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The next morning, we walked through the bleak hospital corridor, my mother tight-lipped. I could only imagine how she felt, visiting her ex-husband as he lay in his sickbed. I know she was doing it more for my brothers than for Jack himself, but it was still nice of her.
I never asked too much about her previous marriage, and she rarely spoke of it. She had said at one point that she and Jack “were not meant to be together”. Their relationship just fizzled away through the years, and she ended up back with Dad, who had been her high school sweetheart.
Originally, my parents had broken up when Dad went to college, but he never got over Mom. He briefly was married to a girl named Katie, but it was on the rebound, and she left him because they never “had fun” together. She always wanted to go to clubs and exotic vacations, while he struggled through medical school. How was he supposed to be doing “fun things” when he was studying all the time?!
But fate finally got my parents back together, and here I was, Corinne Lisette Greene in the flesh.
I watched my mother as we neared Jack's room. Her face was contorted with stress, and I realized – after all these years, she still felt guilty.
Jack never remarried, although he'd been involved with several women. But now he was sick and unhappy, and I think Mom saw herself as partly responsible.
So maybe she really was here for him too.
Daniel and Matthew went into Jack's room first, and I heard Matthew gasp, “Dad! Why are you out of bed? What's going on?”
“We brought Mom!” Daniel added in a confused voice.
I entered with my mother. The bed looked freshly-made, and a healthy, animated Jack stood packing his belongings into a plastic hospital bag. He started to lift it, but Matthew darted over to him and snatched it away. “Dad, no! Let me help you!”
Jack simply blinked at his son. “You have it...” he breathed, his face expressing shock, joy, and pride all at the same time.
“Have what?” exclaimed Matthew, bewildered. “Dad, what happened? You look so much better, I–”
“They're dismissing me. I am better. And thanks for coming, Patricia, but I don't need you now,” Jack delivered to Mom smugly. “I have our son.” He put his arm around Matthew.
Matthew's mouth hung open. “What are you talking about, Dad?”
Wide-eyed, Mom stared at my brother, not her miraculously-cured ex-husband. “Really, Jack?” she uttered. “They said you're fine?”
“The doctors can't understand it. But I do. And Matthew's the only one that came near me. Not Daniel, not Corinne.”
“Came near you? Dad, what the hell is going on?” Matthew yelled. His usually cool exterior was melting away fast. He was starting to fidget, in fact.
Mom moved closer to Jack, a half-smile on her lips. “Well, this is wonderful, Jack. We're so happy for you.”
Matthew choked out, “Well, of course we're happy you're okay, but...” His words trailed off and he bit his fingernails.
Daniel, in the meantime, observed everyone very closely. He glanced at my mother, and then stated, “Dad thinks you healed him, Matthew.”
I guffawed, “Right. Matthew has the power to heal.”
And, as if there was nothing better to say, my mother spouted out, “Jack, we're having a party for Corinne later. It's an early graduation plus eighteenth party. Maybe you'll join us.” Her eyebrows raised, and even after all these years, Jack could obviously read her facial expression.
“I'll be there with bells on!” he cried triumphantly, repeating Grandma Felicia’s favorite saying.
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Glad to have you back, Dad,” he murmured. “Bells and all.”
***
WHEN WE GOT HOME, MOM started setting up for the party and Dad followed her around, whispering to her. I marched right up to them and stuck my head in between them both. “What are you talking about?” I asked. I figured they were talking about how Jack was losing his mind. I knew my father would have something sarcastic to say about that.
“We're talking about how Jack's getting better,” Mom said softly. She pulled the plastic wrap off of a vegetable plate and carried it to the back door.
Trailing her closely, Dad went on, “And we're also discussing how thrilled I am that we'll be seeing him. Did you really have to invite him to this, Patricia?”
My father slid open the door and Mom shuffled through. “I think he's lonely. It'll be nice to talk to him, Julian. I think it'll make him happy.”
“He's plenty happy. Matthew just healed him.”
“Funny, Dad. Very funny,” I said, walking off.