who sits in the chair next to him. There are two chairs next to my bed, and it’s odd how I didn’t notice that before.
“Hanukkah is better,” Nazareth says, “More days of presents.”
It’s a memory of a joke between us, and I want to smile as I try to remember it, but it bothers me that I can’t remember the joke nor do I remember how to smile. “Does Sawyer know I had surgery?”
“Yes, he comes every day around five,” Jesse says. “He stays until ten. You tell him he smells like a pool. Sawyer would stay longer if he could, probably all night, but his dad is strict on curfew. Plus Sawyer wants to be there at night for his sister. He brought you flowers today.”
I frown as I look at the red roses on the table next to me. I don’t think Sawyer lives with his mom. He said something about living with his dad, but all that information is right there behind a glass wall in my brain and I can’t quite grasp it. “That’s a long drive for him.”
“It’s a long drive for me. We’re in Louisville. Scarlett comes on the weekends. She’s the one who braids your hair and you tell her not to let us touch your hair again. I’ll admit, when I did your hair, it was scary.”
I don’t understand at all. “Then why are you here if this is Louisville?”
“Because you’re our best friend,” Nazareth says.
I glance between them as I’m starting to feel small. “Did I know about the surgery?”
Nazareth nods. “We tell you. You forget. We’ve been betting on which questions you’ll re-ask the most.”
“You’re a night owl,” Jesse says. “Your dad needs to be awake during the day to talk to doctors so we volunteered for the night shift. Your dad won’t leave this room, but he does manage to sleep while we talk. To be honest with you, I’m glad we got the night shift. You’re more fun then.”
“You sleep too damn much during the day,” Nazareth agrees.
I’m curious which question I ask the most, but then decide it’s not important. “Am I broken?”
“No,” says a new voice and I watch as Leo walks into the room. He closes the door behind him, hands Nazareth a water then Jesse a Sprite. “You’ve never been broken.”
It’s Leo. Is that possible? “I’m dreaming.”
“You’re not,” Leo says. “I can’t be here as much as everyone else, but I come when I can.”
“Are we friends again?”
Leo glances at Nazareth and Jesse, then back at me. “It hurts every time she asks,” he mumbles. At least it’s what I think he mumbles.
“I know,” Jesse says to him. “But at least she’s giving you the same answer every time.”
“True.” Then Leo stands at the end of the bed. “I want to be friends again. You’ve always been my best friend. But it’s up to you, V. I’ll be here as long as you want me.”
He has always been one of my best friends, too. “I want to be friends again, but I still have a tumor.” Wasn’t that the problem?
“They took out as much as they could during the surgery,” Leo says. “Your dad says they feel positive that the chemo and radiation will get everything else. But even if it’s still there, I still want to be your friend.”
That sounds like a good thing. I think. A ghost of a memory worries my forehead. “I think I was pushing people away. Is that what I did? Is that why we stopped being friends?”
“It wasn’t just you.” Leo drops his head, and then when he lifts it, he seems overwhelmed, yet happy, and my brain doesn’t understand. “But it’s okay. I’m sorry I messed up. It won’t happen again.”
Confused, I look over at Jesse. “This is real?”
“Yes.”
I study Leo. “You’re okay that we’re friends again? Because I’m dating Sawyer, so it’s just friends.” An image of Sawyer leaning into me, the sweet pressure of his lips on mine and then him showing me red flowers pushes through. Did that happen today? “I’m in love with him.”
Leo gives me a crooked grin. “It’s good, V. He and I had dinner together last night.”
Now that is weird. I look back at Jesse again. “Are you sure this is real?”
“It’s real, and you’re not broken.” Jesse points at his head. “The confusion and memory losses are from swelling in the brain. The doctor says it’s normal, and you’ll get better.”
I cock an eyebrow and the action feels