She didn't let me go far. She came with me and ended up on top, her chest against mine, her face in the side of my neck.
She was crying.
The crying had snuck up under both of us. She was crying without sound — her shoulders going against my chest, her tears wet on the side of my neck. I had my arms around her. I had one hand at the back of her head and the other at the small of her back.
After a long minute, she lifted her head, kissed the corner of my mouth, and put her face back against my neck.
"Thank you for coming tonight."
"I would have come if you hadn't called."
She didn't move.
I leaned close to her ear. “I would have figured out where you were, even if you hadn’t told me.”
16.Beau
Bonnie was being released today.
I was at the door of the room when Dr. Reyes finished his last set of notes. Sabrina was standing at the foot of the bed. Bonnie was sitting up, in jeans and a sweater Mrs. Park had brought, with Walter the octopus on her lap.
Dr. Reyes turned to me and Sabrina.
"Tight monitoring plan," he said. "No school for the rest of the week. Limited stairs. No PE. Cardiac follow-up at the clinic next week. If there’s any episode, you call me first and the ER second. Yes?"
"Yes," Sabrina answered.
"I know, Mom," Bonnie said.
Dr. Reyes smiled at her. "I know you know, Bonnie. Be good."
He left.
Bonnie put her water bottle down. She slid off the bed, came across the room, wrapped both arms around my waist, and pressed her cheek to my chest.
I hadn't been ready for any of it.
I put one hand on the back of her head and held her there. "Hi, Bonnie."
"You forgot the book," she said.
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"With notes."
I winced. "What kind of notes?"
"Notes. In the margins. Underlines. The parts you found interesting. I want to know what you think. You read it before you gave it to me, did you not?"
I hadn't. I had skimmed three pages in the bookstore on Baker. I hadn't, in fact, read it.
"I'll read it tonight."
"Mmm…"
