment. I could only guess that they expected me to say something about all this. I couldn’t think of anything to add.
Mr. Blackbourne cleared his throat and continued. “We’ll have to tighten the schedule. I’ll work one out and will send it to everyone’s phones. Luke, I still want that map of this house so make one tonight. Someone will bring you a laptop.” He pointed at me. “Miss Sorenson, I want you to stay out of the attic tonight and rest your voice. We’ve got school ahead and we can’t have you squeaking like a mouse. If anything else happens, you call me directly.”
I nodded to him, clamping my lips shut. His eyes left unspoken orders; stay out of trouble.
“Let’s go,” he said.
With that, everyone moved at once. I stood up with Silas. Mr. Blackbourne left the room. His footsteps echoed in the hallway as he marched down the stairs.
When he was gone, Silas turned to me, wrapping his arms loosely around my shoulders for a quick hug. “Call me when you get the new phone,” he said.
I hugged him back, smiling. I loved his hugs.
He let me go and turned away. Victor materialized in his place and gave me a hug. His fingertips traced my back, smoothing over a couple of ribs. “I’ll be back soon,” he whispered in my ear.
I hugged him, too. When he pulled back, Nathan replaced him, and gave me a tight hug without saying anything at all.
When Nathan left, North came forward. He reached around, holding me tight and nearly lifting me off of the ground, hugging. His fingers threaded through my hair. “I don’t care that your mother is sick,” he said. “If she touches you again, I’m coming back for you.”
“North,” I whispered. I wanted to say more but I was stunned and breathless.
He placed me carefully on the ground and stormed out.
Kota stumbled toward me. His arms encircled my waist and his face buried into my shoulder. I hugged him in return.
“I’ll be back tomorrow morning,” he whispered in my ear. “Listen to Gabe and Luke. Stay out of trouble. Call me when you want.” He pulled back and put his forehead against mine. “You’re with us now.”
I felt my heart breaking. As much as I loved that Gabriel and Luke would be staying with me, Kota looked so determined and yet so lost at the same time. I wasn’t sure how to answer him. I wanted to tell him I’d be okay. He’d be back tomorrow. Right now it seemed like forever. I wanted them all to come back. I changed my mind. I didn’t want to stay. I wanted to run away with them, even if it meant hiding with the Academy. Despite what we’d been through, and how they’d come to save me, I didn’t feel like one of them at all. I desperately needed to be. I wanted that confidence, knowing I belonged. Would I ever feel as strongly as he did, so assured of my place among them?
“Miss Sang,” Dr. Green said behind Kota. Kota moved away from me. Dr. Green held out a hand to me. “Let me show you how to take care of that mother of yours,” he said. “Then we should go. I don’t want to have to give her something else to make her sleep and I don’t want all of us here if she comes out of this quickly.”
I glanced back once at Kota as Dr. Green took my hand and pulled me out of the room and down the stairs. Kota looked not entirely happy about the situation, but reserved to the idea that this is what had to be done. I could only hope they were right.
In my mother’s room again, Dr. Green guided me to the bed. An IV stand was in place, IV bag and needle set. It actually made me feel better to see it. At least she was getting fluids.
Dr. Green pointed to the three prescription bottles on her nightstand. “These are the only ones she should be taking,” he warned. “It’s what she’s currently prescribed. I think she’s been getting confused because she talks to so many doctors and she hangs on to old medicine. I’m going with Nathan to the hospital to dig up some information and we’ll talk to some doctors about some better treatment options. Stressing herself out so much that she comes after you is not an option.”
I swallowed, nodding.
“If she wakes up, make her some soup and make sure she eats. Don’t let her stress out. If she starts to, do whatever she says as long as it isn’t dangerous. Lie if you have to. Luke and Gabriel will be right here, so no matter what happens, they’ll pull you out if and when needed. Get her to rest as much as possible. When does your father get back?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. And I don’t know how to reach him. He didn’t mention when he’d be back.”
He pointed to the IV stand. “If your mother asks you about that, say you called a doctor to check her out while she slept. She may not like that but don’t worry if she pulls out the IV. I’m more worried about her waking up and if she gets that far, we can take it from there. Gabriel’s on watch to make sure she wakes up and if she doesn’t, you should use the house phone to call for an ambulance. We can’t get any closer.”
I sucked in
a deep breath, letting it out slowly. I understood what he meant. It was too close now. I knew he meant they didn’t want to expose themselves to my family, and possibly they weren’t prepared, as they’d said, to do much more. I wondered at what point they would call in the Academy. I wondered what difference it would make.
With his green eyes on mine, he closed the space between us, wrapping his arms around me in a loose hug than the others. The movement surprised me at first. He was my teacher. A doctor. I often forgot, like with Mr. Blackbourne, that he was younger, maybe only a few years older than I was. He was also friends with Kota and the others. Nine guys in all when I sometimes just counted the seven. I weakly wrapped my arms around his chest to make this friendly gesture mean something.
“Cheer up, buttercup,” he said.
I had no idea how to respond, but my heart warmed at his words. If my mother could see us now, she’d claim he was raping me. I blushed at both his touch and the idea of my mother waking at any moment along with the guilt that weighed me down like bricks regarding how she would look at me.
He let go, moving away from the bed. I followed. There was nothing for us to do now but wait.
Apples
Gabriel, Luke and I stood in the garage as we watched the others collect in various cars and move on to do what they needed to do. The bathroom was done. The house was back to what it was before. North took the fractured wood of the stool with him. No one talked about replacing it, but I worried that my mother would assume I hid it or got rid of it and would punish me more when she was ready to do that again.
When we were alone, I relaxed. Having fewer people there meant I’d have less chances of my mother waking and catching us. Also, everyone else was so somber and tense. Maybe Mr. Blackbourne was right to keep them busy and away from here. Everyone needed a break to calm down a little and try to get back to the almost-normal that we were.