Page 61 of Laugh

Releasing a sigh, I tap the top of her head, causing her to jump in surprise and look up at me with startled eyes. “Fuck a duck!” she cries out, then winces when we both hear more than a few students snickering behind us.

With a click of my tongue, I shake my head slowly and cross my arms. “Terrible language, Miss Byer.”

Giggling, she waves her hand at the students to let them know they should look away. I can’t stop the grin from spreading across my face as she looks up at me, an equally large smile on hers.

“Ew. You two are so gross. Seriously.”

We both jerk our heads to the right and see Addie leaning against the counter next to me.When the hell did she show up?

“Addie! What are you doing here?” Haddie asks, clearly thrilled to have two of her three people here.

Looking at her nails, she raises a brow. “Well, I certainly didn’t come to watch the two of you make eyes at each other.” She winks at Haddie when she giggles and blushes at her teasing. “But I actually came because Marcus’s mom sent me a text to come find you so that we’re together when she calls.”

My smile falls away, confused about why Haddie is going to need people around when she calls. The grin on her face also fades away, and now she simply looks worried. Picking up her phone, she opens the screen to check her phone.

“She hasn’t sent me anything. Let me grab my things and we can go outside, then I’ll give her a quick call.” Haddie picks up her bag and shoves her things inside. She steps into the back office to let whomever she’s working with know that she’s heading out, then meets us on the other side of the desk.

Addie and I wait for her in silence, and I can feel the tension building as we make our way outside. Haddie makes the call the moment we’re away from listening ears and she’s bouncing on her toes as it rings. It’s not long before she relaxes when she hears Mrs. O’Brien answer.

“Hey Momma B, Addie is here with me. She said you told her to come find me for a phone call. What’s going on?” Her voice is a bit shaky, and she’s speaking at a rapid speed, trying to get to the point. She pauses before she nods her head to whatever Marcus’s mom said, then pulls her phone away to flip it over to speaker phone. “Alright, you’re on speaker. Wait, Beau is here as well. Is that alright?”

“Oh, wonderful! Nice to talk to you again, Beau. You still treating our girl properly?”

Snorting, I bump Haddie’s shoulder and wink at her. “Trying to, Mrs. O’Brien. How is everyone doing?”

“We’re doing as best as we can be. Listen, I’m glad you’re there too, because the girls will probably need your help if they say yes.”

“Say yes to what? I mean, of course I’ll say yes to whatever you need, but what am I agreeing to?” Haddie asks, casting a glance at Addie, who nods her head quickly. “Addie says yes too.”

Blowing out a breath into the phone, I can hear the relief pouring out of her. “So, okay. I need you to not panic because we don’t know everything just yet and we’re sort of in a whirlwind of ‘what the hell do we need to do’ mode. I need to get back into the room, so I’m so, SO sorry to be abrupt with this.”

Haddie’s hand shoots out and grips my arm, her nails digging in with shaking fingers. “You’re freaking me out, Mrs. B.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to. Okay, so the doctors just met with us and the results of Marcus’s biopsy came in. Honey, it’s melanoma. Cancer. We don’t–”

“CANCER?!” Haddie’s panicked voice interrupts and her eyes look up at me, then over to Addie, who has the same touch of fear behind them. “He hascancer?I thought they thought it was a fuckingbowelinfection!”

Her breathing has picked up and the only thing I can think to do is start rubbing her back to soothe her. I’m not quite sure what to say right now because we need to hear the rest of what his mom has to say. Addie steps closer, moving to Haddie’s other side, and she frowns down at the phone.

“Mrs. B, I’m so sorry. How is Marcus doing with it? How are you and your husband feeling? What can we do?” Addie asks while Haddie tries to control her breathing.

“Like I said, we’re doing the best we can. We don’t know much more than that right now. He’s going to have some sort of treatment, but the appointment with the oncologist isn’t until Friday. That’s when they’ll tell us his prognosis and what our next steps will be.”

Quickly thinking, I note that today is Tuesday, so we’ve got three days until we have more answers.

“I need to do something. What do you need me to do, Momma?” Haddie’s choked voice asks.

“Oh, sweet girl. I know.” Her own voice is filled with so much emotion and it’s obvious she’s trying to hold it together.“Listen, I need some help with something, and I know it’s going to be inconvenient, but I’m not sure who else to ask.”

“Anything,” Haddie cries vehemently. “Anything at all. Tell me what to do!”

“We need to bring him home. They didn’t say how bad it is because they just don’t know yet. But I need him home. I need him to be here so I can take care of him through this. I suspect he’ll be with us for a while. If I give you the code to get into the garage, would you be able to get some people together to his apartment and clear it out? I know it’s a massive ask, but I need my baby home.”

Mrs. O’Brien finishes her ask with a broken sob, and with a quick glance at the girls, I see that they’re fighting back their own tears. Addie’s lower lip is wobbling, and Haddie is quickly wiping away the rapidly falling drops running down her cheeks.

Clearing my throat, I decide to take over. “We’ll get it done for you. Should we just move everything, or what specifically are you needing?”

“Everything,” she whispers. “I just need him home, Beau. The door to the house is unlocked from inside the garage. Haddie knows where his room is. I’m hoping you all could just stack his things in the garage and move his bedroom stuff into the house and get it set back up. I know it’s so last minute, and we can make do if you all aren’t able to get it done today. We’re bringing him tonight.”

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