“He’s sick.” I tried sitting up but settled on slumping against the pillow. The snake might have bitten my calf but every blame thing hurt. “I can keep an eye on myself at home. Just . . . maybe another nap before I go.”

“It’s in your best interest to stay overnight,” the doctor argued as anxiety began rising in my chest.

“I can take them home,” Vance offered.

“No!” I coughed. “Thank you though, but Pa . . . he has a nasty virus . . . coming out both ends . . . so I don’t want to expose you.” My eyes clamped shut so I wouldn’t have to face the guilt of lying to him. “Can we just keep trying Foxy’s number? They should be back to the house in another hour or so.”

“As long as no one comes in needing the other bed, that should be fine,” the doctor answered.

My eyes remained closed until the door clicked shut at their departure. I peeked over at my siblings and then at Vance. His eyes were trained on the younger twins, who were beginning to whine.

Vance placed a firm kiss on my forehead. “I’ll be right back.” He turned to the others. “Boss, will you come with me?”

Boss scooted off the end of the bed and followed Vance out.

They returned a while later with arms filled with cans of cola and candy bars. Soon after, a hospital staff member came in wheeling a portable TV stand. By the time it was plugged in and tuned to The Price Is Right, the whining had abated. The next hour or so sailed by with the kids munching away on junk food and shouting their price guesstimates at Bob Barker as if the host could actually hear them while I dozed off and on in what felt like some sort of flu-like haze.

It had been a long time since my siblings and I had a break from the farm, making Nolia feel more like a prison and not a homestead. I sure did hate that I had to suffer a snakebite, but my suffering was worth it to give them an afternoon of normalcy away from the farm and the hopeless situation with Pa that was beginning to take a severe toll on all of us.

Foxy and Jinx arrived much later than I’d promised the doctor, but the hospital staff all looked the other way. Probably due to the presence of Vance Cumberland.

“You have any potion that’ll fix this?” I asked Foxy while she inspected my right leg that was double in size as my left.

“No potion, no.” With a straight face, she added, “But I could chop off your leg. I’m sure Phoenix would share one of his prosthetics.”