Chapter 11

Lauren actually embraced her car. Her Ford Taurus was what Tommy and Demetri had used for all their assorted rescue attempts. She fished her cell phone out of her purse and confirmed her suspicion when it wouldn’t turn on.

I crawled into the back seat, followed by Tommy. The minute he sat down next to me, I pressed my lips to his.

He rested his hands on my face, and with his fingers burrowed into my hair, he stroked my scalp as he kissed me back. I heard the car fire up and peel out of the driveway, but even the g-forces of that departure didn’t deter me from kissing him. I simply let gravity propel my body down on the seat, and as Tommy held my head in his hands, he naturally fell down with me.

“What were you…” Lauren said. “Jesus, Em! You’re not alone.”

Tommy withdrew only a few inches from me and closed his eyes.

“Now, Lauren,” Demetri said. “I already told you he won’t have sex with her while you’re here.”

“Are you sure? Did you see what they’re doing back there?” Her voice sounded downright panicked. “I can’t believe she would make out with him in the backseat.”

“Duh, that’s what backseats are for,” Demetri said.

“Not my backseat.”

“Honestly? You haven’t christened it yet?”

The sound that escaped her lips was a strange mixture of disbelief and shock.

“I figured someone as hot as you would have had a half a dozen guys back there,” he said. “Not at the same time, I wouldn’t think, but—”

“Was that supposed to be a compliment?” she said.

He laughed. “Just surprised, is all. But there’s no need to worry. I can help you with that, Lauren.”

This time she laughed, but it was surprisingly warm, flirtatious. “I bet you could.”

Demetri turned back to us and said, “Keep it PG-13, will you two? Don’t want to distract Lauren here, as she’s driving. Clearly it’s been a while for her.”

I stifled a laugh while Tommy rested his head on my chest.

“What?” Tommy said. “She still has all her clothes on. How much trouble can we possibly get into?”

I ran my fingers through his hair again and felt his body relax.

“I know how much trouble I can get into,” Demetri said. “Tommy, you’re taking over driving the next time she stops.”

Lauren just smiled.

Lying in Tommy’s arms I fell in and out of consciousness several times, but I didn’t care. It was wonderful to feel that relaxed and safe.

Lauren yawned loudly. “Damn, it’s late. Or, well, it feels late anyway.”

“Do you need me to drive?” Demetri offered.

“Maybe. We can stop somewhere first. I can juice up on caffeine and go longer. We still have so far before we even get to the outskirts of Cannondale.”

“We’ll have to stop at some point,” Demetri said. “At least for one night.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “And once we hit civilization, I’ll need to get a charger for my phone.”

She exited the highway and pulled into the parking lot of a large truck stop.

“Come on,” Lauren said to me, as she gathered her purse from the floor.

“Can I stay here with him? He’s sleeping,” I whispered.

She glanced at Demetri. “Will they be safe?”

“Sure, they’ll be fine,” Demetri said. “We’ll lock them in here, no one’ll bother them.”

“I was wondering if you shouldn’t stay with her,” she said to him.

“If you think for one second I’m letting you go in there alone, you’re out of your mind.”

“He’s right, Lauren,” I said. “It’s not safe. Our father killed a man at one of these places because he was going to…” I trailed off, not wanting to upset Tommy. But he appeared to be asleep. I finished quietly, “…rape me.”

“Oh my God,” she uttered. “Em, are you all right?”

“Yeah, nothing happened.” That wasn’t entirely true, but they didn’t need to know how close I came to being a statistic.

A pregnant silence followed, none of us knew what to say. Finally, Demetri spoke.

“So it’s settled. You want anything, Em?”

“Some water would be nice. And maybe some snacks for the road?”

“Got it,” Lauren said, as she and Demetri exited the car. The locks engaged, and then it was silent.

“I’m sorry,” Tommy whispered.

“What?”

“I couldn’t stop him. I couldn’t protect you. Even with my brother there, he still managed to kidnap you, and everything that’s happened—”

I should’ve known he wasn’t sleeping. “Tommy, it’s not your fault. You rescued me. That’s the important part.”

“But none of this would’ve happened if I’d been able to protect you. I love you so much, Em… I don’t want anything—”

I cut him off with a kiss. “I love you, too. You’re doing fine. I’m here with you now. And it’s actually my job to protect me, which is why I asked you guys to teach me how to fight.”

“But—”

“You can’t always be there, and you shouldn’t be expected to. I know you’ll have my back when you are there.”

He nodded, and the feeling I sensed from him was one of resignation, like he knew it would be pointless to argue with me. He was, of course, correct. We both sat back upright. He leaned into me and kissed me. I moaned in pleasure at the warmth, the wonderful taste of his mouth. The heat fired up once more, as his arms wrapped around me and his hands massaged my back.

He broke off the kiss to move down toward my neck. “Missed that heat,” he said, continuing to softly kiss me. My body must’ve been incredibly tired, because every sensation was amplified: the feel of his lips on my neck, his fingers on my back, the warmth of his body next to me. All of it was so intense that I almost lost control, and my breathing grew shallow.

I took a deep breath in and exhaled, before resting my hands on his head.

“You trying to knock me out, beautiful?”

I thought back to what my father said. “Miss touching you.”

The locks disengaged via remote, followed by Lauren and Demetri reentering the car. The windows were only slightly fogged up, but that didn’t stop Lauren from commenting.

“I knew it! I knew he wasn’t asleep. Look at these windows,” Lauren said, her arms and hands flailing around, pointing at every window.

Demetri laughed heartily. “What’s up, Tommy? Am I going to be an uncle?”

“Geez, give me some credit would you? I’d like to think I’d last more than five minutes.”

Demetri handed back some chips and drinks.

We started to chow down when Tommy asked them, “Did you run into anyone interesting in there?”

“You heard us before, didn’t you?” Demetri asked.

“You guys are loud. Hard to sleep with all that yakking.”

“No, it was a ghost town inside.” Demetri turned to Lauren. “Did you want me to drive?”

“I should be all right now for a few more hours,” she responded. “I’m sure if I start nodding off, you’ll keep me awake.”

“No doubt, princess. I’ll keep you occupied.”

We finished eating quickly and got back on the road, all of us eager to get back home. Tommy settled down, laying his body across the seat. He pulled me down against him, spooning me in front of him, his arm wrapped across my stomach. The last thing I felt was a gentle squeeze around my waist and a light kiss on the back of my neck, before we both fell asleep.

“Whoa, what the hell are you doing?” Lauren yelled. I guessed it was later, but it was difficult to tell in my drowsy state.

“You were falling asleep,” Demetri replied innocently. “I was merely…helping.”

She let out a combination sigh-yawn. “Will you take over for a while?”

“No problem. Pull over.”

As Lauren pulled off to the shoulder, I sat up to take a drink of water. Tommy’s arm slid off me and he grumbled.

“Getting some water,” I whispered back to him. “Go back to sleep.”

Glancing at the clock, I realized several hours had passed. Tommy repositioned his arm and continued to sleep.

Lauren opened her door and got out. Demetri followed suit. In the illumination of the headlights, I saw them approach each other and awkwardly try to pass one another. I took a swig of water and nearly choked at what followed. Demetri’s hands rested on her face, and he pulled her into him, kissing her.

My loud coughing disturbed Tommy’s rest. He sat up next to me. “Are you all…” he began, before his gaze focused out the windshield. “Holy shit!”

The kiss continued. It was clear she was kissing him back.

My coughing died down, and I managed to get some air into my lungs. “They started that right after I drank my water. Almost choked to death.”

The kiss ended and they appeared to be talking. “What are they saying?”

“She apologized. I think Demetri’s stunned. He’s not saying much.”

Lauren crossed her arms and looked down, continuing to speak. She appeared so sad, and I could feel the turmoil she experienced inside.

“She’s going on about how she can’t do this now. She keeps saying she’s sorry over and over.”

“I can feel her sadness. She really wants to be with him.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.” He took the water from me and drank a sip. “Why is she making it complicated?”

“Because it is to her. She’s afraid.”

They both entered back into the car, Demetri grumbling to himself as he buckled in.

“Thank you,” Lauren said.

“Guess that’s better than sorry,” Demetri mumbled.

“I meant for driving,” Lauren explained. “And for coming with me, helping me get Em back.”

“You’re welcome.”

She turned away from him, but then placed her hand on his. “Look, I’m sorry, I—”

“Stop apologizing!” He shifted the car into drive.

Lauren turned away once more, resting her head against the passenger window. I felt a sorrow so profound from her it almost brought me to tears. I touched her shoulder, and she placed her hand on top of mine but didn’t turn to face me. I knew she was crying.

The heat flooded from my hand in a flash, entering her. I left my hand there for a while, knowing how badly she needed the healing energy. In a matter of minutes, her hand left mine and her breathing became rhythmic. I settled back down next to Tommy, draping his arm across my body.

“Welcome back, beautiful,” he whispered sleepily into my hair. “Just sleep with me now, will you?”

“Okay,” I whispered back, intertwining my fingers through his. And in a matter of minutes, I was out.

****

We found a town that had a big electronics store, and Lauren was able to get a car charger for her older phone. Once she got it charged, she listened to her messages.

“Mom called,” she said. “She’s worried about us.”

“Call her back,” I said. “Tell her it’s over. She’ll be thrilled.”

Lauren dialed home, but there was no response. She tried her cell, but still no response. “That’s weird. She usually answers one or the other.”

“Here, let me call Roz, see if she knows what’s going on.”

I dialed her number, impressed with myself that I knew the actual digits.

“Lauren?” Roz answered. “Is Em okay? Did you find her?”

“It’s so great to hear your voice.” I couldn’t help but smile. It was crazy how much I missed being around her.

“Em! Oh thank God you’re all right,” she said. “The visions stopped—I wasn’t sure if that was good news or bad news.”

“You know I’d be haunting you if I had died, right?”

“Yeah, you probably would,” she said, laughing. “What happened? Is everything all right?”

“Long story, but I’m worried about my mother. She isn’t answering either of her phones. Is her car at my house?”

“Hold on a sec, I’ll check.” After a brief pause she returned. “No, it’s not there.”

Maybe she’s at work. “Okay, we’ll try back later.”

“So you coming home?”

“Yeah, we’re on our way.”

“Got a lot to fill you in on. Now that your crisis is over, we’ve got a new one to deal with. Nydia still hasn’t come back to school and neither has Angel. And I can’t remember the last time I saw Judy.”

It was possible Nydia was still mourning the loss of her mother. Angel was injured, so maybe she was just taking a while to recover. But Judy? I couldn’t think of a single reason for her absence.

“That’s strange.”

“Yeah, Wes is looking into it.”

I let out a relieved exhale. “I’m just glad all this is over.”

“Lauren and the boys saved the day, huh?”

I laughed. “Something like that.”

Lauren motioned she wanted her cell back.

“I gotta go, but promise you’ll tell me everything.”

“You too, I want to hear all the details. Can’t wait till you’re home.”

“You and me both. See you soon.” I handed the phone back to Lauren, who dialed what I expect was my mother’s work phone. No answer there, either. Where could she be?

“She’s okay, right?” I asked.

Lauren smiled a nervous smile, trying to be reassuring but utterly failing. “Oh she’s fine, probably stepped out for a bit. Or is saving the day rebuilding some corrupt database… You know how she is when she’s in the middle of something.”

****

After a solid day and part of a night of Demetri, Lauren, and Tommy taking turns driving, everyone was ready for a break from the car. We stopped at the next exit and found the nearest hotel. Midwest serial killer town? Of course. Population: 701. Dimly lit streets? Check. But after everything I’d been through with my father, it didn’t even phase me.

Lauren used her emergency fund credit card to spring for a couple of rooms. They were small but clean, which is more than I expected from that town.

I slept pretty well considering the thin pillow and hard mattress. Lauren was still sleeping when I woke up, so I slipped into the bathroom to take my shower first. The water pressure was more intense than at home, and coupled with the heat, it totally relaxed me. For the first time in a long while, I didn’t worry about a single thing. I took my time, letting the water wash away any traces of stress I was holding on to.

When I finished my shower, I was surprised to find Lauren was gone.

Her clothes were in a neat pile on a chair next to her bed. Since I knew she wasn’t much of an exhibitionist, I deduced she had teleported somewhere. Because she was asleep right before, I guessed she’d teleported to the same person she’d been teleporting to in her sleep.

I knocked on the thin wall that separated our room from the boys’ room. “Good morning, Lauren.”

It wasn’t even a minute before she materialized back in her bed under the covers. Her eyes opened wide, and her erratic, shallow breathing concerned me.

“Lauren, are you all right?”

Holding her chest, she took a few deep breaths. “I… I was dreaming.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Uh, nope.”

She looked at me, still out of it. “It was a good dream.”

“I’ll bet.” I chuckled. “You weren’t here a second ago.”

“What? No,” she said, a little too quickly. “I was sleeping.”

“Sure you were. Don’t mind if I double-check, then?” I dressed back in my clothes, ready to pay a visit to the adjacent room when there was a knock on our door.

Demetri’s smiling face greeted me. “Good morning, Em.”

“Good morning.” I motioned for him to enter. “I was going to come over there, to ask you about something.”

“Don’t you dare, Em.” Lauren jumped out of bed and stalked toward me.

I gasped.

Demetri’s eyes wandered up and down her body, and she realized, too late, that she hadn’t gotten dressed yet. Her lace bra and panties left little to the imagination. Tommy knocked on the open door and entered. He blushed, turning away.

“Dear Lord, why does this keep happening?” he muttered, and grabbed Demetri. “We’ll be back in a minute.”

Tommy dragged Demetri from the room, with some difficulty. Lauren dressed in, like, five seconds, her cheeks still a dark shade of crimson.

“Okay, you can come back,” I said, knowing Tommy would hear it.

Demetri reappeared in the doorway, his smile somehow wider than before. “Em, I’m going to need some time alone with your sister. We have some…unfinished business.”

“I knew it.” I stuck my tongue out at Lauren.

Lauren narrowed her eyes at me. “You are not to leave this room, do you understand?”

“Ah, the lovely Lauren,” Demetri said. “Have I ever told you how hot you look with your hair all messed up like that?”

She sighed and stepped over to the mirror to try her best to smooth down her hair. It was an unwinnable battle. “I’m serious, Em.”

“Don’t be silly, my dear.” Demetri strolled closer to her. “Things were starting to get good when you left. And your body is perfect.”

I inched my way out the door and was about to close it behind me when she yelled my name.

“I’ll only be gone a few minutes, I swear.”

I was fairly confident that the look of dread in her eyes came more from her fear of being alone with Demetri than her concern about Tommy and me being alone.

“Just breathe, Lauren. You’ll be fine.”

She threw one of her sneakers at me and missed me by an inch. I closed the door to avoid the other shoe.

The whole blossoming relationship between Demetri and Lauren warmed my heart. Not because I knew Demetri was such a great guy or that even with all their hang-ups, they were still somehow right for each other. I was happy because I knew Lauren needed this, to love and be loved after having her heart broken so many years ago.

I joined Tommy in his room and locked the door behind me.

“It’s nice to finally be alone with you,” I said.

“No one around to clear her throat, you mean?”

“Exactly.”

He cupped my face and kissed me slowly. “Man I’ve been wanting to do that for so long.”

“Me, too.” I leaned my head against his, basking in the delicious feel of his proximity.

“And this,” he said as he scooped me up in his arms and dropped me on one of the beds. I’d love to say this is the part where they pan up to the ceiling in old shows, where the romantic music plays, and the audience is left to their imaginations as to what happens next. But I was there with Lauren, after all. Tommy and I got maybe three minutes of make-out time before we heard a knock on the door.

“Em, it’s time to go,” Lauren said.

I groaned, which I think she mistook for a moan because the next thing I knew, she was pounding on the door and rattling the knob. “Why is this locked?”

“Why do you think?” I muttered, but then said more loudly, “Gimme a minute.”

I opened the door to not only Lauren, but Demetri as well. And they were going at it.

I couldn’t resist clearing my throat. It was too perfect. “Ahem.”

Demetri held up an index finger as a signal to wait, but Lauren broke away from the kiss.

“You two, uh…ready to leave?” Lauren asked.

I laughed. “I could ask the same thing.”

Tommy joined me. “You look flustered, Lauren.”

She shot him a dirty look. “Let’s just go.”

Without a word, she returned to our room. I caught Demetri’s expression, which was nothing short of triumphant. “Should I even ask?”

“Happiness pie, Em. Happiness pie.”

“Okaaaay,” I said, and left him to his bliss.

We didn’t have much to pack up, considering the fact that the whole trip was an unfortunate detour in all our lives. Lauren was double-checking we didn’t leave anything.

What I felt from her was strange—there was happiness, but it was tempered. “Hey, you okay?”

She folded her arms against her chest. “I don’t know about this. About him.”

“Well, how do you feel?”

She flopped on the bed. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why? Shouldn’t it be?”

She didn’t answer but appeared to consider the question.

“It’s pretty obvious how he feels about you,” I said. “What’s holding you back?”

“My life. I mean, I’ve got college. Then there’s Mom, and I’ve been watching over you, I—”

“Stop. I’m fine now. There’s no need to spy on me anymore. Now that this business with our father is over, Mom will be okay, too. And college…well, that just sounds like an excuse.”

She smiled. “You know what? You’re right. I guess the truth is, I’m scared.” She rubbed the back of her neck, looking off to the side. “Been out of the game for a while now.”

I took her hands into mine. “This is your time; you deserve to be happy. Don’t let it slip away out of fear.”

She squeezed my hands. “So sagacious. Isn’t the big sister supposed to be the one giving the advice?”

I hugged her. “You’ll get your turn. First one I’ll come to when I find out I’m pregnant.”

She punched my arm. “That’s not funny. The two of you, you’re not…”

“And that’s our queue to leave,” Tommy said from outside.

****

It was sometime in the late afternoon when we saw the sweet sight of the Cannondale city limits sign. I was never so happy to be in my hometown.

Lauren stretched her arms and yawned. She reached down into her purse and grabbed her cell phone. “Shit, I got a call from home.”

“I thought Mom was out of the hospital,” I said.

“She was.” She pressed some buttons on the phone and listened. “Maybe she didn’t see my note.”

Lauren continued to listen. “Oh no.”

The perfect dread in her voice made my heart sink. And the fear I felt within her scared me. “What is it?”

“Demetri, can you take us home?”

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Yes, something is wrong. We need to get home now.”

“Lauren you’re scaring me,” I said. “What’s going on?”

“It’s Mom. She thought he took us both. Her voice… she sounded bad on that second message.”

“Didn’t you talk to her at the hospital?” I asked.

“She was still coming out of it when we brought her in. They took her in for tests. We visited Roz, and that’s when she told us about her vision. I projected to you, and we left right after.” She rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache. “They made me turn off the damn ringer on my phone in the hospital. I forgot to turn it back on.”

Demetri floored it, and within minutes we were back at the house. After piling out of the car, we rushed the house.

Inside, we found my mother collapsed on the living room floor. Two empty vodka bottles were nearby on the couch. The broken pieces of the table still lay scattered on the floor.

“Mom!” I yelled out, as we ran to her side. Kneeling down next to her, I shook her, but she was unresponsive. I called her name once more, shaking her harder. Still no response.

“She’s not waking up.”

Lauren lifted her to a sitting position on the floor, leaning her back against the couch. She gently slapped her face. “Mom, come on, snap out of it.”

She pried open one of her eyelids. “She’s out cold.” She pressed two fingers to her neck. “Her pulse is weak. We have to take her to the hospital. Demetri, will you drive?”

I began to tremble when I realized how bad the situation was. My mother was unconscious, her heart barely beating.

He nodded and scooped up my mother in his arms. We bolted back to the car, and Lauren and I sat with her in the backseat.

I tried desperately to heal her. I put my hands on her head, on her heart, on her upper stomach. But like before, nothing happened. I even tried rubbing my hands together first. My hands were cold on her skin, as always. “It’s not working,” I said nervously, my voice on the verge of cracking.

“You can’t heal her?” Lauren’s voice was as panicked as mine.

“No. I… I never could.” But it didn’t stop me from continuing to try. I kept my hands pressed to her head the entire ride, holding her against my neck, hoping beyond hope something would somehow get through.

“I’m here, Mom, I’m okay,” I whispered. “I love you.” I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face. I can’t heal her.

“Drive faster, Demetri,” Lauren urged.

We arrived at the hospital in record time. Demetri carried my mother out of the car and into the emergency waiting room. This time, it was much less crowded, in fact, it was empty save a man and a woman in business attire. We didn’t have to wait long before she was seen by a doctor. He made Tommy and Demetri stay in the waiting room, while Lauren and I followed him inside to a triage area right inside the doors.

The doctor did a cursory examination. “Tell me what happened,” he commanded.

“We found her on the floor,” Lauren said. “There were two empty bottles of alcohol.”

“Do you know how fast she consumed it?” he asked.

“No, we weren’t home,” Lauren answered.

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked.

“We’ll have to run some more tests, but it looks like alcohol poisoning.”

“Alcohol poisoning,” Lauren repeated. Her eyes closed, and I sensed an enormous surge of guilt.

“Consuming too much alcohol in a short amount of time. Her body can’t process it, and it’s shutting itself down.”

I gasped. “Is she…going to be all right?”

“We’ll start her on fluids, run her through some dialysis, but it’s mostly a waiting game at this point. If she makes it through the next twenty-four hours, the prognosis is good.”

He eyed us both. “Are the two of you okay? You both look fatigued.”

“The last couple of days were pretty rough,” Lauren said.

“Why don’t you go home and get some rest? We’ll call you when she gets a room, or if there’s a change in her status.”

Lauren gave the doctor our contact information. We watched as he wheeled her away, deeper into the hospital. I felt weak, thinking about my mother’s life hanging in the balance. It was my father coming after me that got her into this situation. And then I wasn’t able to heal her. I touched the wall next to me for support as my legs threatened to buckle beneath me. Lauren saw me falter and wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace.

“It’s going to be okay, Em,” Lauren said. “She’ll… She’ll be fine.”

The uncertainty she felt contradicted her words.

“You can’t lie to me,” I whispered through tears. “I know what you’re feeling.”

She withdrew from the embrace, placing her hands on my shoulders. “We’ll get through this,” she said, the tears welling up in her eyes. “I love you, Em.”

The fear she felt was replaced by love—I knew she meant every word. The feeling comforted me but made the tears worse. I hugged her tightly once more.

“Come on, Em, let’s go home and get some sleep.”

“I don’t want to leave her… This is my fault…”

She released me and stared so seriously into my eyes, it startled me. “Em, this is NOT your fault.” In a softer voice, she continued, “She’s in good hands here. They won’t let us see her until she’s settled into a room anyway.”

****

We left the hospital quickly, and not a moment too soon. The sadness there, the pain all around me was unbearable. Our house wasn’t much better. Every room felt downright dreary—even in daylight, the colors seemed drained, muted, as if the effects of my father’s presence had lingered.

Yoki wasn’t around, so I guessed they took her back sometime after my father kidnapped me. It’s too bad, I thought. I could use some of her doggy happiness right now.

Lauren started to gather the broken pieces of the coffee table.

Demetri joined her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get this. Go get some sleep.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “I only want to…”

He scooped her up in his arms and turned to me. “Em, where is her room?”

“Put me down,” she yelled, struggling fruitlessly against him.

I walked him over to her room, opening the door for him.

“Thanks.”

He dropped her on her bed—and not too carefully either. Lauren bounced comically before she gathered herself enough to scowl at him.

“Do you need me to tuck you in, too?” Demetri asked her.

I was about to shut the door, when Lauren yelled, “Don’t even think about it, Em!”

She turned to Demetri. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“You’re very stubborn. And tired. I just want you to get some rest, Lauren.”

She glared at Demetri. “I’m not tired now.”

I opened the door wider and stepped inside. “I can help with that.”

I sat on the side of her bed and placed my hands on her head. “Relax.”

She took a deep breath and exhaled. Her body melted beneath my hands, and in a matter of minutes she was asleep.

I tiptoed out of her room and found Demetri and Tommy were already in the process of gathering up the larger pieces of the demolished coffee table. Something about it, seeing the table in pieces, struck me to the core.

“Please, just leave it,” I said, my voice starting to break. I couldn’t bear the idea of it being gone, even though it was shattered beyond repair.

Tommy and Demetri stopped what they were doing. I buried my face in my hands, as the tears started to flow.

Tommy wrapped his arms around me. “It’s going to be okay, Em.”

“It’s not fair,” I said between sobs. “He just barges in here, takes what doesn’t belong to him…and the table was just sitting there, minding its own business…and now it’s all screwed up.”

Tommy stroked my hair, rocking me gently.

“Em, it’s just a table,” Demetri said.

“I don’t think she’s talking about the table,” Tommy said. He lifted my head up in his hands. “Your mom is going to pull through this. She’s strong.”

I nodded, wiping the tears from eyes. “Can you… can you just wait until I’m in my room. Before you clear it out?”

Demetri wrapped his arm around my shoulder in a half-hug and squeezed. “Sure thing, Em.”

Tommy and I headed off to my bedroom. I was so exhausted I didn’t even bother to take off my shirt—I collapsed on my bed without a word. The last thing I remembered was Tommy curling up next to me and planting a soft kiss on my head.