Page 123 of The Way Home

“Dad, Jamie said it’s nice to meet you,” she said louder, before turning and shooting Jamie an apologetic look.

“I’m here too, Derrick!” Mike chirped from the corner with a wide smile, stepping up to put an arm around Bri.

“Mm,” Derrick repeated before his attention settled fully on his son.

“Doin’ alright, Caleb?” His voice was raspy, but Jamie caught a hint of an accent. He hadn’t realized American accents could vary so much.

“Yeah, Dad. I’m doing alright. I—it’s good to see you.”

“Hm.” Derrick’s eyes drifted closed. “Brianna, did you bring my reading glasses?”

As Bri fished for them in her bag, Jamie stood there and frowned, eyes bouncing between Caleb and his father.

They all turned as the door swung open and a tall doctor swept into the room. Jamie took the opportunity to step closer to Caleb, placing a hand gently against his lower back.

“Okay, love?” he murmured. Caleb did not look okay. He looked like he was barely able to stand, as if a strong gust of wind might knock him over. “Would you like to step out and get some water?”

The doctor must have overheard.

“Actually,” he said briskly, “your father needs another dose of medication, so it would be best if you all came back tomorrow.”

A grunt from Derrick dismissed them. They said quiet goodbyes and filed out of the room with promises to come back tomorrow. Jamie guided Caleb’s sagging body to the end of the hall, clasping one of his hands between both of his.

“What do you want to—?”

“I want to get the hell out of here.”

Jamie nodded decisively and steered them toward the elevators. He clutched Caleb’s hand as they wove through small clusters of people lingering in the hallway.

By the time they reached the ground floor and stepped into the pickup area, Jamie was trying to remember where the hell they had parked…

“Jamie! Bro, hold up!”

Mike’s surfer-dude voice bounced off the hospital walls. Jamie turned to see him jogging toward them, Bri trailing behind at a slower pace.

“Let me get your digits, dude. We can grab dinner tonight.”

Jamie blinked, glancing toward Bri and then back to Mike.

“Oh, erm… you want to get dinner?”

A bright, almost comically enthusiastic, smile spread across Mike’s face.

“Hell yeah! I wanna get to know B’s brother and you, dude! We’re all, like, family now, right?” Bri ducked her head in embarrassment,though Jamie thought he caught her fighting a smile. Caleb hadn’t moved, staring blankly out toward the parking lot.

“Sure,” Jamie said, fumbling his phone from his pocket. He hadn’t checked it since they landed in Pittsburgh. Five texts from Sally and two from Ang stared back at him. He pushed the worry aside for later and handed the device to Mike. “Pop it in my mobile. If Caleb’s up for it, we can do dinner.”

“Sick!” Mike put his number in and handed the phone back, clapped Jamie on the shoulder, kissed Bri on the cheek, and bounded off like a golden retriever chasing a tennis ball. He heard him sayingmobilein a fake British accent as he rounded the corner.

“That was fucking weird,” Caleb muttered as Jamie led him toward the parking lot. At least the sun was shining now, a welcome change from the gloomy London spring they’d left behind.

“Let’s get you home and into bed, yeah?” Jamie said gently.

“It’s only six.”

“Yes, but it’s almost midnight in our bodies right now. Also, we don’t have to go to dinner with them—”

“I want to,” Caleb said quickly. “I want to at least try. With Bri, I mean.”