“Was it? Why didn’t she leave with us? That blond guy she was dancing with. Don’t pretend you didn’t see them. I assumed he was gay because he was so pretty but one of my friends told me he is very much not gay and in fact is a very well-known fuck-boy around town.”

“Eleanor!” Alexander didn’t know if he had ever heard Eleanor swear before, and there was something so comical about hearing his devout little sister say the word “fuck-boy” that he started to laugh. It was absurd. Everything was absurd. Eleanor’s rage. The fact that he’d almost lost his spleen. That when he closed his eyes he could still see the haunting image of a deer bursting out of the woods and running into the street. The brightness of the pupils glowed in the headlights and the poor creature’s eyes grew so big in fear that for a moment he felt like they were a portal to another dimension, like a tunnel that he could drive through. He could still remember the crunch, though the doctor said it might have been the sound of his leg breaking, not the sound of an innocent animal’s death.

Anna used to remind him of an innocent fawn with her big eyes and her sweet face. But not lately. What Eleanor was saying wasn’t untrue, even though he refused to admit it to himself. Anna had been aloof and distant, her visits perfunctory, and she always wanted to read to him instead of talking. Though, in her defense, it’s not like he was able to keep up his side of the conversation high on pain meds, with the most exciting part of his day being when Jimela brought him his bowl of lime Jell-O.

“I need to sleep, Eleanor. Can you wake me when she comes over? Jimela said Anna told her she’d come back later.”

“I said that,” Eleanor retorted. “Because that’s what Anna said earlier. She said she’d bring over frozen yogurt for me. Do you think she’ll remember?”

“Yes, I do,” Alexander replied softly. “You need to stop being angry with her, Eleanor. Think of all the wonderful things Anna has done for you in the past; don’t you always say that all your favorite headbands are gifts from her?”

“No one’s disputing her fashion sense. Look, I get it. She’s beautiful and perfect and blah, blah, blah, but she needs to do right by you. She needs to understand how lucky she is to get to be with you, that’s all. Please, I hate when you’re cross with me. I promise that when she comes over tonight I’ll forgive her and we can all move past it, okay?”

“That’s very noble of you.” Alexander said this half in jest, but he knew Eleanor would take it seriously as sarcasm always went over her head.