“I’m not. I’m serious, Caleb.”
A tiny whimper escaped him. “Really?”
“Yes,” I said, a smile spreading across my face. I wished I could see his face right now, too.
“Oh my god,” Caleb murmured, his voice trembling. “That - that issomuch money, Benji, how - “
“Does it matter?” I asked with a laugh. “You’re gonna get the surgery. That’s what matters. You’re gonna get better and get out of that damn hospital.”
Caleb laughed now too, excitement and relief bubbling out of him. “Oh my god. I seriously must be dreaming. I’m gonna ask the nurse to pinch me.”
“Don’t do that, she’s gonna think you’re off your rocker,” I said.
“How am I gonna pay them? The doctors? I mean, what - how does any of this even work?”
“I’ll get the payment transferred to them, don’t worry,” I promised. “All you need to focus on is resting and getting better, okay?”
“Okay.” His breath came out hitched and shaky against the receiver. I hoped the excitement of it all wouldn’t trigger another coughing fit. “Benji?”
“Yeah?”
He lowered his voice. “How did you get the money?”
My throat tightened and I cleared it. “Don’t worry about it, okay? We have the money for the surgery and that’s all that matters.”
But that didn’t instantly ease Caleb’s mind like I hoped it would. The longer the silence on his end of the phone stretched on, the more worry knotted in my chest.
“You didn’t do anything… weird or crazy, did you?” Caleb let out a half-hearted laugh, but I could tell he was deeply concerned.
“No, of course not.”
I felt a twinge of irritation. Why did he have to pry? Why couldn’t he just drop it and be happy for what he had?
“Benji,” Caleb said quietly. “Tell me the truth.”
I froze. I couldn’t do that. No matter how badly I wanted to, or how badly Caleb wanted to know, it was impossible to tell him. Pierce told me not to, and on top of that, I didn’t know what would happen to Caleb if hedidknow when he wasn’t supposed to, and that was a risk I wasn’t willing to take.
“It’s fine, okay? Let’s just drop it,” I said curtly.
I could hear Caleb’s frown. “Why? You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
I wanted to smack my forehead. My idiot little brother was too smart for his own damn good sometimes.
“No,” I lied.
“I know when you’re lying.” Then, as if hurting my feelings would make me want to tell him the truth more, he added, “You’ve always been a bad liar.”
“Caleb, don’t worry. I’m fine. Nothing bad’s gonna happen to me. Just think about the money, okay? You’re gonna get surgery and wake up and be better.”
“Did you take out a loan? I swear to god - “ Then he gasped and lowered his voice even further, with more indignation. “Did you sign yourself up for some kind of freaky deal?”
“And what if I did?” I snapped. “It’s my body. I can do whatever I want with it, so mind your own business.”
“Benji!” Caleb cried. “What did you do?”
“It’s not important,” I insisted. “They’re not gonna hurt me, I promise.”
“Who isthey?”
