"I don't want you waiting there alone. I'll wrap up what I'm doing and be there within the hour."
"Mom, really, you don't have to come. Danny is here. I'm not alone." I pause, tears running down my face. "I'm just scared. I'm so scared he won't be okay."
"I'm coming," she says in her determined mom voice that means she won't take no for an answer. "Just tell me what hospital."
I give her the info, then go back to the ICU and meet up with Danny.
"Any update?" I ask.
"No." He leans back in his chair. "Same story we got last time. You can't see him until he wakes up."
"My mom's coming."
"Here?" he asks, sounding surprised.
"I told her not to, but she wouldn't listen."
"Why is she coming? I thought you said she didn't like Dean."
"She doesn't, but she knows how much he means to me and she doesn't want me going through this alone."
Danny points to himself. "What am I? Invisible?"
"I told her you were here. She still wanted to come. It's a mom thing."
He nods. "I get it. My mom's coming too, but not until later, after she gets off work."
"Where does she work?"
"She's a nurse at an old people home."
"A nursing home?"
"Yeah. Dean's like a son to her. He spent a lot of time at our house growing up to get away from his shithead parents."
"What was Dean's mom like?"
"A drunk. Abusive. Not as bad as his dad, but almost."
"He never told me about her. I guess now I know why."
"He doesn't like talking about either one of them." Danny's phone rings. "It's Coach. I gotta answer this."
He gets up and goes down the hall.
I feel so helpless sitting here. I feel like I should be doing something but there's nothing I can do but sit here and wait. I hope the police find that truck. I don't want to have to tell Dean that his brother is missing. I know it's not my fault but I still feel somewhat responsible for what happened to Jake. I knew his dad was out of prison. I knew he might try to take Jake. Knowing all that, I should've picked him up right away, before we went to the hospital. At the very least, I should've told him what was going on when I talked to him on the phone. That way he would've known his dad might show up at school.
Dean said Jake didn't think their dad was bad so maybe he willingly got in the truck with him. Maybe he wasn't forced and didn't know what was happening. I wonder if he's figured it out or if his dad made up some story to explain why he showed up at school.
The cops said it'd be hard to find the truck, especially if it left the state. They have an alert out to the surrounding states but it'll be hard to find the truck without a license number. The cop said he'd be going back to talk to the little girl to see if she remembered anything else. He was also going to check with the other neighbors to see if they saw the truck.
A half hour goes by and Danny goes to the cafeteria to get something to eat.
"Brook."
I look up and see my mom rushing toward me, her arms out. As I get up, she brings me into a hug. "Honey, I'm so sorry."
I didn't think I wanted her here but now I'm happy she came. Sometimes you really need your mom, and now is one of those times.
