"Mrs. Sanders?" I hear the nurse say. I look over and see her waving at my mom as she comes down the hall.
"Did she just call your mom Mrs. Sanders?" Eve asks.
"The nurse thinks she's related to Dean."
"And your mom didn't correct her?"
"It's the only way she could get information so she just went along with it."
"Your mom lied for you." She nudges me. "She can't be that bad."
"She's not. But I'm not letting her keep me away from Dean."
I watch as my mom talks to the nurse.
"If she was keeping you from Dean, you wouldn't be here right now," Eve says. "And she wouldn't be lying to get information for you."
"I guess, but then why is she telling me to stay away from him?"
"Did she tell you that today?"
"Before you got here she was talking about moving away. That's how much she wants to get me away from Dean."
"She's just panicking because of what happened. It's a mom thing. My mom freaks out about stuff all the time, and then the next day she's back to normal. Like last year, this guy brought a gun to school and my mom told Evan and me we could never go back there. She said she was going to homeschool us. Then the next day, she changed her mind and we were back at school."
My mom walks over to us. "You can go see him."
"I can?" I jump up from my chair. "Right now?"
My mom nods. "Would you like me to come with you?"
"No. I want to do this alone."
"Then I guess I'll wait with your friend." She smiles at Eve.
"Want some chocolate?" Eve holds up the bag.
I hurry over to the nurses' desk. "I'm here to see Dean Sanders."
"Right this way." She takes me through a door and stops at a sink. "You'll need to wash your hands."
After that's done, she takes me through a room full of beds. I thought he'd be in a separate room, not one big one. We go past some curtains and she stops.
"Dean?" she says, going past the curtain. "You have a visitor. Your sister is here."
"Sister?" His voice sounds weak, barely a whisper, not at all like his normal deep strong voice.
"Come on in," the nurse says.
I'm scared. I want to see him but I'm afraid to. I'm afraid to see what that monster did to him.
Approaching the curtain, I slowly slide it over and see Dean in the bed. I gasp, then cover my mouth, noticing my hand is shaking.
That's not Dean. It can't be. It doesn't even look like him. He's covered in bandages, and whatever's not covered is swollen and bruised. His left eye is outlined in a dark black circle and is so swollen you can barely see his eye.
"Brook?" he whispers.
Hearing him say my name makes tears well up in my eyes. I was trying to be strong, trying not to cry, but I can't do it. My heart is breaking, seeing him like this, knowing what he went through to end up here.
