Page 60 of Homecoming for Beginners

“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 fromkiss him, you foolmight 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 todohere, Dad, and Ty didn’t bring my bag, so I don’t have my book, so there’s nothing to think aboutexceptscratching.”

“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 reallycouldn’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. “Iguess.”

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