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."For the kids too, ah?""Thanks.That's& nice of you, Karen.And how are you? How are, uh, things?""Good," she said in her customary clipped syllables, one hand coming to rest, alreadyproprietary, at the top of her stomach."The apartment's beautiful.""Good," Tommy echoed, feeling oddly empty."Um.That's& great.And the baby? Iseverything& ?""It's good.""Cool.I'm gonna, uh, go give these to, uh& yeah." He slipped back into the relatives' room, suddenly desperate to be as far from both her andScott as possible.Tommy glanced at his father.If Martin was sleeping, it wasn't heavy slumber  more likethe waking stupor of booze, painkillers, and Valium.Still, he didn't stir, and Katie stayed quiet.Robbie and Lila looked exhausted.Tommy sat down on the couch between them, passing each acandy bar and tearing the wrapper off his own."Karen got you candy," he said, needlessly but somehow feeling like he ought to put in agood word for her.Robbie scowled."I don't like her.She's a stranger."Tommy considered this as he ate the chocolate, Lila pressing up beside him.He draped hisarm around her and wondered how long it would take for Karen to win the kids over.They had apoint; she'd never spent time at the house.Why the hell would Scott have brought her back there?She wasn't family, so she'd have been an outsider.Them and us.Tommy wasn't sure whether it was that which made him feel hollow, or the knowledge thathis mother was probably still lying in the operating room.Perhaps both.Everything seemed to runtogether, like wet paint in a rainstorm.One big mess of emptiness.Robbie might have decided he didn't like Karen, but he ate the candy anyway.Lila didn'ttouch hers.At length, a doctor came by and told Scott that Mei had been taken to the recovery suite.They'd removed the torn spleen and dealt with the fractures in her arm and leg, but they would bekeeping her out for a while longer to assess the severity of the head and neck trauma.He took Scott aside, and Tommy guessed their hushed discussion referred to the bill andperhaps the prior injuries.Katie woke up and began to cry as he strained to work out what the doctorwas saying, so he picked her off Martin's lap and carried her for a while.She quieted and didn't feel hot to the touch anymore, but the kids had all had a long day.Thedoctor eyed them briefly before, with the business-like flicker of a weak smile, departing again."I'll take 'em home," Tommy said, though he hated to leave. "No point in hanging around," Scott agreed and gave Karen a squeeze around the shoulders."We oughta get going, too."Tommy nodded.He'd hoped, however foolishly, that maybe Scott would come back to thehouse with them.Just for now.He didn't say anything, turning instead to Martin."Dad? You wanna come?"Martin shook his head, standing up slowly, one hand on the wall."I'll be at Deacon's."Tommy tilted his head and tried to evade Katie's probing fingers.She'd woken up crabby andkept trying to pull his lips off."You sure you oughta drink, with the pills? Or drive?" He caught the look Scott shot him andlifted one shoulder in a well-what-am-I-supposed-to-say shrug."You can always come back, get thePontiac in the morning.""Day I'm not good to drive after a beer's the day you can put me in the fuckin' ground,"Martin mumbled.He grabbed his coat and stalked off down the corridor.Tommy watched him go.Karen cleared her throat and looked at Scott.He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot."Well.Uh.We'll, um& I'll see you, Tommy.Okay?""Okay," Tommy said wearily."Sure.See ya.Bye, Karen."She nodded to him, and they left.Great.THE first few days proved hard.Tommy dropped by to visit his mother after work, and itwasn't the knowledge of how much worse it could have been, or the injuries she might have had, butthe halo  the hard, menacing brace holding her head still  that scared him most.The metalalmost seemed alive, wrapping around her like interlaced fingers.He sat, held her hand, being careful not to dislodge the monitors clipped to her or the IVdrip.He rubbed her knuckles with his thumb and talked to her in a low voice, just on the off-chancethat she could actually hear.Tommy left the ward, ready to head back out into the dusk, pick up some dinner, and collectthe kids from the after-school activities that kept them quiet and kept them safe.The nurse called outafter him, and he turned.Her footsteps echoed sharply on the polished floor."Mr.Hawks? Could you just confirm this number for me, please?""Huh?"The nurse ran a hand over her hair, sweeping back a loose blonde strand.She held out acrumpled piece of paper."This number.Your, uh, your father gave this as a contact, but nobody seems to be able toget through.Could you& ?"Tommy glanced at the paper."Yeah." He nodded."That oughta be a seven, not a four.Heprobably got& uh.How come you needed& ?"The nurse smiled awkwardly."There's, um, a social worker trying to make an appointment.Nothing to worry about, I'm sure.Just, with your mom's injuries and your father being listed ashaving a disability& y'know," she said, tipping her head to the side a little."The system's there tohelp."Tommy stared at her, caught like a deer in headlights."Sure," he said, tucking his hairbehind his ear."I, ah, I have to go.But I'll make sure this gets& [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]