Somewhere Over the Freaking Rainbow - By L.L. Muir Page 0,54
in his chest slacked off. His lungs inflated, his heart began to beat again, and all because she was there. How was he ever going to go on without that?
He slid into the hallway and held out his hands to her.
She smiled suspiciously and took them.
“What is it?”
“He’s gone, Skye. Granddad’s gone.”
His cell vibrated. A text.
“Shame on you, son.” The nurse bopped him on the head with a barf bowl—empty, thank goodness. “You’ve gone and made it sound like he died or somethin’.” She smiled at Skye—everyone always smiled at Skye, except guys with conspiracy theories who think she’s an alien. “He’s gone over to the hospital for a couple of days for some treatments. They’ve gotta keep him in a controlled environment for a little while, that’s all.”
The big woman took her pink plastic things and walked away, muttering “I’ll show ‘em a controlled environment. Send his raggedy Scottish ass back here and I’ll control him jus’ fine.” Nurse Harmon chuckled, low and throaty. Granddad probably liked that laugh.
“I need to sit down again.” He walked to a chair and fell into it, bruising the back of his thigh on the hardwood arm, but unable to care. “I thought he was dead. She was in there, sniffling. She said my mom was in there this morning, getting his things.” He felt his face get hot. “She didn’t tell me they were moving him.”
“Did you check your phone?”
“Yeah, I did.” He pulled it out, opened the text.
Come 2 the hospital when u get out. Daddy’s going 2 b here for a while.
It didn’t matter. He could go home and find a note stuck on his bedroom door saying “I’ll be moving Daddy to the hospital this morning. Come if you can,” and he would still be furious.
“Come on. Let’s get over to the hospital. I need to have a little chat with my mother.”
“I thought she didn’t like to be called Mother.”
“She doesn’t.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jamison looked like he had the night before, when he’d been determined to do who-knows-what to find the truth about his friends. Skye was wary of taking his hand, but consoled herself in the fact that Jamison wasn’t mad at her this time.
At the hospital’s front desk the volunteer didn’t want to tell Jamison which room his granddad was in. Hippa rules, or something, she claimed. She had to call ahead and ask if it was all right to let them up. By the time they got off the elevator on the fourth floor, Jamison was mad at everyone.
Standing in front of her son, Raging Bull, Lori Shaw held out her arms. She should have run screaming.
Skye stood on the battle front. She had no choice; her fingers were entwined with Jamison’s and she didn’t want to draw his attention by removing them.
The fight, however, lasted less than a minute.
“Why didn't you tell me they were moving him? I went to the Recovery Center and his room was empty and the nurse said you'd been there this morning to get all his stuff. I thought he was dead!”
“Oh, Jamie!” His mom fell on his neck and sobbed. “I looked for you last night after Skye's family came looking for her, 'cause I'd forgotten to tell you, but I couldn't find you. I sent you a text. I thought you wouldn't check your messages until you were out of school.”
Unaware of the size of spoon, Lori fed her son enough guilt to shut him up for the rest of the day. If he’d never taken Skye to the tree house or skipped school, there would have been no miscommunication.
She and Jamison donned masks and gowns to get into the section of the hospital where Kenneth was staying, and even then they had to speak to him through a clear plastic wall. Jamison told him they'd come see him again when he felt better. He blinked a couple of times and moved a finger, but then he was out again.
His mom never asked why they were out of school so early in the day. She finally looked up when Jamison said he was going with Skye to another Somerled compound and wouldn't be back until really late.
She said it was best, that she'd be staying at the hospital late anyway, then hugged them both and went to the restroom. She probably needed to cry in peace.
Taking a road trip with Jamison was like riding home with the football team, after they'd lost “the big one” to a team on