Point of View: Narrator
Nick sat in the caf the next morning with his plate of eggs, untouched, staring at the door, waiting. Eric never came. He finally dumped the full plate of food into the trash, deciding he wasn't hungry. He looked around for the two bullies but didn't see them anywhere, either.
He waited by the door jamb for Eric to come visit him, but he didn't come there, either. Instead, Nick just got banged in the head by a too-quick nurse after he fell asleep waiting.
At lunch, Nick was certain Eric had just slept in. But he didn't show there, either.
By the afternoon, when Nick was allowed out on the lawn, he felt worried. Eric had left in a rush the night before, and he'd never found out why. And it was very unnerving that the bullies, too, had disappeared.
Nick laid his head down on the picnic table and napped in the sunshine, nervous thoughts and ideas traveling through his head. He couldn't imagine this could mean anything good.
Kayla didn't venture downstairs until it was almost dinner the next day. Zoe had been left to fend for herself after Kayla never responded to her cell phone calls. But Zoe had done okay. She'd always been a stand-alone kind of person, and she didn't waste time crying over spilt milk when Kayla went MIA upstairs.
When she did come down, though, she was zombie like.
She sat down at the kitchen table. Zoe was hopping on one leg, favoring the newly extra-injured one, leaning extra heavily on her crutches. She was throwing carrots into a beef stew she'd made in a crock-pot earlier that morning. She glanced at Kayla. "Well, look who decided to join the land of the living." Zoe's voice was cold.
Kayla looked up at Zoe, her eyes wet. "Auntie Zoe?" she said, her voice solemn.
"What?" She continued chopping carrots.
"I need help," Kayla announced.
Zoe didn't pause her cutting. "With?"
Kayla stared pleadingly at Zoe's back. "No, Auntie Zoe," she said sadly, "I mean I need help."
Nick ate, but only a few bites. When he was walking back to his room from dinner, he looked the guard over. "Hey, there's this guy I've been talkin' to at the meals and stuff," he said carefully, "Eric... Where is he? I haven't seen him all day..."
The guard hesitated. "He's been transferred."
A hollowness opened in his chest. "Where?" Nick asked.
"I can't tell you that," he answered.
When Nick got back to his room, he sat down on the bed and stared at the door jamb and leaned against the wall. His legs were stretched out before him. After an hour of continuous staring at the jamb, he looked at his toes and wiggled them.
Maybe it was possible to be alone after all.
Early the next morning, before Kayla got up, Zoe called the Littrell's.
"Hello this is Baylee, who is this?" Zoe was surprised by the childish voice that had answered the phone. She paused. "Helloooo?" Baylee called into the phone. "Is there anybody here?"
"Yes, sorry Baylee," Zoe said, regaining herself. "Is your daddy there?"
"Daddy's sick. Want my mom?" he asked.
"I --"
"MOHHHHHHH-MMMMMMMM-MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" Baylee screamed, and Zoe heard the phone get put down.
Zoe blinked in surprise yet again, the volume of the yell echoing in her ear.
It took a moment before Leighanne came on the phone. She was snapping at Baylee as she picked it up off the table. "Baylee Thomas Wylee Littrell, do not touch that... you'll get burned. BAYLEE. What did I just say? Do not make me get Daddy up out of bed to yell at you..." Leighanne put the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she sounded exhausted.
"I feel for you," Zoe said.
Leighanne laughed, "Thank you."
"This is Zoe, Nick's -- girlfriend's mother." She hesitated, unsure what to call Kayla at this point.
"Hey Zoe," Leighanne said, "I'm guessing you were actually looking for Brian."
"Well," Zoe said.
Leighanne laughed, "I can see if he's up. He's not feeling too great. He's got a bad fever and he's been throwing up and cold for the last few days." Zoe started to tell her not to bother him, but Leighanne lowered the phone from her ear, and Zoe could hear her barking at Baylee again.
Brian was still sick. He was in bed now, though, because he was feeling physically worse. Every muscle in his body ached like hell and his nose was dripping faster than a faucet. He had all the lights off and was watching The Waterboy on TV half heartedly. Leighanne poked her head in the door, "Hey Bri-Bear," she mumbled. "Are you awake?"
"Uhh-huh," Brian murmured his voice thick with phlegm.
"You have a call," Leighanne said gently, in a quite, even tone. She inched in the door, the light from the hallway a bright contrast to the dark bluish glow from the TV. Brian squinted against it. "I can tell her to call back, though."
"Who is it?" Brian asked, though Leighanne had to translate it to know that because it came out "doo ibb edd?"
"Zoe," Leighanne answered.
"Zoe?" Brian said, surprised, "Yeah, let me talk to her." Leighanne handed him the cordless phone, and he quickly lifted it to his ear. "Hallo Zoe," he said thickly.
"Oh God, you sound like shit," murmured Zoe.
"Thanks," Brian answered.
Zoe's voice dropped. "I have an important question."
"Yeah?"
"Kayla confided some things to me today," Zoe said slowly, picking her words carefully, "And I need to find a psychologist for her..."
Brian had a sick, sinking feeling in his stomach. His mind immediately went to AJ. He closed his eyes, "Oh dear God," Brian muttered.
"What?"
He realized he'd spoken aloud. "I- I was just thinking that life couldn't possibly get more complicated without blowing up at this point," he said, covering for his panic about AJ's involvement.
Zoe sighed, "I know..." she said. "I was wondering who Nick went to see when he did his rehabilitation?"
"Dr. Haseltine," Brian replied. "He was highly recommended, and Nick did really well with him. Nick doesn't usually do very well with psychologists..." Brian added, "So it's impressive that he helped him as much as he did."
Zoe nodded, though Brian couldn't see her. "Do you have a phone number I could call him at?"
Brian covered the mouth piece, "Leigh, can you get my cellphone?" he asked. Leighanne had sat down next to him on the bed and been rubbing his knees while he spoke. "I need Dr. Haseltine's number for Zoe."
"Thank you, Brian. I knew you'd be able to help," Zoe said.
Eric woke up and remembered. He sat up on the cot and looked around the little cell he was now confined to. He got up gingerly and moved toward the bars. He looked out into the hallway of the new jail.
"What're you in for?" called a guy across the hall, seeing the movement in Eric's cell.
Eric lowered himself to the floor and crossed his legs. "I killed a guy," Eric answered.
"Why?"
"He tried to hurt my best friend," Eric answered.
