“James took him back to your place. I’m sure he’s getting plenty spoiled right now.”

“Am I fired?” I ask.

My sister snorts. My mom takes my hand. Or at least I think it’s her. “What, why would you ask that?”

“I failed my first rescue, ended up unconscious on the cave floor.”

“Not that it matters, but you didn’t fail, Micah. Dad’s back in prison. Alive and well.”

I groan. “That’s not helpful.”

“It’s just as well you feel that way. Technically, Duke dragged his ass in.”

“Rachel!”

“Sorry, Mom.”

A ghost of a grin crosses my dry lips. “I wish I’d seen that.”

“You would’ve liked the part where your tiny girlfriend read him the riot act for breaking your phone and not checking for first aid supplies in your pack.”

My mom squeezes my fingers. “You have good friends, Micah.”

I squeeze back. “I have a good family, too, Mom.”

She chokes on a sob, and I try again to open my eyes. It takes a moment to focus, but as long as I don’t move my head, it’s okay.

My sister excuses herself, and my mom starts crying harder. I let her for a few minutes before my fingers tighten on her hand to get her attention. “Mom. It’s okay. I’m okay.”

“He could have killed you.”

“He didn’t know it was me, Mom.”

She shakes her head. “That doesn’t matter. Not really. You told me how broken you were, and I kept trying to ignore it. I figured you’d grow out of it. You’d forget about him. Instead, you ran after him and nearly died.”

“It’s only a head injury,” I argue weakly.

“Meg told me, Micah. She told me how you’ve been holding yourself together for us. And I knew that. Brian said it, you said it, James said it. I knew it, but I couldn’t see past my own broken heart. I let you hold yourself together and told myself you were okay. That you were stronger and better off than the rest of us. That I didn’t need to worry about you.”

I feel my throat thicken, but I don’t speak.

“I should have paid more attention to what was real. For your sake, and Rachel’s and Evie’s.”

My voice is barely a whisper when I say, “It’s not too late, Mom. I still need someone to worry for me.” I drift off to sleep on a fresh round of her tears.

The next time I wake up, I’m alone with Meg. She’s reading some magazine in the chair next to me, snacking on M&M’s, and I watch her for a while. Eventually, her eyes turn to me, and her lips spread in a wide smile, brightening her entire face.

“Hey,” she says, reaching forward to grab my hand.

“You found me.”