“What happened?”
I handed it to him.
He read the messages without speaking.
His jaw tightened at my mother’s words, then again at my father’s.
When he reached Courtney’s message, he set the phone down carefully.
“You don’t have to deal with them tonight,” he said.
“I blocked them.”
“Good.”
The word came out firm, but he did not celebrate it.
He put one coffee on the windowsill, opened the bag, and tried to convince me to eat half a sandwich.
I managed two bites.
That night, Kevin tried to make me sleep.
“You had surgery three days ago,” he reminded me.
“I’m not leaving her.”
“You don’t have to leave the hospital.”
“I’m not leaving this room.”
Brooklyn sat up beneath her blanket.
“I’m staying too.”
The charge nurse had already explained the rules more than once, but Brooklyn looked so frightened at the idea of leaving that Kevin made a quiet call from the hallway.
