"So… is it true?" Mom asked. "Did you really hit Colt with Barley's van?"
It had been two hours since the incident.
"What? No! Of course not!" I said. "Well, I almost hit him."
"Then why is he limping?" Mom asked.
"I don't know. Maybe he got hurt at work," I said. "It's not my problem."
"You haven't been very nice lately," Mom said. "Do you realize that?"
"Well, neither have you!" I said.
"This is about Barley again, isn't it?" Mom asked.
"Of course!" I said.
Mom was silent for a frighteningly long time.
"I was trying not to worry you," she said. "But I can see that I've only done the opposite."
"He's not going to die, is he?" I asked.
"Well…" Mom said. "He seems to be getting better. And he is very strong. So, I'd say that he has a very good chance of surviving."
"Okay, but what happened to him?" I asked. "Why is he in the hospital?"
"Sit down," Mom said. "This might be a lot to take in."
I sat down. My heart was racing.
"While you were at school, Barley suddenly became sick again," Mom said. "He said that he was dizzy, and that chest was hurting. And he was having trouble breathing…"
All of that happened in my dream! I thought.
"I was going to leave him alone," Mom said. "But he was in so much pain. I feared the worst…"
"A heart attack," I said.
"Exactly," Mom said. "And it's a good thing that I brought him in after all. Otherwise, he likely would've…"
She looked like she was trying not to cry.
"He could've died."
"He's not going to die!" I said, suddenly. "You did the right thing, and he's getting better, and he will go home soon, and everything will be back to normal!"
I wasn't sure where that outburst had come from, but it felt good to get it all out.
"It's not that simple, though…" Mom said. "He's had some ongoing condition for a while, and he's just been hiding it."
"What?!" I said. "But how? And why?"
He had seemed so young, and healthy, and happy. I was so sure that he'd just had a bad flu or something.
"I don't know," Mom said. "I guess he didn't want to upset us…"
It was so obvious. I don't know how I didn't see it until now. Mom was stressed, too.
"So, can you please promise me no more reckless behavior, okay?" Mom said. "I already have enough to worry about."
Come to think of it, something had seemed a bit off about Barley, even when he was "healthy".
"I promise."
The next day, I got to see Barley again.
"You know what I miss?" he asked.
"Me?" I asked.
"Nah, you're right there, bro," he said.
"Then what?" I asked.
"My drum set!" he said.
"Ugh… that thing," Mom said.
I remembered when Barley first got his drum set. Mom was not happy. She thought that it was too noisy. But he hadn't played it for a while.
"Oh?" I said, grinning. "Mom sold it!"
"WHAT? NO!" Barley said.
"Ian, no!" Mom said. "You're going to aggravate his condition!"
"Relax, Mom. I'm fine!" Barley said. "But you didn't really sell my drum set, did you?"