"Mr. Davis?"
Roger stirred, struggling to open his eyes. Muriel stood at the end of his bed, her hulking dark arm draped across a slim pair of shoulders. She smiled at him as his eyes fluttered open.
"You have a visitor. And, honey, it looks like you've got some work to do. To Kill a Mockingbird? Poor kid."
Roger smiled weakly, "Thanks."
"Anytime, sweetie. Now, I'll let you get to getting."
Muriel turned to leave, and Roger fixed his gaze at the small boy at the edge of his bed.
"Hi."
Mark stared at his feet, "They said that you were in an accident. That's what they told me when they asked me to come here."
Sure I had an accident, Roger thought. A head-on collision with my step-father's fist counts, right?
"Roger, it wasn't an accident."
"Mark-"
"What happened the other day... it happens a lot, doesn't it?" Mark asked quietly.
Roger glanced at his sheets. "Yeah."
Mark nodded. "It happened last night."
"Yeah."
"Oh," Mark replied. He shifted his weight and sighed. "Um, we didn't do much in school today. There's a math worksheet in here, and they sent over your history book. Mrs. Fishburn said that we should start our pro-"
Roger interrupted him. "I don't really care, Mark."
"Um," Mark began, but Roger shook his head.
"Man, would you just forget it? I mean, you could look at me. You haven't since you walked in, and I know you want to. Mark, pretending that it didn't happen isn't going to make it go away. My mom is trying that- and, look, I need someone on my side."
Mark fought the urge to stare at the other boy, puzzled. "But you told me-"
"Forget what I told you," Roger interjected quietly. He looked up from his sheets. "How bad is it?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, how bad is it?" Roger persisted impatiently.
Mark sighed. His eyes traveled from the floor to Roger's face, studying every mite of the other boy's features the way he had Roger's mother a few days before. They paused for a few moments, and Roger watched Mark grimace slightly.
"Mark?"
"I-I-" Mark stammered. His
eyes were locked awkwardly on Roger's face, and couldn't seem to tear themselves
away.
Roger sighed. "Please, Mark?"
Mark shook his head. "Roger,
I can-"
"Tell me..." Roger whispered.
"What did he do to you, Roger?"
Mark asked, avoiding assessing the situation.
Roger tensed, exasperated.
"What does it look like he did to me?!"
"Fine." Mark gave up. He
tore his gaze from Roger's altered face. "It's really bad."
"That's it?" Roger asked
gently. He could see that Mark was uncomfortable. After all, they had only
met a few days before, and already Mark had been put in the middle of this
mess.
"That's it," Mark replied
softly. "Look, Roger, I think I'd better go. I think I saw Annie and your
mom in the waiting room on the way up. They'll probably want to see
you."
Roger nodded, "I understand.
Um, how much of that should I read?"
Mark glanced at the copy
of To Kill a Mockingbird on Roger's night stand. "Probably the first
two chapters, I guess. I'll be back tomorrow."
Mark turned to leave, waving
slightly at his new found friend.
"Mark?"
"Yeah?"
Roger sighed. "I'm sorry...
I know I shouldn't have-"
"It's fine," Mark interrupted.
"See you later."
The door closed, and Roger
nodded. "Yeah, see you."
Almost immediately, the door
opened again. Over the edge of his bed, Roger could see a pair of blonde
braids bouncing towards him. His mother walked in, holding Adam's hand, watching
as Annie bounded towards her brother.
"Rogie?" Annie whispered,
peeking over the end of the bed.
Roger smiled at his little
sister, pushing Mark's visit into the back of his mind. "Hey, kiddo."
Annie crept a little closer.
"Rogie, you- you okay?"
"I'm all right, Annie. C'mere,
sweetie."
Annie smiled, climbing up
onto Roger's bed. "Mommy said you had a accident."
Roger shook his head slightly,
glaring at his mother. Mrs. O'Neil turned away.
"Don't be stupid, Annie.
He didn't have an accident, Matth-" Adam attempted, but Roger interrupted
him.
"Yeah, Ann, I had an accident."
Annie snuggled carefully
next to her brother. The feel of her little body next to his own was comforting
for Roger. He pulled gently on one of her braids.
She looked up at him with
wide, blue eyes. "You have a owie, Rogie."
"Yeah," Adam whispered, looking
his brother up and down.
Roger nodded, trying to ignore
the awed, frightened look in his little sister's eyes.
"Can- can I kiss it and make
it better?" the toddler asked earnestly.
Roger smiled. "I guess."
Annie wiggled upward, careful
not to bump her brother. She pursed her little lips, pressing them softly
along Roger's face- his eyes, jaw line, nose, cheeks, ears- guiding herself
down his abraisioned neck and arms. They were soft, almost non-existent kisses,
and didn't begin to cover the extent of his injuries, but Roger was thankful
for them. Annie leaned back to inspect Roger's injuries, as if her butterfly
kisses had made them disappear. Her little forehead wrinkled in confusion.
"You not all better?"
"Not yet, kiddo," Roger replied.
He hugged her gently, even though it hurt a bit. He was glad that Annie was
out of harm's way, even if he had had to sacrifice himself for it.
"Annie, be careful, sweetheart,"
Roger's mother chided. "We don't need to make things worse, do we?"
"Leave her alone, Mom," Roger
responded coldly.
Mrs. O'Neil shrunk into the
corner. "Roger..."
"She's fine, Mom," Roger
said, holding Annie closer and trying not to cringe.
"If you say so." Mrs. O'Neil
coppitulated.
Roger nodded. "Yeah."
Adam sidled towards his brother,
trying to shake the feeling that his mom had let this happen. "Roger, are
you coming home soon?"
"I don't know, man. I hope
so."
"It's kind of boring at Grandpa
Marty's house. All we do is watch Matlock reruns and play Go-Fish."
"Hey, don't worry about it.
If you get that bored, you can always steal his teeth or something," Roger
teased.
Adam smiled, and Annie giggled.
"You silly, Rogie."
Adam glanced at his little
sister. "Look, um, I won't let anything happen to her, okay? I know that
we're safe and everything, but I'll look out for her, you know?"
"Thanks, Adam," Roger replied.
He hoped that Adam was right.
