“You saved my life,” Auggie said. “You don’t get to joke about that.”
“I can joke about whatever I want.”
“And you don’t even know what a meme is.”
“I read the Wikipedia entry.”
Auggie started crying again.
“Oh no,” Theo said, “come on, everything’s ok.”
“If I hadn’t messed everything up,” Auggie was trying to say. “If I’d made sure Orlando wasn’t following me, if I hadn’t called the cops, you wouldn’t be hurt.”
It took him about fourteen tries, between sobs, to get the message across. By the time he finished, he was sitting on Theo’s bed, mashing tissues against his face while Theo rubbed his leg.
“You know that’s not true, right?” Theo said. “She’d already killed once. What was going to stop her from killing both of us once you gave her the flash drive?”
“She was leaving—”
“Auggie, we don’t know what she was doing. She was dangerous, and she was a killer. You couldn’t have stopped Orlando, and you did the right thing calling Somers and Upchurch.” Then Theo smiled. “Calling Les was a stroke of genius.”
Auggie sat there, drawing in shuddering breaths.
“Did you hear me?” Theo asked, squeezing his knee.
Auggie nodded.
“So,” Theo said, squeezing again, “this is officially me thanking you for saving my life.”
Shaking his head, Auggie pressed the tissues harder against his eyes.
“Give me an update,” Theo said. “What happened after, well, you know?”
“You know Jessica’s dead?”
“I kind of remember that.”
“After they took you and Orlando, I had to go down to the station and answer a million questions.”
“How’s Orlando?”
“He’s still in the ICU.”
“Shit.”
“A nurse told me he’s looking better,” Auggie said. “But he’s not stable yet.”
“And what happened with you at the station?” Theo asked.
“Just questions.”
“What did you tell them?”
Auggie lowered the tissues; his eyes were red, but his gaze was clear as he met Theo’s look. “I told them the truth,” he said. “Robert gave me a pack of cigarettes; he didn’t tell me he’d hidden a flash drive inside. Jessica targeted us because of the video footage from the night she killed Robert. When she called me, she told me to bring the pack of Kools. I didn’t know anything about a corrupt cop; I had no idea what she was talking about. I didn’t know what was on the flash drive.”
Theo blew out a breath and squeezed Auggie’s leg again. “Good. Good. Oh Jesus, Auggie. Good.”
“They didn’t believe me. Somerset and Upchurch.”
“That’s ok. That doesn’t matter. That’s the story we keep telling.”
After a moment Auggie nodded. The other patient in the room, hidden behind a curtain printed with tulips, gave a deep, rasping cough, and then the television kicked on. A grainy episode of Hollywood Squares was halfway over. Auggie didn’t recognize any of the celebrities.
“So,” Theo said, “this is kind of a perfect opportunity for me to apologize for being a huge dick.”
“What?”
“I kind of overreacted the other day.”
“What? When?” Auggie said.
“About Lana.”
“Oh. Oh my God. No, you didn’t overreact. I can’t believe I did that. I’m sorry, again. Really. It was—”
“Ok, ok, it’s my turn to talk.”
“—totally out of line, and I should have respected the boundaries you were—”
“Ow, ow, ow,” Theo said, pressing a hand to his side. “Auggie?”
“Yes, what? Are you in pain? What do you need? Do you need a nurse? I’ll get a nurse.”
“No, you can do it.”
“Yes, yeah, I can do it. What do you need? What should I do?”
“I need you to take your hand, like this.” Theo demonstrated.
“Ok.”
“And put it over your mouth like this.” Theo sealed his hand across his own mouth to demonstrate.
Somebody on Hollywood Squares was cackling about the best joke in the universe.
Glaring, Auggie said, “You’re on morphine or something, right? Is that why you think you’re a comedian all of a sudden?”
Theo just raised his eyebrows.
“Only because you got stabbed,” Auggie grumbled, but he put his hand over his mouth.
“That’s perfect,” Theo said. “We should practice that.”
Auggie flipped him off.
“Blessed silence,” Theo said.
“I’m not—” Auggie said, pulling his hand away.
Theo raised a finger.
With a wounded expression, Auggie clapped his hand down again.
“Ok,” Theo said, “here we go. I am really . . . embarrassed about my situation.”
Auggie made a questioning noise.
“Embarrassed isn’t the right word,” Theo said, dropping his eyes to the thin sheet that covered him. “Humiliated. Ashamed. So fucking ashamed I can’t, well, even really talk about it. But I’m going to do this because I treated you awfully, and you didn’t deserve that.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Lana was hurt really badly, and she’ll get better, a little, but she’s not ever going to really get better, if you understand me. She needs full-time care. And I can’t afford that; Ian’s life insurance, when it comes in, will barely cover the bills we already have. And I can’t just stay home and take care of her because, well, money. And I can’t afford to pay someone to take care of her at home because, well, I have no fucking money. And my parents won’t have anything to do with me. My brothers, Christ, I don’t even know. And Ian’s parents hate me, so they’ve made it really clear that they will not pay for Lana to have in-home care with me.”
Auggie still had one free hand; he took one of Theo’s and squeezed.
“And I’m the worst father in the entire world. The worst. I’m a fucking . . . I’m a fucking monster, to leave her there. Not to be able to be with her, take care of her, even though she doesn’t recognize me or know who I am anymore or, Jesus, just hold on a second.” He had to take a few harsh breaths; Auggie tightened his grip, and Theo was squeezing back just as hard. “Anyway, I said fuck it, I was going to have her at home with me, and I’d do some sort of online work, something just to make ends meet, and Ian’s parents threatened to
