LIAM DOESN’T GIVE UP WITHOUT A FIGHT. HE DROPS THE bat and gets booking in the same direction Nic tried to escape earlier. A path that would lead him into the trees. But a police car with sirens blaring skirts in front of him, blocks his way. Two uniforms spill out of the car. One pins Liam against the car to slap cuffs on him. The other runs over to take care of Tyler, who raises his hands in the air.
“I’m not resisting! I’m not resisting!” Tyler insists.
The officer yanks his arms down, slaps cuffs on him, too. Officer Hunter has the other lackey pinned to the ground, secures him with handcuffs as he reads him his rights. The guy cusses Hunter out. Throws a few angry words at Hunter’s mother, too. Hunter ignores him and keeps right on doing his job, finally peeling the guy from the ground and shoving him toward the squad car.
“You kids okay?” he asks us. He rushes over to Nic first and removes the tape from around her wrists.
“We’ve both been better,” I admit.
Hunter smirks at me, but it’s a soft one. Kind of like he knows I’m being a smart-ass, but I’ve earned it in this moment. He pulls the tape off me a little rougher than he did for Nic. Nic and I pull each other into a hug again. Every muscle, every bone in me groans, but I can’t let go. I squeeze her tight, peek over her shoulder at the frat guys being shoved into the squad car. Liam catches me looking at him and throws me a scowl. So, I throw him the middle finger in return.
“Wait.” I pull away from Nic and turn to Hunter. “How did you know where to find us?”
Hunter smiles and helps us both to our feet. “You can thank your friends,” he says. “Some kid with purple hair. Bowman, I think. And little Miss Riley Palmer.”
I frown. Bowie and Riley? I had kept Bowie in the dark—so dark, in fact, that I didn’t think twice about explaining anything when I ran out of Providence. And Riley couldn’t even look at me at the prayer vigil. How did either of them know what was up?
“Come on, let’s get you both checked out,” Hunter says, placing a hand on Nic’s shoulder. He’s right. We need to make sure Nic’s good first. I’ll get my questions answered later.
I sit in a chair next to Nic’s hospital bed. I don’t need to shift because my butt remembers what to do to get comfortable in these vinyl-covered seats. Hours of keeping MiMi company. I made a vow that I never wanted to see this place again, but tonight is for a good reason. Tonight, my sister is home.
She makes a face as she swallows some of her sugar-free Jell-O. The doctors had poked and prodded and tested her, so she was finally allowed to put something in her stomach. “Damn, you’d think after weeks of suffering, they’d let me have something with sugar in it.”
I laugh at her. “Can’t be that bad.” She shoves a spoonful in my mouth and I gag.
“See?” she says.
I force the bland gelatin down. “They just want to make sure you’re okay. To take it easy.”
Nic pokes her spoon inside the clear cup. “Can’t I take it easy with chocolate chip cookies? Or a donut? Ooh, or cake? Yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.” She closes her eyes and smacks her lips like she can just taste that cake.
Cake. I remember Riley finding that cake pop wrapper from Nic’s bedroom. Something didn’t add up.
“So, you and Kenny never made it up to Richmond before the frat house? Doug really didn’t see y’all that night?”
Nic opens her eyes and frowns at me. “Richmond? What are you talking about?”
“Me and Riley found that wrapper in your bedroom. Kee Kee’s Goodies? That bakery’s only in Richmond.”
Realization covers Nic’s face and she nods. “Kenny and I never stayed in Richmond. We always passed through there . . . on our way to visit Mom.”
My head rocks back at her revelation. A small part of me feels that Mom had been buried alongside Dad, so hearing her mentioned sometimes took me out of my skin.
“Kenny would give me a ride during some of her visitation days. I didn’t want to tell you because you always get so weird when I bring up Mom. I just figured you never wanted to come with us.”
I wait for the anger to set in. The betrayal to wash over my body and ruin this happy reunion. But those emotions never surface. I’m sitting here right next to a miracle. Nic shouldn’t still be alive, but she is. So is Mom. Now that I know how it feels to think I’ve lost one of them, I don’t want to feel that anymore.
“Maybe we can get MiMi to drive us there next time,” I say. “Go visit Mom together.”
Nic’s face lights up. “Really?”
I nod just as the door swings open. MiMi clutches her mouth in the doorway, tears streaming out of both eyes. Nic’s face crumples when she sees MiMi, and her whole body jerks as she sobs. MiMi rushes over to her and cradles her with both arms.
“My baby,” she says into Nic’s hair. “My baby’s finally home.” They cry into each other’s arms, spreading so much joy throughout the room that when I breathe in, my chest feels lighter, despite the bruises. MiMi peeks up at me. She peels one hand off Nic and clutches onto my arm. “See?” she says to me. “Prayers work.”
I smile at her and rub her hand. She squeezes my arm one last time before pulling away and wrapping both arms around Nic again. I want to take a picture of this moment, but something’s missing. There’s so much happiness in my heart that it spills over, and I know just who to spread it to. I stand and head for the door.
“Jay.” MiMi looks up at me. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back,” I say. “I have to go thank someone.”