"I think it's both."
"Maybe." I look back at the ICU. "I should get back there."
"Eve's a good friend."
"Yeah." I turn back to my mom. "She's great. Way better than me."
"What do you mean?"
"I haven't been a very good friend to her. I spent all my time with Dean."
"And yet she's still here, supporting you. It's hard to find friends like that."
The way she says it, it's like she's talking about herself. None of her friends back home were people she could count on to be there for her when something bad happened. When she went through the divorce, her friends stopped calling and inviting her out. They didn't want to get involved in her messy divorce or appear to be siding with her when their husbands were still friends with my dad. I know they hurt my mom by being that way, and yet now that the divorce is over, she's calling them up, trying to restore their friendship. If I were her, I'd dump them and find new friends. Real friends, like Eve.
I haven't officially ended things with my friends from my old school. It just kind of happened. Nobody there talks to me anymore, and when I call or text, they don't respond. I'm sure part of that is because of Chad. I'm sure he said bad things about me and got everyone to take his side. I really don't care. I don't miss hanging out with those people, especially now that I've seen what real friendship is like.
People from my old school would never show up to the hospital to support me at a time like this. They'd call or send flowers but they wouldn't show up, and they definitely wouldn't stay with me, like Eve's doing. She's missing work for this, and time she could spend studying or doing her homework. And Danny and the other guys are missing football practice. They can't even see Dean and yet they're here for him.
Around six, more guys from the football team show up, along with some of the cheerleaders. By seven, the entire waiting area is filled with people from school, including Dean's coach. He's an older man with white hair. When I've seen him on the football field, he looks mean, yelling at the players and stomping around. But tonight he's much different, going around to all the players, reassuring them that Dean will be okay. I even saw him gather up some of the guys and say a prayer.
"How long are you staying?" Eve asks at eight-thirty.
"I want to stay all night. I don't want to leave him."
"You should go home and sleep. You can't see him until tomorrow."
"I know. I just don't like him being here all alone."
"He won't even know. I'm sure he's asleep. I need to head out soon. I can take you with me if you're ready."
"I'm not going to sleep tonight, knowing Dean's here and Jake's with his dad. What if he does something to Jake?"
"He would've already done it. He wouldn't take him if he was just going to hurt him."
"He might, if he wanted to hurt Dean even more."'
"Maybe. I don't know how psychopaths work. You could ask my dad."
"Why would I ask your dad?"
"He's a psychologist."
"Like a therapist?"
"He used to be. He did marriage counseling, but after his marriage failed, he decided that wasn't the job for him. Now he works at a mental hospital."
"Hey." Danny comes up to me. "Did you see this?"
He shows me his phone. On the screen is a news story with a headline that reads 'Local prison inmate escapes and is on the run'.
I take Danny's phone and read the article. It details the timeline, starting when Dean's dad went missing from work. It says the cops have been searching all day but haven't found Dean's dad or Jake. The article says a bus driver at Jake's school saw Jake in the parking lot talking to a man that matches the description of Dean's dad, and that Jake got in a black truck with him and they drove off. It doesn't make it sound like there was a struggle, but that Jake willingly went with him. The article goes on to say that other states are on alert, looking for the truck.
"It was on all the news channels too," Danny says, taking back his phone. "They're gonna find him. With it being all over TV and online, there's no way he's getting away."
"And when they find him," Eve says to me, "they'll lock him away for good. He's not getting out after this."
They're both trying to make me feel better but it's not helping. Because no matter what happens to Joe Sanders, Dean is still fighting for his life and Jake isn't safe at home.
