I whisper back.“Mama’s a wreck.Has she been this bad the whole time?”
“Oh, this is super chill compared to what we’ve been dealing with.”He sets me down and then gestures to Rick, who’s standing at a polite distance.“We were lucky Rick was here.”
I don’t hug Rick.I try very hard to produce a polite smile, but I worry it looks more like a sneer.
“Didn’t expect you to see you here, Rick,” I say.“It’s quite a surprise, actually.”
Jake retrieves the room’s fake leather recliner from its spot by the window and pulls it closer to the bed.He gets our mother settled.
I go to sit on the edge of the hospital bed, in front of her, and grab her hands in mine.
“I’m perfectly healthy.No worse for the wear.”
She nods, doing her best to calm down.But she’s having trouble keeping eye contact with me.I look up to Jake.
“Oh, no,” I say.“Please tell me you didn’t go looking for me.”
Jake nods.“We did.We wouldn’t be able to forgive ourselves if we didn’t.”
“Who’s we?”
“All of us.”
“I stayed back with your parents,” Rick says, helpfully.
“I nearly lost all my children in one day,” Mama says.
Everyone’s staring at me.I rise from the bed.“I’m fine!Really!”I flash a smile and strike the same game show hostess pose I gave to Jake just before I took off on the ATV.
He doesn’t miss the reference.
“Phoebe,” Rick takes a step toward me.“I’ve asked the resident on call to let me see your chart, but he said he’d need your permission first, of course.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, this is a small rural hospital, and I want to make sure they haven’t overlooked anything.I doubt there’s anyone on staff with my level of training.”
How did I miss this?Has he always been this obnoxiously superior, or is this part of his act for my mother’s benefit?
I glance at my mom.She looks uncomfortable.That’s reassuring.
“You’re not my family member or a personal representative, Rick, and you’re certainly not my medical care provider.So you won’t be seeing my chart.”
“I’m only trying to be helpful.”
If you want to help, you wouldn’t have shown up here without an invitation!
Jake is staring at me without the slightest bit of humor in his eyes.He scowls.“How in the hell did you survive in a blizzard for four days, Pea?Where did you go?Who rescued you?We tried to get some info out of that MacLaine dude—"
“The Incredible Hulk,” Rick contributes, chortling.
“His name’s Kevin,” I snap.
Jake frowns.“He wouldn’t tell me anything—all he did was shrug.”
“I’m not sure he was capable of speech,” Rick says.
“Kevin was a Navy SEAL, Rick.He’s an extraordinarily brave and capable man.”
