“Good to know. Is she on her way here?”

“No!” Ben and Theo both said. “And we hope it stays that way,” Theo said. “She’s on vacation, and it would kill me to ruin her trip like this.”

Ben slapped him on the shoulder a little too hard.

“And she will kill me if anything happens to you, so please listen to what Maddie said and take this head thing seriously, okay?”

Theo sighed. He knew head injuries were bad, he had not at all enjoyed the experience of waking up in an ambulance and not knowing how or why he’d gotten there, and he was ready to do whatever the doctors said he had to. He just wanted to get the hell out of the hospital first.

“I am taking it seriously,” he said to the room at large. He looked at Drew. “But really—do you think they’re going to let me go home tonight? No offense, but hospitals are nightmares.”

Drew laughed.

“None taken. I haven’t done adult medicine in a while, but from what I remember, we usually wouldn’t keep concussions in overnight unless there was some evidence of something wrong, something more than just a sore spot and a headache.”

Maddie looked like she wanted to argue with Drew, and Theo couldn’t figure out why. Couldn’t she see how much happier he’d be at home, in his own clothes, without any needles in his arm?

Maybe she was tired of being here. He had no idea how long they’d been at the hospital, but he was pretty sure Maddie had been with him the whole time. She must be exhausted.

Drew and Ben were in the corner talking about baseball, but he lowered his voice anyway.

“Now that Ben’s here, you can go if you want.”

Oh no, now she looked pissed.

“Do you want me to go? I don’t have to stay if you don’t want me here.”

He shook his head. Shit, why did he keep doing that? Shaking his head hurt like hell.

“Of course I don’t want you to go. But it’s getting late, and you’ve been in that chair for I don’t know how many hours. I know I’m grumpy and tired, so I’m assuming you’re getting grumpy and tired and probably hungry. Ben can take over.”

She glared at him.

“I’m not going anywhere. I promised Alexa I’d stay, and I’m staying until you’re out of here.” She frowned as she looked at him. “You look tired. Are there too many people in this room right now?”

Now she was looking at Ben and Drew like she was going to throw them out.

“No, they’re fine. It’s good to have some entertainment while I’m in this stupid bed. And I’m sure Alexa will flip if Drew leaves before he gets a chance to talk to the doctors.”

Maddie nodded and sat back down next to him. She didn’t reach for his hand again.

Ben turned on the TV, then quickly turned it back off after Maddie yelled at him that his brother had just gotten a traumatic brain injury and no screens were allowed. Oh good, she could be mad at Ben instead of him.

Finally, the doctor came back in.

“Okay, Mr. Stephens, how are you feeling?” She looked around the room. “You have a lot of visitors, I see.” She smiled at Maddie. “You, I’ve already met.”

Ben reached out his hand.

“Hi, I’m Ben Stephens. Thanks for taking care of my big brother.”

Dr. Stewart shook his hand and turned to Drew.

“I’m Drew Nichols, a friend of Theo’s. I’m a doctor over at Children’s.”

Ben jumped in.

“Our mom is out of town, and she demanded that Drew be her eyes and ears—forget her own son.”

Theo sighed.

“And yes, Doctor, feel free to speak frankly with all of them in here. Anything to get me home faster.”

The doctor laughed and turned to Drew.

Did the doctor have the test results or not? Were they going to keep Theo tonight or send him home? Just give them the news and stop the suspense.

“So, Doctor, do you have an update for us?” Maddie finally asked.

The doctor stopped chatting with Drew about people they both knew and turned back to Theo.

“Your test results were clear. We’re sending you home tonight. I bet you’re thrilled about that.”

Theo sat up and smiled. Was she the only one who noticed how much he winced whenever he moved? Why were they letting him go home like this?

“I’m very thrilled, Dr. Stewart. Thanks so much for everything.”

“Are you sure about this, Dr. Stewart?” Maddie couldn’t help herself. “Shouldn’t he stay overnight for monitoring? What if there’s bleeding in his brain that didn’t show up on your tests? Or what if he forgets things again, like he did when he first woke up? Shouldn’t he stay here, in case any of those things happen?”

The doctor smiled at her. Maddie could see condescension in that smile.

“I see someone has been looking on the Internet for worst-case scenarios. Don’t worry, we have a list of things to watch out for, but he can easily be monitored by friends and family at home. He might forget things and feel kind of foggy for the next few days, but that’s normal.” She looked around the room. “I can tell he’ll be in good hands, and he’ll be able to rest and recuperate a lot better at home than in the hospital.”

She took out her phone to text Alexa.

The doctor says Theo gets to go home tonight but I really think they should keep him to monitor him but no one seems to be paying attention to me. She’s talking to Drew now

Alexa was clearly waiting for news, because her little bubble popped up immediately.

I wish he was staying overnight too! Glad Drew’s there hopefully he’ll either get the doctor to change her mind or tell us why this makes even the slightest amount of sense

Theo leaned over and peeked at her phone.

“Oh great, you’re getting Alexa on your ‘Keep Theo in the hospital’ side, I see.”

Maddie tucked her phone in her pocket.

“I’m just keeping her posted, since her fiancé doesn’t seem to be doing that!”

Dr. Stewart finished talking to Drew and shook hands with everyone before she left the room.

“If I don’t see any of you again before he’s out of here, it was a pleasure. Don’t worry, the nurses will give you a whole list to consult in the next few days.” She patted Maddie on the shoulder after she shook Theo’s hand. “He’ll be okay.”

Maddie showed all of her teeth when she smiled back at her.

“He’d better be.”

Drew picked up his bag shortly after the doctor left.

“I’m pretty sure that all you need is a lot of very boring rest—Maddie’s right that you won’t get to use screens for a while, so say good-bye to your phone and computer, too.”

Theo dropped his head into his hands.

“For how long?”

Poor Theo. He was on his phone more than she was on hers.

“A week at a minimum, more than likely more,” Drew said. He turned to Ben. “I’ll send you a text you can send to your mom, if that will make her feel better.”

Ben nodded.

“I’m sure it will, thanks.”

Drew waved at the door.

“Okay, text me if you need anything. I’m sure you’ll hear from Alexa very soon.”

After Drew left, the nurse came back in with Theo’s discharge papers and a stack of other paperwork.

“Do you have someone to stay with you overnight tonight?” she asked Theo as she was disconnecting the IV cord.

“Yes,” both Maddie and Ben said.

Maddie looked at Ben, and he looked back at her, then down at Theo. Part of Maddie wanted to just let his brother deal with him overnight. Theo had told her to go home. Maybe he was tired of her. Maybe he wanted his brother to take care of him instead of her.

Too bad if he did; she was going to do it no matter what. Had his brother sat there all day looking up danger signs for head injuries, or listening to what every doctor said? Had his brother already read through the list that the nurse had handed her about what to do over the next few days and when to take him back to the hospital?

“I’ll be the one taking care of him overnight,” Maddie said to the nurse. Neither Theo nor Ben argued.

The nurse nodded at Maddie.

“Okay, you have the list of danger signs there, and the numbers to call if there are any problems. Do you have any questions?”

Boy, they really didn’t give you a lot of time to look over the list and think of questions, did they? They were just ready to turn over his bed and get them out of there. They had apparently never met her before.

“Yes, quite a few, actually. First of all, this line says vomiting is common, but then this line says to be concerned if there’s too much vomiting. Those two things seem to contradict each other. Can you clarify?”

Chapter Seventeen