“Yeah, yeah. Okay.”
“Goodbye, honey. Talk to you soon.”
“Bye, Mrs. E.”
Sam hung up the phone and then wiped away the rest of his tears with shaky hands. He made sure the volume was turned up on his phone and then took several deep breaths to steady himself.
“Hungry, kiddo? Jaz made sandwiches.”
Sam looked up and to his left, where Barry now stood, and he nodded. “Yeah, yeah, that sounds good. Um...” He pushed himself to his feet and then straightened back up. Barry still stood there, watching him with a thoughtful glint in his eye. Sam tried for a smile, but Barry shook his head a little and opened up his arms.
“C’mere, Sam,” Barry said.
A hug was just what he needed then, and Sam breathed a deep sigh as he stepped over to his uncle’s arms and carefully accepted the embrace. Barry held him for what seemed like several minutes, and when they parted, Barry gave him a gentle smile, his eyes shining with love.
“You’re a good man, Sam,” he said, patting Sam lightly on the shoulder. “I’m proud to be your uncle.”
Sam blinked back yet more tears and shook his head. “I’m just...” He trailed off, and Barry patted him on the shoulder.
“Come on, let’s have some lunch. And then we’ll head on into my office. I think you were going to help your poor old uncle get organized and such?”
With a weak smile and nod, Sam followed Barry into the kitchen, his phone still held tightly in one hand.
Chapter 27
Ollie turned onto his side and pulled the comforter up over his head with a groan. The room was brightly lit, even with the curtains drawn, although the comforter seemed to block out most of the light.
What time was it? He almost didn’t want to know. He’d been up really late with his mom, talking and talking to... chase away the nightmares and panic. And he felt tired still, like he could keep sleeping all day, maybe. Yet something tugged at him, telling him he should get up and out of bed and...
There was a soft knock at his door, and he pushed the blanket back down and glanced up to see his mom standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. She smiled, but he could see the question in her eyes.
“Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay?”
He had. Surprisingly. The constant anxiety he’d been living with the last several days, which he’d been somehow able to manage, was still there, still trying to remind him of things he didn’t want to think about and a place he didn’t want to be. But he could tame it now. He could control it. Or... something. At least mostly. Although the effort it took had him feeling more physically exhausted than he remembered being in a long time, despite having slept soundly for hours.
He gave his mom a small smile and then shifted to sit up, swinging his legs off the bed. “Um, yeah, I-I think I’m... okay. I slept. I don’t...”
He trailed off and closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his mom was walking in his direction, her arms crossed lightly over her chest. She stopped and sat on the bed next to him and then wrapped an arm around his shoulders.Her hug felt comforting, sure, safe, and he let the feelings surround him, lending him some energy.
“I don’t remember having any nightmares or—or anything. And, um, I feel okay, I guess. A little, um...” He paused to clear his throat. How could he describe this feeling? He wasn’t even sure. “Maybe there’s a little—I dunno, um...”
“Shakiness?”
Ollie laughed lightly and nodded as he turned toward her and returned her embrace. “Yeah, that’s about right.”
“And it’s sort of nonspecific, even. Just a general... feeling?”
“Yeah, yeah. How . . . how do you . . . ?”
He continued to lean into his mom as she rubbed his back, but she didn’t answer right away. When he finally straightened up again and met her eyes, he saw love and kindness mixed with a hint of something more like sadness.
“A mom just knows these things, sweetie,” she said, and with another kind smile, she glanced around him and then tipped her head toward the nightstand. “You missed a few calls this morning.”
“I... huh?” Ollie followed her gaze. His phone sat on the nightstand, the screen facing down so he couldn’t see the time or any... notifications or missed calls or... “Oh, god, right, Sam. He must be so worried.” Ollie scooted over on the bed so he could grab his phone. “I need to call him. When is—”
He hit the power button and then unlocked the phone, shaking his head as he noticed the time. Why had he slept so late? Something started to fizzle inside him, an anxious sort of tingle in his chest, and his heart began beating maybe just a little too fast. He closed his eyes as he felt his mom slide over next to him, her hand almost immediately coming to rest on top of his where he held the phone in his lap.
“I talked to him a few hours ago, sweetie. I told him you’d call when you woke up.”
