The officer comes back in the room. "That was an update on your brother. The doctors looked him over and they'd like to keep him overnight."
"Why?" Dean sits up. "What's wrong?"
"He's severely dehydrated. They want to pump fluids in him and let him rest overnight before sending him home."
"Can I talk to him?"
"He might be sleeping but I could ask." He calls someone. "Yeah, it's me again. The kid's older brother wants to talk to him. Any way you could you put him on the phone?" He covers the phone and says to Dean, "He's asking one of the nurses." He puts the phone back to his ear. "Yeah, go ahead. I'll give him the phone."
Dean takes it from him. "Jake?" He slowly smiles. "Hey, man, it's good to hear your voice. You doing okay?" He nods, still smiling. "You do what the doctor tells you. Eat what you can, and when you're back I'll take you out for whatever you want." He listens. "No, I'm still in the hospital. I might get out the middle of next week. I'm going to have you stay at Danny's until I'm home." He nods. "Yeah. Okay. Get some rest. I love you."
Dean hands the officer his phone.
"I'm going to head out," the officer says. "I'll let you know tomorrow when to expect him back."
"Okay, thanks."
The officer leaves.
"How did he sound?" I ask Dean.
"Tired. His voice was hoarse."
"What did he say?"
"Not much. He was more worried about me than himself. Someone must've told him what happened. I wasn't sure I wanted him to know."
"Isn't it good that he knows? He needs to know what your dad's really like."
"Yeah, I guess. I just don't want him worrying about me. Thank God my dad didn't do anything to him. I didn't think he would but I wasn't sure." He reaches over to the table to get his phone. "I need to call Danny." He smiles as he calls him. "Hey, man, they found him. He's coming home in the morning." He nods. "Yeah, he's good. He's just getting some rest and fluids before they bring him back. Hey, I was wondering—" He stops. "That was what I was just about to ask. You sure your parents will be okay with it?" He nods. "Tell them thanks. You might need to stop at the house and get some of his things. You still have a key, right?" He pauses. "Thanks, man. I owe ya." He sets his phone down.
"He's okay taking Jake?" I ask.
"Yeah, he offered before I could even ask."
I check the time. It's only eleven but I want to see if Danny can meet me at the house sooner than we planned. There's so much to do and a few hours won't be enough.
I text Eve to see if she can pick me up. She texts right back and says she's on her way.
"I'm going to take off," I tell Dean.
"Already? You haven't even been here an hour."
"I have a lot to get done today. My mom's making me clean the apartment and I have a paper due tomorrow that I haven't even started." I lean down and give him a kiss. "If I have time, I'll come back later. Bye!"
As I'm leaving, I look back at Dean. He looks confused by my abrupt departure. He'll understand in a few days. I hope he likes the surprise. There's a chance he'll be mad I did this but I don't want him going home to a mess. It'll just remind him of what happened there, and he doesn't need that.
Chapter Nineteen
Brook
"You weren't there long," Eve says as I get in her car.
"They found Jake. He's coming home. We have to hurry and get to the house and start cleaning. Danny told the guys to be there from two to five. That's not enough time to get everything done."
"Do you have a key?"
"No, but I texted Danny. He's going to meet us over there."
