“He’s fine. He’s totally fine.”
She pushed Ethan. “For fuck’s sake, Ethan! Would you open with that next time?” she said.
“He was on his bike heading to East Hampton to get Sammy.”
I looked at them, confused. “He was going to put Sammy on the bike?”
Rain put her hand up to stop me. “Really? Can you refrain from offering your opinions on my parenting skills?”
Ethan shrugged. “Anyway, some teenagers were going too fast on Ocean and they threw him off. He may have a couple of cracked ribs. And his knee is toast.”
“Where is he?”
“Southampton Hospital. In surgery.”
“What? How is that completely fine?”
“Thomas didn’t want me to tell you tonight. He wanted me to just get some of his things.”
She started running around frantically. “I don’t fucking believe him. That fucking bike.”
“I can’t imagine why he didn’t want me to tell you,” Ethan said.
She headed toward the bedroom. “I’m going to wake up Sammy. And we’ll head to the hospital . . .”
“I can watch her,” I said.
She stopped and turned around. “You’ll say anything to stay here,” she said.
“Yes, that’s true. But I’m still happy to do it.”
She looked back and forth between us, as if Ethan was going to weigh in.
“But she doesn’t know you.”
“It’s a good thing she’s sleeping, then,” I said.
Rain looked down at her watch, out of any good options. “If she wakes up, which is never going to happen, but if she wakes up, I want you to call me. No, I want you to have her call me.”
Ethan stepped past us into the bedroom, started filling his garbage bag with Thomas’s things.
“She usually gets up around seven, seven thirty, if you’re lucky. Our friend Gena is watching her tomorrow. She will be here at six thirty A.M., will you not burn the house down until then?”
“I’m pretty sure I can handle it.”
“I’m pretty sure you can’t, but I don’t really have a choice right now,” she said.
“You can probably be there when Thomas comes to, but you’re going to have to stop insulting me to do it.”
Ethan walked back into the living room. “Yeah,” he said. “We’ve got to go now.”
“Fine.” She was flustered, grabbing her purse, her keys. “What does Thomas need for the hospital, Ethan?”
Ethan touched her shoulder. “I’ve got it,” he said.
Rain stayed frozen in place, not sure she was willing to leave. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
Ethan heaved his sloppily packed garbage bag over his shoulder. “What’s the worst thing that could happen? I mean, it’s more ideal than waking the poor kid up and dragging her to the hospital.”