HELLO, he signed, meeting me in the middle of the waiting room. HOW ARE YOU?

Responding with, FINE, would’ve been a lie, so instead I settled for signing, WHY YOU HERE?

Beau gave a blink of confusion and used his voice to say, “I wanted to make . . . you’re okay.”

I ended up signing, FINE, anyway.

I was trying for a calm, collected expression, but I wasn’t sure how successful I was.

DON’T LIE, PLEASE, Beau signed to me, an unusually somber look on his face. YESTERDAY BAD FOR YOU.

FINE, I repeated, biting down on my lip. MY BROTHER OK NOW. YOU LOOK TIRED. GO HOME.

He winced once he understood what I was saying to him after I had to repeat myself, and he very hesitantly signed back, I WAIT FOR YOU.

WHY? I signed.

Beau took his time responding to my question. Splotches of color dotted his cheeks, and I saw him swallow hard.

I . . . WORRY FOR YOU, he signed after a long pause. DON’T LIKE YOU SAD. I WANT YOU OK.

I ignored the way my heart stuttered in my chest at Beau’s confession, and I shook my head, insistent when I signed, FINE. REALLY.

Beau very much looked like he wasn’t buying it, but he relented in the end, giving a one shouldered shrug. IF YOU SURE, he signed with a weak smile.

I had no rational explanation for why I did it, but I took a step closer and wrapped Beau up in a hug. He didn’t waste any time sliding his arms around me in return. I scrunched my eyes closed, ignoring everything else around us, and for a split second it felt like I didn’t have a rough few days ahead of me while Connor recovered. Eventually I had to tell myself it was time to let Beau go.

GO HOME, I signed to Beau, taking a step back. TIME FOR SLEEP.

Beau did another one of those shrugs of his and signed, OK. YOU TEXT ME LATER?

YES, I signed back. I TEXT YOU LATER.

Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

I did not text Beau later, purposefully ignoring all the messages he sent my way. I didn’t text anyone, save for the random ones to Nina and Melissa to let them know I was still alive.

I spent Thanksgiving in the hospital with Connor, where cell phone reception was shoddy to begin with, but that wasn’t really the reason behind the radio silence on my end.

I was afraid to talk to Beau again. The communication barrier between us, no matter how hard Beau was working to pick up sign language, was even more evident now than before. I would forever be thankful for Beau and what he did in the hospital that night, but it had been a struggle for both of us.