Twenty-five
Too far? Maybe, but I was doing what was necessary. I just wished she didn't look so damn anxious, the dark smudges beneath her eyes demonstrated that she was extremely worried about Liz as the nurses prevented further contact, so was I but . . . well Liz wasn't here and like Simon says I am nothing if not pragmatic. Take care of the living the dead look after themselves. Except Chloe was now worried about herself too because of me so why not do what I can to help? The drug tests, I spent all morning thinking and came up with a slightly unsavoury but effective solution.
"You want me to . . . dole it out? Into specimen jars?" The look of disgust on her face was priceless.
"Got a better idea?" I challenged her tone irritating me, did she think it was fun to spend my morning considering her urine? It was not. The least she could do was be grateful.
"Um no, but . . . " she lifted the jar and stared at it as if she could already imagine it filling up while my stomach informed me that it needed food pronto.
"Oh for God's sake save your piss. Don't save your piss. It's all the same to me" I barked angrily, it was a conversation we all wanted to escape and she was just dragging it out.
Simon, popping his spiky head around the corner, eyebrows raised and a tentative smile on his lips he can always read my moods, amusement danced in his eyes when he took in Chloe's expression. "I was going to ask what you guys were doing, but hearing that, I think I'll pass." Wise choice. I motioned for her to go down the stairs, she was blocking my lunch.
"Well handed, Derek, you always bowl me over with your excellent people skills," Simon grinned chewing on a banana, his body was angled towards me but his eyes snuck a glance to Chloe approximately every ten seconds. He was oblivious to Tori whose large dark eyes were boring into him and Chloe.
"Suck. My. Left" I said around a mouthful of food. "I was actually trying to be nice"
Simon spluttered, "By giving her advice on how to store her urine. Yeah, dude," he slapped me on the back, "because that's always music to a girl's ears," he smiled widely. Then suddenly turned grave, "Seriously do you think we were too hard on her? Look at her, she's miserable, she looks like she hasn't slept in days. I think we overdid it a bit," he continued cautiously, so Simon, consistently using the pronoun 'we' when we all knew who the real culprit was: me. I took it too far, I should reassure her, but we both knew that would do more damage than good.
"It's too late now and she's just concerned about Liz. They were friends," I explain, hoping he will buy it. Simon can make me feel so guilty sometimes.
"True," he permitted, "But we're not helping. And I'm not leaving without you, you know that," he uttered earnestly under his breath. "We're brothers, Dad told us to stick together, so like it or lump it Einstein."
"Fine, keep your voice down." I lied, but it's all for the greater good. For Dad, for imon, even for Chloe in a way. So that makes it ok, but Simon hates it when I lie to him, he is such a shit liar himself always giving himself away going tomato red, stuttering, girls find it cute. Chloe would find it cute. Everything will work out.