Page 30 of Serenity

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I need to do something to get my mind off all ofthisshit.”

I grabbed the remote off the bedside table and turned on the TV. Clicking through the channels, I found a football game and left it there. Even though we were in a hospital bed, I was more comfortable than I’d been in days. It didn’t matter how narrow the mattress was, that the sheets weren’t super soft like the ones at home, or that the pillows were too firm. I was in Dillon’s arms, and it was the only thing that matteredtome.

I drifted in and out of sleep through almost three full quarters of the game before I heard a light tap on the door. Then a familiar voice called out, “Faith?”

“Sarah!” I sat up quickly, and Dillon’s arm went around myshoulders.

“Careful,baby.”

“But Sarah’s here!” I hadn’t seen her in too long. I’d aged out of the system when I turned twenty-one, and without our scheduled meetings it’d become more difficult to find the time to see each other. With recent budget cuts, Sarah’s caseload was heavier than ever. And I’d been trying to juggle a tough school schedule leading up to graduation, helping foster kids both at local high schools and on campus, and having a boyfriend for the first time inmylife.

“I see that, but they’re keeping you overnight for a reason. Nooverdoingit.”

I flopped back against the pillows, shaking my head and rollingmyeyes.

“Don’t give him a hard time on my account.” Sarah approached the bed, grinning down at us. “His protective attitude already earned him brownie pointswithme.”

“He has a name,” Dillon chuckled as he got off the bed and reached out to shake Sarah’s hand. “I’m Dillon, and you must be the Sarah I’ve heard so muchabout.”

Sarah’s smile widened. “Indeed I am. Hopefully she only said good things because that’s all I’ve heard about yousofar.”

“Better than good.” Dillon reached down for the remote and turned off thetelevision.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt your game. Won’t it bother you to not know how itturnsout?”

“That’s okay. I already know how it ends since it’s a replay of a game I’ve seenbefore.”

I twisted around to gape up at Dillon. “Why didn’t youtellme?”

“Because it was the perfect thing to help mezoneout.”

“Help you zone out?” Sarahechoed.

I glanced up at Dillon, and widened my eyes. The hardest parts of the story weren’t mine to share. They were Dillon’s. He nodded in answer to my unvoiced question, and I gestured towards the chair that was pushed against the wall. “You’re going to want to sit downforthis.”

Sarah started to drag it closer to the bed, and Dillon rounded the bed to help her. She turned towards me and gave me the thumbs-up sign as shemouthed, “Nice.”

Her mood quickly turned serious when I shared with her what Dillon and I had discovered. “Whoa. That’s a heck of a lot to deal with. I can see why you’d feel the need to zone out for a littlewhile.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, squeezing Dillon’s hand. He’d taken the chair on the other side of my bed. “It’s been aroughweek.”

“It must’ve been more than rough for you to end up here. You’re stronger than this, Faith. You can’t let your health slide, not even when things go wrong inyourlife.”

I hated seeing the disappointment in Sarah’s eyes, but I didn’t have much that I could say in my defense. No matter how badly I’d spiraled when Dillon had left, I should’ve known better. I should’ve taken better care of myself thanIhad.

“I know.” And if I hadn’t, I certainly would’ve figured it out by now with all the lectures I’d been getting from everyonetoday.

“And if she ever forgets, I’ll be there to remind her. To take care of her,” Dillonpromised.

Sarah’s focus shifted to him. “I love that Faith gets that from you because she more than deserves all the sweet she can get in her life. But you can’t properly take care of her if you don’t figure your own stuff out first. It’s like the pre-flight safety speech when you’re on an airplane. They always tell you that you need to secure your oxygen mask first before helpinganyoneelse.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Dillon sighed. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to figure my stuff out. It was hard enough when it was just that my parents had lied to me about when Declan had died, but the heart transplant takes it to a whole otherlevel.”

“With everything you’ve learned, I can see how you’d feel betrayed by your parents. Especially with the way you found out.” Sarah leaned forward, her eyes filled with sympathy. “But if there’s anything I’ve learned working for social services, it’s that parents are people too. They aren’t perfect. They make mistakes. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad people, or even badparents.”

“Elaine and Lloyd are good people. Really, really good.” I peered up at Dillon. “You know that,right?”

“They’re the best.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Maybe if they weren’t, all of this would be easier toaccept.”

“From everything you’ve told me, it sounds like your parents found themselves in a situation where there weren’t any good choices,” Sarahsuggested.

“Yeah, maybe,” hesighed.

“There’s only one way to find out.” He was going to have to talk to them and find out what reallyhappened.

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