Ben jumped in quickly. “JJ doesn’t mean die,die.You’re fine, just a minor concussion.” He sat down on the other side of the bed and took my hand, kissing it and holding it against his cheek. “You’re okay. Everything is going to be okay.” His voice was so soothing that I almost believed him. But I knew full well everything was not okay—not by a long shot.
And then JJ burst into tears, loud wailing tears. “I kept thinking that if you died, you would die angry with me after the fight we had—”
“JJ, I’m not dying,” I cut him off quickly.
“Are you still angry with me?” he asked, looking genuinely worried. “Please say you’re not angry with me, or I don’t know what I’ll do!”
I shook my head. “I was at first. But I’m not anymore.”
He sighed. “Thank God!”
“Where’s Katie?” I asked.
“She’s upstairs with your mother.” Ben was stroking my hand and looking at me. He looked tired, like he had been up all night—he probably had.
“What’s upstairs?”
“Psychiatric ward.”
“What? How did she end up there?” There was clearly a lot I didn’t know about last night.
“After your father hit you—” Ben started to explain.
“Bastard!” JJ quickly cut in. “If I had been there I swear I would have taken him down. Like last time.”
I smiled slightly and Ben spoke again, “We thought your mother was having a heart attack, so we called the ambulance and you were both rushed here. But when the doctors saw her, they confirmed it was a panic attack.”
“Her wrist and ankle are also broken from the fall,” JJ said. “Bruce and I spoke to the psychiatrist and he gave us the name of a place where she can get help.”
“Help for what?”
“Depression, anxiety, toxic codependency, pills . . . take your pick, Sera.”
JJ was right. I’d been hoping she would get help for that kind of stuff for years.
I sighed and shook my head. “She won’t agree to go. I know her.”
JJ squeezed my hand. “She has. Bruce and I had a long talk with her and she’s going in next week after she’s discharged from hospital. I think the panic attack—she thought she was dying—and your father hitting you has her finally seeing the light. Last night was a bit of a wake-up call, for everyone.”
“Where is this place? How much does it co—”
JJ cut me off quickly. “It’s taken care of. Don’t start. I don’t want to fight with you again.”
“And this room—” I looked around—a hospital room like this cost a fortune, and I didn’t have medical aid.
This time Ben squeezed my hand. “Sorted,” he said and kissed my open palm.
“My father?” I asked, my voice quivering—my father who had thrown a textbook at my head. Despite the pain in my head, my heart felt worse somehow. It was broken. Even though he didn’t act like it, he was still my father.
“Bruce is booking the dickhead into rehab as we speak,” JJ replied.
“What?” I sat up straight and grabbed my head when it thumped again. That couldn’t be right.
“Easy,” Ben said then helped me back down and adjusted the pillow behind me. “Don’t make any sudden moves.”
“How?” I finally asked when the loud throbbing in my head had calmed down. “Are you forcing him in?”
“No, actually,” Ben said. “He fell to pieces after you passed out. Didn’t you hear him?”
