Part 10

Johnny threw the remote control at the couch in frustration. He didn't care when it missed the couch and broke into two pieces on the hard stone floor. What did it matter if it broke? He couldn't use it, anyway. Probably there was nothing he wanted to watch on TV, anyway.

He wouldn't have thought that things like television would be so different in Hong Kong.

Allie trotted out of her bedroom, saw the remote on the floor, and nonchalantly re-assembled it. She pointed it at the television to see if it worked. The television snapped to life.

Johnny scowled. It wasn't fair that Allie knew how to do everything, because she was home, and he didn't know how to do anything, because he had been dropped off in this strange place.

Allie offered the remote to Johnny, but he flopped onto the couch and shook his head. He didn't want it anymore.

Allie climbed over the back of the couch and sat next to Johnny. A list of movies appeared on the screen. Allie scrolled past some of Johnny's favorites, and some he had never heard of, before coming to rest on The Parent Trap.

In spite of himself, Johnny laughed. "Checking to see what we did wrong?"

Allie shrugged. She hadn't been very talkative since they'd gotten the news that Will had been hurt. It had been a very quiet, very long trip from Camp Canobie to Hong Kong. Lucas and Sami had said the same few things over and over again.

I wish he weren't so far away! What if we don't get there in time?

What are you talking about "in time?" He'll be fine. He has to be.

At least it's somewhere one of us knows. They could have brought him somewhere we didn't even speak the language.

Then Lucas had tapped out some messages on his phone to find someone to stay with Johnny and Allie.

Johnny had protested that they didn't need a baby-sitter, especially not in Allie's own home. He had looked to Allie for support, but she had been vacantly staring out the window with tear-filled eyes.

"Have you forgotten that you're grounded?" Sami asked Johnny. "The two of you thought it was funny to pretend to be hurt. Maybe now that your brother really is hurt, you'll realize it wasn't funny. But you're certainly not staying at your father's house unsupervised."

And so a woman called Lien parked herself in front of the door like a jailer. She spoke English, but she didn't respond to any of Johnny's suggestions that they play a game or talk about something. She preferred to glare.

Around the time that Lucas called to tell them that Will's leg was broken in 14 places, but that he would recover and they could see him soon, another woman came to take Lien's place. She was just as uncommunicative as Lien.

Being left alone for days on end with people who didn't talk was wearing on Johnny.

Just when he was considering screaming and banging his head against something, Allie turned down the volume of the movie. "Do you think we should have just gone forward with the switch? Moved in with the wrong parents? Instead of trying to make a point right away?"

"Doesn't matter," said Johnny. "We can't change it now."

"I guess not." Allie turned the volume back up. The housekeeper in the movie had just caught one of the twins impersonating her sister.

"That's what we need," declared Johnny. "They had people helping them. Grown ups."

"Who would help us? The only other person in Hong Kong who might think Mom and Dad should be together is Will, and it's not like he could do anything even if he wanted to."

"Well," said Johnny hesitantly. "He could help without doing anything."

Allie's eyes widened and she grabbed a pillow and hugged it. "We can't."

"Why not? We didn't make Will break his leg. It just happened. There's nothing wrong with using what happened anyway to our advantage." He cringed as the words left his mouth. "I really sound like Mom."

"Well, if Mom would do it…" Allie pondered.

"And she totally would," Johnny assured.

"Dad takes advantage of stuff in business all the time. Just because something bad happened to another company, that doesn't mean you don't try to take their market share."

"Whatever," agreed Johnny excitedly. "Look, Will's here. Mom's not going to want to leave him. Dad's not going to want Will to go to Salem to recover, is he? Even when he can move?"

"No way."

"And we're already here. So we just have to make them see that the only thing that makes sense is for all of us to stay. And if Mom moves here, even if she thinks it's only while Will is getting better, that gives us more time to work on them."

"You're a genius!" Allie raised her hand, and Johnny slapped her five.

"It runs in the family," said Johnny modestly.

They had the same thought at the same time. "Sydney!" they said in unison.

"We need to get her here," Allie decided. "So Mom can't use her as an excuse to leave, even for a while. Do you think we can just enroll the two of you in school without Mom or Dad? It starts soon. Maybe they'll be so busy with Will they won't even notice that you've both moved here sort of permanently."

"We don't know Cantonese," said Johnny. Not we've never lived anywhere but Salem. Not we don't want to leave our friends. Why had he chosen an objection he knew Allie would be able to counter?

"My school teaches in both languages. It depends on the class. They can maybe keep you in mostly English classes while you're learning. And I can start teaching you now. It isn't hard. I didn't know it when I came here. You won't be learning alone, either, you'll have Sydney." She hopped to her feet. "What time is it in Salem?"

"Early. But not too early to call," Johnny determined.

They tumbled over each other trying to get into Allie's bedroom as quickly as possible. "She's with Uncle Bo and Aunt Hope?" Allie asked.

"Yeah."

"I think their number is in here."

Johnny eyed Allie's pink laptop distastefully. Her whole room looked like Pepto Bismol gone wrong—it was much too pink and girly. Allie wasn't unbearably girly, though—she hiked and played sports and liked being outdoors. He said so.

Allie laughed. "Dad tried to overcompensate when he'd decorated it because he wasn't sure about having a girl," she said. "My favorite thing about this room is that he tried so hard. And I'm used to it. Girly isn't bad. Found it." Her computer called Bo and Hope's house.

"You aren't going to make us plan out everything we say?"

Allie shook her head. "You're right. The more we wing it, the better we do."

The first surprise began when their call was answered not by Bo or Hope or Ciara or Sydney but by Julie Williams.

"Cousin Julie!" squealed Allie with what was probably real delight. Doug and Julie were the only members of the extended family that Allie knew well; after all, they were the only ones who made regular stops in Hong Kong on their way to assorted exotic destinations.

"Allie and Johnny!" Julie looked equally pleased to see them. "I haven't seen the two of you together since you were babies."

Johnny and Allie nodded, happy that Julie seemed to realize that that state of affairs sucked.

"How's Will?" Julie continued.

"As far as we know, he hasn't woken up yet. Dad just said that he broke his leg fourteen times but he's going to get better. But they gave him a lot of drugs so he's asleep."

"Your poor brother," Julie sighed. "He had such a rough childhood with one thing and another. No wonder he decided to run off and join the Merchant Marine. And now this. And your parents must be frantic."

Johnny looked down to hide his elation. Julie had given them a perfect opening, and he knew Allie wouldn't let it pass.

"They really are," sad Allie sadly. "Especially Mom. Seeing Will like that makes it even harder for her to be away from Sydney. She worries about Johnny and me, too, but at least we're close."

"We're all taking good care of your little sister for you. Don't you worry."

"Oh, we know that. Mom knows it too. I just think it would be so much better if we could all be together, so Mom's attention wouldn't have to be do divided. But it's not like there's anything we can do about it. We're here, and she's there."

"Well, I wouldn't say there's nothing we can do about it," said Julie.

"You'd really let Sydney come here?" asked Johnny hopefully.

"Well, I'm not putting her on a plane by herself. But Doug and I haven't been out that way for a long time. And it seems like your parents could use a little extra help."

"I don't think they'd ever ask you. But I think they'd really appreciate it if you did," said Allie.

"Maybe you could make it a surprise?" added Johnny.

Julie cocked her head, and for a second Johnny thought that he might have gone too far. But then Julie told Johnny that that sounded like a wonderful idea, and that she and Sydney would leave right away if Sydney didn't have any objections.

Johnny and Allie fell on the bed laughing as soon as they'd turned off the computer.

"Sami." Lucas squeezed his ex-wife's hand. "We have company."

Sami, overtired and disoriented, glanced at the door to see if a doctor or nurse had entered. Then she saw her son's eyes flutter open.

"Will," she said. There was so much pain, love, and fear in the name that Lucas squeezed her hand even more tightly. Don't freak out, Sami, he wanted to say.

She had every right to freak out, especially after what she'd gone through with Grace eight years before. He had every right to freak out just because Will was his son and he adored him.

But if anyone was going to freak out, it had to be Will, and they had to be ready.

A horrible part of Lucas saw a silver lining in the severity of Will's injury. He hated that Will was in pain; he wished he could have taken the pain in Will's place. But if Will couldn't move, Will couldn't run away. They could repair their relationship. They could help Will see that the lie about EJ wasn't so terrible, really, and that neither Lucas nor Sami had ever meant to hurt their son.

"Hi, Buddy, " Lucas said hoarsely. "Glad you decided to join us."

Will's gaze meandered toward Lucas. Lucas saw confusion, but also recognition that sent a jolt of relief through his body.

"You're back," Will mumbled.

"Your mother and I came as fast as we could when we heard what happened to you."

"No." Will flopped his arm in what Lucas assumed he had intended to be a dismissive gesture. "You were in the water and now you're here."

"In the water? You mean when you went overboard?"

Will didn't answer.

"Will, honey? Do you remember what happened?" Sami tried.

"Rain. Refrigerated ship. Explosion," he muttered. "I was supposed to die. Am I dead?"

"You were most definitely not supposed to die. Not for a long, long time. We all love you too much to let you go."

"And no," Lucas added. "You're not dead."

"Whatever," said Will, and he closed his eyes.

TBC