Flames At Midnight

04 | grace yearwood

"How many days?"

He turned to me. "Thursday? Right?"

I nodded. "I gave him some ibuprofen."

"And in the basement, when we were playing video games," Porter added.

My eyes flashed to him. "What? When was this?"

"How come you didn't mention it?" Jae asked, his shoulders tensing up again.

"That was the same day," Quentin said. "I thought it was just headaches and nausea."

The doctor added it to the chart. "Are you under any emotional stress? You were attacked last night, not long before the incident. Is that correct?"

"I wouldn't say it was stressful. I was scared when it was happening, but now it's just a bad memory. No point dwelling on the past, you know?"

It was just like Quentin to brush it off like it was nothing. His avoidance issues were getting ridiculous.

The whole situation had been disturbing.

It was unsettling because things like that didn't happen in Thornhill; we were a small community with hardly any crime. Well, any serious crime anyway, because I think allowing Greg Bierman to roam around freely was a crime in itself. He should be barred from town, or, at the very least, only allowed out at certain times.

"You went through a traumatic experience that is sure to leave a mark. The mind works in complicated ways, Mr. Miller. This could be its way of showing you that you aren't completely healed yet," the doctor explained. "I can recommend a specialist for you to talk to."

"I'm feeling fine, Doc. I think I was just out of it last night from all the excitement."

"Are you sure?" Jae asked. "If the doctor thinks it might help, maybe you can just give it a try. How about one session?"

"Quentin's old enough to decide for himself," Trevor said.

"And I've decided that I'm perfectly fine," Quentin insisted. "And Grace was there too. And look, she's okay."

"But she's, you know, Grace. And you're, well, you're not Grace," Porter said. "No offense."

I grinned as Quentin scoffed.

"Wow. That's cold, man."

The doctor cleared his throat. "How about I give you the number, so you'll have it if you change your mind in the future?"

"Perfect. So when can I leave?"

"If you'll agree to a few more tests, we can probably have you out of here by tomorrow afternoon."

"I'm feeling a lot better now though."

"Just precautions, Mr. Miller. We just want to cross our t's and dot our i's," the doctor said. "We went ahead and cleaned and patched up that laceration on your arm as well."

"Thanks. I appreciate it," Quentin said.

The doctor had the nurse prep Quentin for another head scan. We stepped out of the room to give him some privacy.

"Thanks for staying so long," Trevor said to me and Porter out in the hallway. "I'm sure Quentin appreciates it. I should probably be getting you two home now that he's awake. You can get some rest and come back to visit in the morning when he's done with his tests."

"We'll call if anything changes," Jae added.

* * *

I was back at the hospital early the next day. Mom didn't let me leave the house until I packed enough food to sustain Quentin for the entirety of winter. I crammed all the containers into an over the shoulder bag and made my way to the bus stop.