I finally reached him and plopped down beside him, facing the hospital as well. “What are we doing?”
“I was watching the different windows light up.” He nodded toward the hospital. A lot of the windows were dark, but as I stared, a soft glow shone from a square that had been black before.
“It’s like that brain challenge game we did when we were little,” I said. “Where we had to memorize the pattern of lit squares.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about those brain game challenges.” He stared at the windows some more. “I guess I just thought they’d all be lit up all night long. But I don’t know why I thought that. Even people in hospitals have to sleep or go home.”
“True,” I said.
“It’s weird when you realize something you haven’t before or when things turn out different than you expected.”
“Like my school interview?”
“Or my move four years ago.”
I laid my head on his shoulder. “Like us.”
“Well, no, I always expected us.”
I pinched his side, and he laughed. “Some of us are slower than others,” I said.
He sighed and another window lit up. “Like my mom,” hesaid.
My smile slipped off my face and I went very still.
“There’s something more going on with her, isn’t there? We were focusing on your mom, but it’s really my mom.”
“I can’t…,” I said.
“She doesn’t want you to tell me.”
I sat up, wondering if he was going to beg me to tell him and if I’d be able to resist. Or if he was going to be upset that I knew and he didn’t. “I’m sorry.”
He smiled a soft smile. “I won’t ask you to tell me, but is she going to be okay?”
“I really believe she is,” I said.
He squeezed my hand. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want to. But we’re going to be fine.”
“I’m not scared,” I said.
“Neither am I. We’ll see each other soon.”
I stretched up and kissed him.
“Am I interrupting something?” Paisley asked from the top of the ladder.
“Yes!” Skyler said at the same time I said, “Come on up.”
She crawled over and sat beside me. “You left your sketchbook wide open on the couch, Skyler,” she said around me.
“I know,” he said. “What did you think?”
“I was allowed to look?”