Page 4 of Broken King

“Thank you,” my father says, puffing out his chest with pride. “His mother would be so happy with how he’s grown up.”

I stare up in the darkness at the ceiling above me as those words repeat in my head. A fine young man. A great future ahead of him.

And in one horrible moment, it was all ripped away.

CHAPTER TWO

Ronan

Someone knockingon my bedroom door wakes me, and before I can say come in, the door opens and Eleanor walks in. She’s all smiles as always since I came back here.

As she sets a tray down with my breakfast of eggs and toast and a glass of orange juice, she looks over at me and says, “Good morning, Ronan. It’s a beautiful summer day out. I hope I didn’t wake you, but I didn’t want you to miss the chance to get out there and enjoy yourself.”

She knows as well as anyone else that I never leave this room. There’s no reason to.

I sit up in bed, making sure I pull the sheets up to my waist so I don’t give Eleanor a shock. “Thanks. I had a hard time sleeping last night, so I’ll probably just stay in and catch up on getting some rest.”

Her smile fades when I say that, but she quickly forces the corners of her mouth upward. “Oh, okay. Well, maybe you’ll go out on the patio or hang out a little while at the pool today. You never know.”

Yes, I do know. I don’t want to go anywhere.

She leaves without another word, and I slide out of bed to get my breakfast. With the first bite of the scrambled eggs, I can’t help but smile. I may be unhappy and hate everything, but I can’t deny Eleanor makes the best eggs in the world.

Halfway through my meal, I hear voices outside in the hallway. Straining to listen, I recognize Matthias and Ava speaking to someone, likely Eleanor. I can’t make out what they’re saying, but the tone of their voices comes through loud and clear.

A second later, another knock on my bedroom door is followed by Ava poking her head into the room. Smiling, she says, “I wanted to make sure to say good morning before I take the baby to his doctor’s appointment. Can I come in?”

For a second, I remember Mrs. Columbo, my sophomore English teacher constantly riding all of us about can and may and consider asking the questions she would have. Can you? Are you physically able?

Ava doesn’t deserve that, though. She’s been nothing short of terrific letting me stay here in what’s her home now after what happened in the spring. I may not always like how sweet and chipper she is when she comes to see me, but I can’t hold that against her.

That’s just me being my miserable self.

“Sure,” I answer with as much enthusiasm as I can muster, which doesn’t amount to much.

She walks in with little Theo in her arms and sits down in the chair beside my bed. The baby seems particularly happy today. Poor guy doesn’t know what’s waiting for him at that doctor’s appointment.

“It’s a beautiful day outside,” she says, leaving the last word of her sentence hanging, as if she wishes she could say what she’s keeping to herself.

“I heard.”

She nods and continues to smile, but in her eyes I can see she’s disappointed I didn’t answer with more enthusiasm for the weather report. What she and everyone else want is for me to happily tell them the beautiful summer weather has made me decide to leave this room for the first time in two months.

It’s not going to happen, but she and the rest of my family get an A for effort.

We sit in silence as Theo coos, looking at me like he wants to ask why I won’t leave this damn room. I’ll explain it to you one day when you’re older, little guy.

“Do you want me to pick you up anything when I go into town today?” Ava asks with such hopefulness in her voice I wish I could tell her I want something.

But what I want she can’t get me. Nobody can.

I shake my head as my answer. It would be rude to tell her I just want to be left alone, but that’s all I want to say right now.

We return to silence for a few moments until she stands up and says, “Okay. I have to get Theo and Matty to their appointment, and that involves two car seats, which never fail to be a production. Matthias and I hired someone to help since now that the new baby is here, it’s a little bit much for me to handle. She’s starting today, so I didn’t want you to think someone broke in if you see her.”

“Okay.”

“Her name is Sabrina. She’s going to be living here. All right, I need to get my little guys to the doctor’s.”

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