Chapter 12
IF THERE was one thing Ty had learned about teachers, it was that they would sell a kidney to get out of lunch duty.
Technically Ty worked half-time. That meant he didn’t get a paid lunch, so they couldn’t schedule him for duty. Ty should probably take less pleasure in putting his feet up in the staff room and making a show of unwrapping his sandwich while whichever schmuck trudged outside like a condemned prisoner, but sometimes you had to enjoy the little things.
“ Please ,” Jason Kim begged. “I will do whatever you want. Seriously. I will wash your truck. I’ll bring you lunch for a week. I’ll enter the grades for all your classes into the report card system you hate.”
Ty put his feet down and leaned forward, because if there was one thing he’d learned teaching, it was that the program the school used to track grades hated him. It crashed at least once every time he opened it. “I’m listening,” he said intently. “But first… why?”
Now Jason looked hunted. “Really?”
So it had to be juicy . “I’m waiting.” Ty took a bite of his sandwich and chewed slowly.
“Fine!” Jason looked over both shoulders and around the whole room—not without reason; the only thing teachers loved more than they hated lunch duty was hot gossip—and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I want to take Peggy out for lunch, okay? Off school property. But I’ve got lunch duty the only day she’s available.”
Damn, he’d hit Ty in the softest place possible. He’d suspected Jason had a thing for Peggy ever since the whole saluting-with-the-morning-mail thing, and he’d caught Peggy blushing afterward enough times to believe the two of them had a decent shot at happiness, and Ty loved love.
Ty was especially weak for love after the significant looks that had been exchanged last night in the hot tub. He could’ve sworn he saw— felt —something flickering back at him in Ollie’s warm brown gaze. Something that hadn’t been there before .
But he could be imagining it. It wouldn’t be the first time. Plus, talk about lousy timing—Ty literally had a call with his boss in Chicago on Monday to figure out his return-to-work schedule. And either way, he had to live with Ollie for a few more weeks, so he needed to get his romantic fix vicariously rather than hope a magical teapot was about to sing him a classic Disney love song.
Oh fuck, he lived in a creepy old mansion and he’d conned Ollie into moving in with him. Did that make him the Beast?
The townspeople did kind of hate him. It was probably only a matter of time before they stormed the castle.
“So will you do it?” Jason asked.
“I—am I allowed?” Ty replied. “I mean, you’re gonna be entering all my grades and maybe my report card comments too, if they let me do it, but we probably have to make sure it’s not violating some union agreement or something.”
Jason’s face fell. “Fuck, I don’t know, I’ll have to check. But if it’s cool—”
“I’ll do it,” Ty said. “Not for you, though, just FYI. Because Peggy deserves a nice lunch date.”
Jason broke into a grin that knocked at least five years from his face. “Ty, you are the best. Seriously. I’m going to enjoy entering those grades for you.”
Ty had been in the middle of a bite and almost choked on his sandwich. “You’re a weirdo, Jason. So, where are you taking her?”
“There’s only two lunch restaurants in town, and one of them is McDonald’s.”
That did narrow it down some. “Oh, hey—” Ty put down his sandwich and put on his most serious eat-shit expression. “I guess I have to give you the talk, don’t I? As the resident health education specialist, I mean. Remember to always use protection, and lube is your friend.”
“I am afraid to ask how many of your lunch dates have involved lube.”
Ty snorted. “I did once spend what was supposed to be my lunch break teaching a probie how to patch an oil leak on an ambulance. She didn’t even buy me dinner first.”
“The probie?”
He grinned. “The ambulance.”
Jason was shaking his head when the overhead speaker crackled to life. “Ty, are you in there? ”
Something in Peggy’s tone had Ty dropping his half-eaten sandwich back onto the wrapper. She never used his first name over the PA, even when she was buzzing him in the teachers’ lounge. “Yeah, what’s—”
“It’s Theo Kent. He’s been stung by a bee—”
Ty was out of his chair before he even finished processing the words. “Where is he?”
“Main office.”
“Has he taken the EpiPen?”
But he didn’t wait to hear the answer. He sprinted out of the staff room and down the hallway, dodging occasional children, grateful that most of them were outside enjoying recess. He didn’t want any more obstacles between himself and Theo.
He burst through the office door like a madman.
Theo sat in one of the orange plastic chairs by the front desk, his skin pale and waxy. His tear-tracked face had swollen, and his breath rasped audibly over the hum of the school’s decrepit air-conditioner.
For a heartbeat Ty’s personal feelings threatened to overwhelm his professional training.
Then Theo wheezed, “Hi, Ty,” and he snapped back into action.
“Hey, buddy.” Ty went to his knees beside him and automatically put his fingers on his wrist to check his pulse. Too fast, but not oh fuck fast. “Heard you found some bees.” He glanced up at Peggy. “Has he taken the EpiPen?”
“Just the oral Benadryl and the albuterol,” Peggy answered calmly. “We were hoping that would take care of it, but he was stung multiple times.”
No kidding. Ty kept his voice soft and comforting and looked Theo in the eye. “Sounds like you had a bad day. Can you show me where you got stung?”
Theo held out his arm first. Two prominent red welts stood out from the surrounding flesh, and a spotted rash had spread from wrist to shoulder.
“Did you get the stingers out?” Ty couldn’t see anything, but the stings were so swollen it was hard to tell.
Theo wiped his nose on the back of his hand. Ew, but not the time to reprimand him; it wasn’t his fault he was snotting all over the place. “I think so.”
Ty grabbed a Kleenex from the front desk, met eyes with Peggy, who nodded, and then returned his attention to Theo. “Okay, that’s good. Ms. Peggy, can you get Theo a cold cloth to keep the swelling down?”
“Am I going to have to go to the hospital?” Theo’s lip trembled.
“That depends how fast the Benadryl works, okay?” If he didn’t start breathing easier in a few minutes, or if his condition got worse, they’d have to use the EpiPen, and he’d definitely have to go. “Try to take a few deep breaths for me, all right? Nice and slow.”
The rasping did not improve, but it didn’t get worse. Ty looked over at Peggy again. “Did you call his dad?”
Her expression made him stand up and take a step away from Theo. He wasn’t in immediate danger.
Peggy lowered her voice. “We tried to reach Ollie, but his phone’s going straight to voicemail. Nobody’s picking up the office phone at his work either. We think maybe he should go home with you. We’ll get coverage for your classes.”
Ty was the only other person with permission to take Theo off school property. “Yeah, of course. And I’ll keep trying Ollie.”
But before he could even let Theo know he was just going to grab his stuff from the staff room, Theo said, “ Ow ! Oh no!”
When Ty turned his head, Theo was slapping at his shorts. Ty’s heart stuttered in his chest when a small yellow-and-black body fell to the floor.
“Theo—”
The wheezing increased as his airway tightened further. At least one more sting, maybe two, and Theo’s body was throwing everything it had at the bee venom.
“Get the epi and the albuterol!” Ty stepped forward just in time to catch Theo as he listed sideways off the chair. Theo was fumbling at the pocket of his cargo shorts, but his fingers were swollen. Ty ripped open the snaps holding the pocket shut and grabbed the tube. He flicked the cap off and jammed the spring-loaded tip against Theo’s thigh.
“Peggy, call 911.”
Theo’s wide, tearful eyes met Ty’s. “Don’t… make me… go to… the hospital,” he pleaded.
Ty’s heart broke as he held the inhaler to Theo’s mouth. “I’m sorry, buddy, but we need to get you checked out by a doctor. ”
Everything got exponentially worse when Theo started crying in earnest. Between his restricted airways and the hitching of his sobs, he definitely wasn’t getting enough oxygen.
“Get me his backup epi and the first-aid kit!” Ty didn’t want to have to give him another dose—his heart was racing as it was. He also didn’t want Theo to pass out or for mucus to further obstruct his windpipe.
He really didn’t want to have to cut a hole in Theo’s throat so he could breathe, but better that than the alternatives.
Peggy handed him the kit. “911 says the ambulance is three minutes out.”
“Okay, thank you.” Ty put the kit on the floor next to his knees. “Theo, buddy, I need you to listen to the sound of my voice, okay? Everything is going to be fine. I’m going to stay with you the whole time, all right? Ms. Peggy gave me the rest of the day off. Wasn’t that nice of her?”
The hitching slowed but didn’t stop. Ty was going to have to try harder.
“Come on, Theo.” Ty squeezed his hand. “I need you to help me out, okay? I know it’s hard right now, but breathe in with me. We’re going to breathe in for a count of three.” Four would be better, but he didn’t think Theo could make it to four right now, and setting him up for failure could make things worse. “Here we go. One, two, three. Hold it for a second. Now when I stop squeezing your hand, you’re going to breathe out.”
By the time the paramedics arrived, Ty had talked Theo down from his panic. He was still obviously upset, and he struggled when they put him on the gurney to load into the ambulance, pulling at the oxygen mask over his face with one hand and reaching for Ty with the other.
“Leave the mask on, buddy. Don’t worry, I’m coming too.”
The paramedic in charge—Brent; Ty recognized him from the Mrs. Sanford fiasco—sized him up. “This your kid, Morris?”
“Uh, no, but close enough.” Ty gestured back toward the office. “Peggy can get you the paperwork to show I’m allowed to pick him up, if you need it.” He didn’t know the local policy on nonrelatives riding along with minors, or whether he could technically act in loco parentis since he was only an emergency supply teacher.
Theo clenched his hand tighter into the fabric of Ty’s shirt.
“Think Theo here made the decision for me. Let’s load up. ”
It was strange to ride in the ambulance as a passenger and let others do the work taking care of Theo. All Ty had to do was talk to him and try to keep him calm, which was more difficult than he expected. Having other professionals present gave Ty’s brain the space to freak out.
By the time they arrived at the hospital, Ollie still hadn’t answered Ty’s texts. Maybe he was on the phone with Peggy? Ty could only hope. He trailed along behind the gurney into the ER, but a nurse stopped him before he could follow Theo behind the curtain.
“I’m sorry,” the man said firmly, “but if you’re not family, I can’t allow you back there right now.”
Shit. Ty had expected this. “I understand, but—”
“Mr. Morris here is Theo’s teacher,” Brent put in.
Ty fished his school ID out of his wallet and handed it over along with his driver’s license. “We also live together. His father’s my… roommate.” Talk about an inadequate word, but hedging over the right one wouldn’t help him. “I know you can’t tell me anything, and I can’t make medical decisions, I just—he’s a kid, and he’s scared, and I promised I wouldn’t leave him alone.”
The nurse glanced from Ty’s IDs to Brent and back before returning the cards. “He’s here for observation after an allergic reaction, yes?”
Ty’s paramedic mode activated. “Yes. The school administered 25 milligrams of diphenhydramine and two doses of albuterol.” He wasn’t sure of the dosage on that, so he fished the inhaler out of his pocket and handed it over. “And 0.15 milligrams of epi”—he checked his watch—“seventeen minutes ago.”
The nurse blinked at him, then at Brent.
“I’m also a paramedic,” Ty added, because yeah, he probably should’ve let Brent do his job.
“Tell you what,” the nurse said. “It’s not like this ER is particularly private. So why don’t you stand on this side of the curtain where Theo can hear you while we have a doctor check him out, and then when we move him for observation you can sit with him until his guardian arrives.”
Ty’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank you.”
The nurse smiled. “Patient care doesn’t end with physical health. You know that.” And then he disappeared behind the curtain .
Ty made sure Theo knew he was right there—“I’m just going to make some phone calls, buddy. You’ll hear my voice, all right?”—and then started scrolling through his list.
First he left Ollie a voicemail. Peggy had probably done that already, but Ty had more information now, and he wanted to cut any possible panic off at the knees.
Then he called the school.
“Hey, Ty. How’s our patient?”
“He’s okay. The doctor’s looking him over now, and then they’ll probably move him to observation for a couple hours. I’m guessing no luck with Ollie?”
“No.” She sighed. “And either their dispatch office is on the world’s longest lunch break, or they just never answer the phone.”
Shit. “Okay. Hey, uh, hypothetically, since I’m a teacher, would you be able to give me Cassie Kent’s number? For reasons?”
“Absolutely not,” Peggy said cheerfully as Ty’s phone pinged in his ear. “Good luck with that.”
“Thanks, Peggy.”
BY TWO o’clock, Ollie had serious regrets about forgetting his cell phone in his work locker. He couldn’t check last night’s baseball scores, and he didn’t have 2048 or Angry Birds to distract him while he waited for Lucy to return from whatever errand she was on. Not that he should be playing phone games—he was supposed to be watching out for signs someone was going to attempt a robbery—but you could only maintain vigilance on small-town streets for so long before your brain started longing for physical death to go along with the lack of stimulation.
They were parked outside their five hundred and twelfth stop of the day, a pawn shop in Holton. Ollie had one eye on the mirrors and one on Lucy for trouble, and was going through the alphabet making a list of the most absurd fake ice-cream flavors he could think of in order to keep himself awake.
It was possible that the fact that the air-conditioner in this truck was still only half working had an impact on his activity of choice. Ollie was desperate for a Popsicle.
He’d made it to G for the second time—Georgia Peaches, Pralines and Cream—when the dormant part of his brain noticed a change in Lucy’s body language. Ollie snapped to attention as she finished up her exchange with the shop manager and used her key to open the passenger door.
“Here.” She shoved her phone at him. “I’m going to put this in the back and then we can go.”
Blinking, Ollie looked down at the phone, which seemed to be mid-call from a number Lucy didn’t have stored. He raised it to his ear. “Hello?”
“Ollie, holy shit. Finally. Where are you? Why haven’t you been answering your phone? We’ve been calling for an hour.”
The stress in Cassie’s voice went straight to Ollie’s blood pressure. “I’m at the pawn shop in Holton. Working. I accidentally left my phone in my locker. What’s going on?” Something awful occurred to him. “Oh God, are Mom and Dad okay?” They might not be talking right now, but he didn’t want anything bad to happen to his parents. If they got into an accident while they weren’t speaking to Ollie—
“They’re fine. Well, everyone’s fine now, just worried about you —”
“Cassie.” If it wasn’t his parents, that meant—“What happened?”
“Theo got stung by a bee.”
Ollie’s chest went hollow, and her words rang in his ears.
“—a couple of bees, actually, I guess. They had to use his EpiPen. The school couldn’t get hold of you. I guess they had to send him to the hospital.”
Miraculously, Ollie didn’t drop Lucy’s phone. “And he’s—Theo’s—”
“He’s freaking out about being in the hospital, but he’s fine otherwise, Ollie, I swear.”
He swallowed and tried to will his heart to slow back to a normal rhythm. “Okay. Okay. Thanks. Uh. Wait, we’ve got—the trucks all have radios. Nobody tried to call the office?”
Cassie made a derisive noise. “We all tried to call the office. Nobody picked up.”
The news did not improve Ollie’s blood pressure. “Okay. Um. I’m going to—we’ll have to go back to the depot so I can switch cars, but can you let them know I’ll be there as soon as I can?”
“Of course.”
A moment later Lucy climbed back into the cab. “You need me to drive?”
Obviously Cassie had briefed her already. Ollie’s hands shook. “Uh. Would you mind? ”
Lucy did not mind, so Ollie spent the drive back to the depot with his eyes closed, concentrating on his breathing and trying to convince himself Theo was fine. He would recover, though Ollie would be beating himself up for forgetting his phone for years to come.
He practically bolted out of the truck when they arrived. He went inside long enough to retrieve his phone, brushed off his manager’s pointed question about why they weren’t still out on their run—“Sorry, my kid’s in the hospital, I gotta go, Lucy will fill you in”—and drove to the hospital on autopilot while nightmare visions of Theo, alone and scared, competed for his attention.
He couldn’t believe this had happened. He’d worked so hard to be a good father, to try to make sure he was always there when Theo needed him. Now he felt like the world’s biggest fraud. He’d failed his kid. Maybe his parents were right about him needing more help.
Somehow he held it together enough to ask someone at the nurses’ station how to find Theo’s room.
The hospital hallways stretched out before him like an effect from a horror movie, but finally he found 218. The door was open. He stuck his head in.
Theo was asleep, his chest rising and falling steadily in a way Ollie would never take for granted. He was hooked up to a pulse-ox monitor, but no IV. All his stats were normal. His color was good. Aside from his sweat-matted hair, he looked perfectly healthy, none the worse for wear. The relief of it almost took Ollie out at the knees, even as guilt welled up in the place anxiety had vacated.
He was supposed to be there for Theo, and he’d let him down. He’d been in the hospital with no one to comfort him—probably scared as well as alone—
“Oh, Ollie—thank God. Did Cassie finally get through to you?”
Ollie turned around.
If Theo looked none the worse for wear, the same could not be said of Ty, who looked like he’d just come off a three-day bender. Ollie didn’t think stress could make your beard come in any faster, but he could swear Ty’s face was scruffier than normal for this time in the afternoon, and he had dark circles under his eyes. In his left hand he held a phone charger, still new in the box; he had a half-empty paper cup of coffee in the right.
“I called about a hundred times, but my phone died half an hour ago. Probably shouldn’t have spent my prep this morning watching YouTube videos about weird birds. Anyway, Peggy sent me Cassie’s number earlier in case she had a better way to reach you, but when Theo fell asleep, I hit up the gift shop—”
Finally Ollie found his voice. “You’ve been here the whole time?”
Ty tilted his head like the question didn’t make sense. “I wasn’t going to let the school send someone else—”
The guilt flowed out again, but this time something warm and bright filled the vacuum. Of course Ty hadn’t let Theo be alone and scared. Of course he’d kept calling Ollie until his phone died, and called in reinforcements when he couldn’t get through. Never mind that he and Cassie barely knew each other and the town thought he was a hoodlum —that would never stop Ty from making sure Theo was looked after.
“—even if he is giving me the silent treatment,” Ty added, half wry, half hurt, and still twice the speed of his normal speech.
Ollie glanced from Ty to Theo, who hadn’t stirred. Before he could ask why Theo would do that, Ty went on. He was talking even faster now, like he was worried Ollie might be angry if he didn’t explain before Ollie could get a word in.
“He tried to make me promise he wouldn’t have to go to the hospital.” He grimaced but didn’t pause long enough for Ollie to interject. “I couldn’t do that, obviously, especially after the second bee got him.”
Ollie had a hundred questions—how many times had he been stung, how bad had things gotten, whether they could expect his next reaction to be worse—but Ty didn’t give him an opening to ask. That made sense, kind of, since Ty had had several hours to get worked into his anxiety spiral, and Ollie had only had a fraction of that. “Ty—”
“I mean, it’s hard to blame him for not wanting to go to the hospital.” Ty’s hands got in on the talking, and he gestured around at the sterile walls painted an overly cheerful pastel green, the industrial window with its scenic view of the parking lot, the monitoring equipment beeping softly in the corner.
“Ty—”
“Given his history and everything—”
It dawned on Ollie that if he wanted Ty to stop talking, he would have to physically make him. And that was what he intended to do—raise his hand, put his finger over Ty’s lips, and finally let out the thank you that was blistering the inside of his mouth .
Except that somewhere between his brain and his arm, his heart intercepted the message, and instead of putting a finger to Ty’s lips, he pulled Ty in with one hand on his waist and the other on the back of his neck and pressed their mouths together.
Something electric zinged down his spine. Under his hands, Ty stilled and then shivered. Ollie had caught him mid-word and his lips were open, and when Ty breathed a tiny noise of surprise, Ollie tasted it.
He wanted more.
Before he could chase after it, Ty pulled back, just the slightest pressure against Ollie’s right hand. He didn’t go far, only enough to look into Ollie’s eyes with his own, blue irises sharp with curiosity and want. Ollie watched them flick down to his lips, and then he didn’t know which of them had moved, but they were kissing again, Ty’s hands in his hair and on his ass, his chest firm against Ollie’s, his mouth wet around Ollie’s tongue.
Something thunked, and Ty inhaled quickly. Oh. That was Ty’s skull hitting the wall. Ollie had pushed him into it in his enthusiasm. But Ty didn’t pull away, and some long-banked fire in Ollie’s chest roared to life and surged through him—the compulsion to learn all of this man, every tattoo and scar, every bruise and ticklish spot, all of the secret places that made him gasp and beg and moan.
And then the speaker overhead crackled. “Paging Dr. Robinson. Please check in at the nurses’ station.”
This time the noise Ty made was kind of a whimpered laugh, as the metaphorical cold water washed over Ollie and he drew back.
Ty licked already wet lips and Ollie immediately wanted to kiss him again. Just not here, in his son’s hospital room, where anyone could see them, when they hadn’t had a chance to figure out anything , when they hadn’t even—
“Um,” Ty said. His cheeks were very pink, the apples plumped by a shy, unrestrained smile. Any moment now he’d say something like Aw, shucks .
Ollie adored him.
“You, um, wanted to say something?”
Did he? “Uh.” Ollie tried to remember what had been going through his mind a minute ago, but he came up empty. His cheeks went hot. “I forgot. ”
Ty blinked rapidly a handful of times and curled his lips over his teeth, but Ollie could still see the smile threatening, and he only lasted a second before a laugh burst out of him.
Ollie snickered too, but he covered his mouth with one hand so Theo didn’t wake up to find his dad howling with laughter in his hospital room. Ollie didn’t want him to get the wrong impression. Except the harder he tried to keep it in, the louder Ty’s suppressed laughter got, until finally Ollie grabbed his arm and pulled him into the hallway, where they both collapsed against the wall until they could breathe again.
“We’re a pair, huh?” Ty commented, smiling vaguely up at the fluorescent lighting.
I hope so , Ollie thought. He reached over and threaded his fingers through Ty’s. “I remember what I was going to say.”
Ty turned to face him.
“Thank you, for being there for Theo. I was beating myself up pretty good, knowing he was in the hospital by himself because the school couldn’t get in contact with me and I don’t have my parents listed as emergency contacts. And then I got here and you told me he’d never been alone.”
Ty swallowed audibly. “Oh.”
Ollie didn’t know if he could put the rest of it into words, never mind do it in public without making a scene—more of one than they made already, holding hands on the floor outside his kid’s hospital room—so he didn’t try. He squeezed Ty’s hand instead. “Maybe when we get home we can talk?”
The look Ty gave him promised a lot more than talking, but he just said, “I’d like that,” and Ollie let himself bask in that smile for a few seconds before his ass reminded him he was sitting on a cold tile floor.
“I tried to tell you,” Ty said quietly when they’d dusted themselves off and returned to the room. “He might be kind of upset when he wakes up.”
Right. Some of the things Ty had been trying to say when Ollie’s brain had refused to accept any input aside from kiss him, you fool might actually be important. “You mentioned the silent treatment?”
“Yeah.” He glanced at Theo and then lowered his voice further anyway, even though he was still out like a light. “He was really upset he had to go to the hospital, and he kind of blamed me. I’m not taking it personally, though. Last time he was in the hospital without a parent, his mother died. ”
Jesus. No wonder he freaked out. Ollie was glad he interrupted; he didn’t think he would’ve had the nerve to kiss Ty if he’d been processing that.
“I should probably wake him up, you think?” He cleared his throat. “You know… reassure him I’m still alive.”
The look Ty gave him made it abundantly clear he knew Ollie needed reassurance as much as Theo did, but he didn’t call him on it. “I’ll give you guys a minute.”
Ollie almost told him not to go, but if Ty stayed, it would be for Ollie, and Theo deserved an explanation one-on-one. He waited until Ty had stepped into the hallway before touching Theo’s hand. “Hey, buddy. You want to wake up?”
Theo inhaled deeply, and his eyelashes fluttered. “Dad?”
He sounded normal, if sleepy. His eyes were a little red-rimmed, but that could be the allergies. (Ollie knew it wasn’t allergies. But he was having a day and he needed to lie to himself for a minute. He could have a breakdown about it later.)
“I heard you had kind of a rough day.”
Theo’s lip wobbled, but he didn’t cry. “Why didn’t you come sooner?”
Ollie was scum. Ollie was lower than scum. Ollie was the thing scum scraped off its shoe. “I’m so sorry. I forgot my phone in my locker and didn’t have it on me. Your aunt Cassie had to find my coworker’s phone number so she could tell me what happened.”
Theo narrowed his eyes. “Like a detective?”
“Just like that.”
This was apparently cool enough to take the heat off for a moment. Only for a moment, though. “Can we go home now? The nurses treat me like I’m a baby.”
Ollie frowned and instinctively looked up to find a nurse he could stare down. Theo’s room was still devoid of other adults. “That’s not very cool of them.”
“And my stings are itchy and they keep telling me to ‘be a big boy and don’t scratch.’” Even with his still-swollen face, the twist of his mouth conveyed his extreme offense. “I’m eight. And it’s itchy. And there’s nothing to do here, Dad, and Ty didn’t bring my bag, so I don’t have my book, so there’s nothing to think about except scratching .”
“We will get you some good lotion and extra-strength Benadryl,” Ollie promised. “And maybe a doctor can write you a prescription for the really good stuff. And tonight we’ll all watch TV together, no homework, okay? Or play board games or something until you’re ready for bed, to keep your mind off it.”
His talk with Ty was going to have to wait until Theo was in bed anyway.
Theo pursed his lips. “Can it just be us?” he said plaintively. Oh, there was a pout underneath it. That was bad news.
“Well, I don’t think I can kick Ty out of the living room,” Ollie said, trying to sound reasonable. He really couldn’t —though Ty would probably voluntarily banish himself—but he also didn’t want to set that precedent, especially without getting to the root of Theo’s problem. “But of course you and I can hang out.” He paused. “Did something happen to make you mad at Ty? Is it because he forgot your backpack?”
The pursed expression became a flat-out scowl. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Ooookay, then. “We don’t have to talk about it right now,” Ollie hedged. “But I do have to give Ty a ride home since he came here with you in the ambulance.”
For a moment Theo slumped dejectedly into the pillows. “Fiiiine.” And then, just as quickly, he sat up and reached for the pulse-ox monitor. “So we can go now?”
Ollie caught his hand and lowered it back to the bed. “Hold your horses, bud. We need to see a doctor first. I want to make sure I take good care of you so we don’t have to come back, okay?”
An extremely dramatic sigh. “I guess .”
“That’s the spirit.” Ollie ruffled his hair and then bent down to kiss the top of his head. “I’m so glad you’re okay. You had me really worried.”
He’d almost pulled away when Theo’s arms wrapped around his neck. “I’m sorry I made you worry. I thought you might be mad at me.”
Ollie wanted to pull back to see his kid’s face, because he had to be joking, right? But he couldn’t make himself do it. Theo sounded miserable, and Ollie needed this hug. “Why would I be mad?”
Theo sniffled against his chest. “’Cause you said—when we left Anacostia you said you never wanted to see me in a hospital again. ”
Oh God. “Theo—” Ollie did pull back now, and he wiped a tear away from his son’s cheek with his thumb. “I said that because I wanted you to be healthy. I’m not mad that you had to come back. It’s not your fault you got stung by a bee, okay? And even if you did something to make it your fault, like, I don’t know, kicking a beehive or something, I would never stay away from the hospital to punish you for it. I love you way more than I hate hospitals.”
Theo wiped his eyes and nose with the back of his hand. Ollie tried not to grimace too loudly and handed him a tissue from the tray table. “But I don’t have to stay overnight again, do I?”
“Ty didn’t seem to think so. Let me track down a doctor and we’ll find out for sure.”