- Margot -
My mom and I raced my dad to St. Vincent’s Hospital as soon as we’d heard the boys had been taken there. According to the doctor, the only reason they knew what happened was because Matt had been hysterical in the ambulance on the way over.
Landon, on the other hand, still hadn’t said a word. He’d passed out as soon as he and Matt reached safety when he realized how much blood was coming from his face.
None of us knew for sure what the hell they were doing trespassing at the junkyard in the next town. I had my suspicions, though, that Matt was probably trying to find parts for the go-cart he was building in the garage.
They hadn’t heard the guard dog coming until it was too late. Matt was halfway over the fence when he saw the pit bull leap at Landon and bite his face.
When I heard Matt had jumped down immediately and pulled the dog off him, well, I’d never been more proud or scared to hear anything in my life. In an effort to protect his best friend, he’d sacrificed huge chunks of the skin off his forearms, and by the time Landon managed to scare the dog away by throwing coils of barbed wire at it, the tendons in Matt’s right arm had been ripped to shreds.
Only adrenaline could’ve gotten them over the fence after that.
Matt was fast asleep (and heavily drugged) by the time I was allowed to see him. The doctors had to operate on his arm as soon as he came in, taking skin off his backside to make up for the patches the dog had shredded with his teeth and left on the blood-soaked ground.
I couldn’t even hold his hand because his arms were so heavily bandaged, but I told him I loved him and that I was proud of him and that everything was going to be okay.
I was on my way to the drinking fountain when I saw Mr. Bishop sitting outside the door of a room down the hall. His head was in his hands, and I could tell by the red rims around his eyes that he’d been crying.
I dropped to one knee and put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay, Mr. Bishop?”
He sniffled and nodded at me, doing his best to force a smile. “He’s going to be okay, Margot. Thanks to your brother, I haven’t lost everything.”
I knew what he was trying to say, knew Landon was all he had left after his wife left him almost two years earlier. I also knew better than to ask if she was going to come see him in the hospital. “Is he—?”
“Asleep,” his dad said. “But you can go in if you want. Just don’t be long. He needs his rest.”
I glanced at the closed door beside me. I was pretty sure Mr. Bishop didn’t have the authority to let me in the room, but if no one was going to stop me, I wasn’t going to hesitate.
“They kept him awake during the surgery so they could make sure they put his face back together right.” He slapped a palm over his mouth and inhaled sharply.
I waited to see if he was going to say anything else, but he couldn’t.
I rose, pushed the door open slowly, and closed it, thinking a door left ajar might attract attention. Then I made my way to Landon’s bedside.
He was hooked up to all kinds of eerily quiet machines just like Matt, and his dark eyelashes were flush against his cheeks, one of which was heavily bandaged.
I laid my fingertips on the edge of the bed and let my eyes travel from his thick, messy hair down to where his hands were mummified in fresh dressings and clear tape.
“Hi,” I said, my voice cracking. “It’s Margot.”
I held my breath, desperately hoping his eyelashes would flicker or his thumb would twitch, but he stayed still under the soft light.
“Thanks for being okay,” I whispered. “I don’t know what I would do if—” My eyes watered, and I tilted my head back to try and blink the tears away.
I looked over my shoulder at the windows to the hall. The blinds were half-closed, and no one was looking in. I trained my focus back on Landon, lifted a hand to his hair, and dragged my fingertips through it gently.
I’d never touched him so tenderly before. I’d thought about it. God, sometimes it was all I’d think about for hours. It was softer than I thought it would be, and it was only when I realized how embarrassed I’d be if he opened his eyes that I pulled my hand back.
From the size of the bandage on his face, I imagined he’d probably have a pretty substantial scar. I prepared myself for that, making a silent promise that when I saw it, I wouldn’t flinch no matter how bad it was, and I would remind him that chicks dig scars as often as he needed to hear it.
A sudden rush of anger rose through me that his mother wasn’t there, wasn’t coming, wasn’t ever going to do right by him.
“I can love you enough,” I whispered. “I promise. Don’t worry.” I clenched my jaw and swallowed hard. “Just wake up and be okay for me.”
I lowered my face and rested my forehead on his, careful not to put any weight on his head. I love you, I thought, hoping he could read my mind. I love you so much it hurts. And I’ll love you forever if you’ll just wake up and be okay for me. I need you.
I startled when the door opened and looked over my shoulder.
“Your parents are looking for you, Margot,” Mr. Bishop said.
“Okay. Thanks for telling me.”
He bowed his head. “Sure.”
I looked back at Landon. I’ll wait as long as you need me to, I thought. Just wake up and be okay. I stepped back and turned towards the door again. “Thanks for letting me see him.”
“It’s what he would’ve wanted,” Mr. Bishop said, his glassy eyes smiling like he knew something I didn’t.
I walked into the hall and went to find my parents, knowing they’d be happy to hear that Landon was resting peacefully. After all, they loved him as much as I did.
Well, almost as much.