CHAPTER 4

Have you ever had the feeling that everyone in the room was plotting against you? Well, even though it was just Mom and Dr. Allen, I still felt like they were staring daggers at me. I couldn't even bring myself to look at either of them.

"So, that's how it happened, huh?" Dr. Allen asked. To my surprise, he sounded a lot more gentle than I would've expected. I thought for sure he would've started chewing me out for getting into the fight in the first place.

"Yeah," I mumbled, still avoiding eye contact. I just knew Mom was glaring at me, and still blaming me for the whole mess, just like she'd done at the hospital.

"Haley," Dr. Allen said, clearing his throat, "can I ask you something without offending you?"

"Sure," I answered. That's part of his job, right?

"I know that you felt it was your duty to come to your brother's defense, but did it ever occur to you that you could've handled the situation differently?"

Well, how the hell was I supposed to handle the situation? I mean, if your only sibling was being attacked by someone who was that much bigger than they were, what would you do? That's what I wanted to say, and if I could do it all over again, that's what I would say, but instead, I just shook my head and continued looking at the floor.

"Dr. Allen, could I say something?" Mom interjected.

"Yes, Mrs. Braddock?"

Oh, wonderful. Nothing like being blamed for something that was hardly even your fault to make you feel good about yourself.

"Well, I think Haley still believes that this whole thing is her fault," Mom explained. "You see, when we were at the hospital, I came down on her a little too hard, mostly because I was so upset about Matt getting hurt."

No shit, Sherlock, I thought in disgust.

"You weren't thinking clearly, were you?" Dr. Allen asked.

"No, I wasn't," Mom admitted. "Haley, I don't know why I overreacted the way I did that night, and I just want you to know how sorry I am."

"It's okay, Mom," I said softly, but inside, I was still fuming over what had happened.

I was sitting on the examining table with my cheerleading jersey crumpled up in my lap, and all the while, I was trying not to flinch from having my back and shoulder examined or shiver from the cold in the room. Thankfully, the door had no window on it, so I didn't have to worry about someone peeking in on me, but still, as state-of-the-art as Stoneybrook General Hospital always says it is, you'd think they'd at least make sure the damn furnace was working properly.

"Just hold still for a second, Haley, and it'll be over before you know it," Dr. Dellenkamp said soothingly. I was still in pain, but thankfully, it wasn't quite as sharp as before, only when she touched the bruised area. I'm surprised I didn't call her Dr. Torquemada, now that I think about it.

A few minutes later, Dr. Dellenkamp came around the table and stood facing me. "Well, you really lucked out tonight," she informed me. "There's no broken bones."

That was good news, but I was feeling anything but lucky. "How's Matt?" I asked.

"The other doctor's examining him now," Dr. Dellenkamp told me. "Okay, you can put your shirt back on, sweetie."

I had some difficulty with my shirt, because of my injury, but I managed to get it back on. "Dr. Dellenkamp?" I asked. "Could you check on Matt for me?"

"Absolutely," she answered, and left the room.

I sat on the table for a minute or so, knowing that Mom and Dad were still outside, and feeling guilty about what happened to Matt. I was supposed to be looking out for him, but at the same time, I knew he'd be more independent if I gave him more space, and look what happened. I also knew Mom was going to tear me a new one when she came in the room.

A few seconds later, the door flew open, and when Mom came in, she did just that.

"Haley Braddock, what in God's name could you have possibly been thinking?!" she shouted. "You were supposed to be watching your brother, and look what happened to him!"

"I'm sorry," I said. That was all I knew what to say, and I hoped that somehow she would back off just a little. But did she?

No way. Mom spent the next minute and a half jumping down my throat and basically blaming me for the whole thing. I doubted if she even knew that I'd also gotten hurt, or even cared, for that matter. I didn't even bother trying to tell her my side of the story, because she never in a million years would've listened to me.

Mom would've gone on had Dr. Dellenkamp not come back just then, and I could tell she wasn't too happy. "Excuse me, Mrs. Braddock, but I could hear you from all the way down the hall," she said, trying her hardest to keep her anger in check, which really surprised me. If I were her, I really would've let Mom have it, which is exactly what I was itching to do, but because of how much my back and shoulder hurt, along with how guilty I was already feeling before Mom came in, I didn't see any point in defending myself. It only would've been another match on the fire.

"Okay, I'm sorry about that, but my son was seriously hurt tonight," Mom retorted, spitting every one of those words out as if they were mouthfuls of sour milk.

"I understand that, but Haley was also hurt," the doctor went on. "Luckily, she only sustained a bruise on her back--"

Even that wasn't gong to calm Mom down. "Well, Matt has a black eye, a loose tooth, and bruised ribs, not to mention two broken fingers!" she snapped. "So, how the hell is he supposed to sign, huh?"

In that moment, Dr. Dellenkamp did something that surprised both of us: she grabbed Mom by the arm, spun her around and looked her square in the eye. The last time I'd ever seen anyone do that was when Mal was trying to break up a fight between Margo and Claire.

"Mrs. Braddock, I know you're upset, and believe me, you have every right to be," she said. "But blaming Haley won't help the situation."

Miraculously, Mom's anger faded. "You're right," she said softly. Then, turning to me, she added, "I'm so sorry, Haley. I don't know what came over me." For a split second, it almost sounded like her voice was wavering, but I was too angry to really pay that much attention.

The hell you didn't, I thought. I felt so humiliated by the whole thing, and I also thought Mom had a lot of chutzpah for dumping all this at my doorstep the way she did. Didn't I promise to keep my eye on Matt as much as I could, as well as let him be with his own friends? If that's not being responsible, I don't know what is!

Not only that, but I shuddered to think what was going to happen when word of this got around school, as well as the BSC.

And as for where I would get the most flak, I really couldn't tell you.