He cracked a smile. “Thanks, son.”
With a nod, I turned back to the window.
“How’s Esmer doing?” he asked after a while.
“The doctors say she’s progressing well, might even be able to go home soon. It’ll still be a while before she’s strong enough to start physical therapy though.”
“Good to hear. What’s in the backpack?”
I tugged on the strap, bringing it closer to my knees. “Esmer’s homework. The doctor said she should be able to hold a pencil now without hurting her finger so she can’t avoid it anymore.” I’d also thrown in the Nintendo Switch and a handful of two-player games, but he didn’t need to know about that.
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that,” my uncle said with a quirk of his lips.
I honestly doubted it, but it’s what a friend would do. It was weird, having to think about friend etiquette and what Esmer might expect from me. But it was also nice in a way. It made me feel just a bit more normal.
When Uncle Victor dropped me off, he told me he’d be back by dinner time. I waved as he drove away and then proceeded indoors. The women at the reception desk knew me by now; they let me pass without a hassle. The hospital seemed to be experiencing an unusual lull. The halls were quiet. Only the occasional doctor or nurse passed me by. Most of the doors were closed, but only soft murmurs and low TV voices came from the few that were open. It was a welcome change from the usual.
I stopped before Esmer’s door and peeked in to be sure she was alone. The few times I’d run into Aunt Dinah during a visit had been too awkward. I’d do another lap around the floor and come back if I saw her in there with Esmer. I did catch a glimpse of the old woman standing by the window but she was looking out at the weather with her back to the door. Esmer lay in bed, her phone pressed to her ear.
That was new.
It was rare enough to see someone my age actually talking on the phone, but even stranger for Esmer to be doing it since the only two people she talked to were in the same building with her. Then I thought about her mother, the person Esmer had been avoiding since she’d landed herself in the hospital. From the stress lines on her forehead and the frown tugging at her mouth, I could only assume this call hadn’t been made voluntarily.
Esmer rubbed her forehead and said something. Paused. Then leaned back into her pillows with a sigh. She looked tired. Running a hand through the top layer of her hair, which was long enough to fall into her eyes now, Esmer glanced at her great aunt. A few more words were exchanged and then she hung up. Staring down at the sheets, she lowered her phone into her lap. Neither she nor the old lady spoke for a while. I was considering doing my usual walk around the floor when Dinah turned to address her niece. Her voice was curt and muffled through the door. Esmer nodded and said what I thought was, “Thanks.”
When it looked like Dinah was going to leave, I ducked back and away. The door swung open a moment later.
The old woman nodded at me as she passed. “Charles.”
“Dinah.”
Thankfully, that was it. I stepped into Esmer’s room, tapping a knuckle against the door as I did.
She looked up and offered a close-lipped smile. “Heya, Charlie boy.” She still wasn’t comfortable exposing her teeth because the front four were broken. Her lips were back to their normal size, though; the bruises around her cheekbones were fading to yellow.
“Everything all right?” I asked as I ambled toward her.
“Yeah, just…” She placed her phone on the bedside table by her earbuds, avoiding my gaze. “Couldn’t keep my mom in the dark anymore.”
“How’d she take it?”
“She threatened to fly out and see me.” Esmer shuddered. “I promised to give her weekly updates from now on if she promised to stay in Boston.”
I sat in my usual chair and lowered my backpack onto the floor. “You don’t want to see her?”
“Wherever she goes, Hunter follows, so no.” A roll of the eyes. “He’s like a possessive, insecure boyfriend, only worse because he’s supposed to be an adult. Marty was the same way with me. He was always, like, ‘where are you going?’ ‘who are you going with?’ ‘how long are you going to be gone?’ Like, geez, let me breathe, will ya?” She tugged on the front of her hospital gown as she said that last part, giving me a glimpse of her pale collarbones. The re-revealing of her spear-shaped burn mark reminded me why she’d had to put up with that.
I looked down to unzip my backpack. “Sounds like a drag.”
“It was! I can’t believe I let it go on for so long. Then again”—A scoff—“there wasn’t much I could do about it, was there?”
When I glanced up, she was scowling at her hands as she picked at the sheets.
“Is he waiting for you back home?”
“Doubt it. He was sleeping around even while we were together. I’m sure he’s claimed one of those whores as his official girlfriend by now.” She smirked at me. “I couldn’t so much as look at another guy without getting the third degree, but he could do whatever the hell he wanted and I couldn’t say nothing about it. Shitty, right?”
“The shittiest,” I muttered. “Sorry.”
She shrugged. “Nobody forced me to start dating him. But at least it’s over now.” A deep, cleansing breath. “I’m free.”
I smiled at the blissful look on her face. “Try to hold onto that feeling because…” I shoved a hand into my now-open backpack and pulled out a bundle of folders. Esmer groaned when I set them down on the bed between us.
“Seriously? Don’t they know I broke my finger?”
