Get some proper sleep. I’ll watch over your mama.” Robert added bass to his voice in an attempt at sounding stern. Night shook his head. “Can’t. Not until she opens her eyes.” His uncle placed a hand on Night’s shoulder, nodding understanding. The jaws of life couldn’t have pried him away from Jewel’s side after her heart attack last year. Even after the beats had stopped and the line had gone smooth on the EKG machine, he’d refused to believe she was gone. Even after all the tubes were removed and her skin began to cool, he still stayed there just in case. Just in case by some miracle she opened her eyes. But she hadn’t, and the agony of seeing her sister, Night’s mother, lying in the same hospital was almost too much to bear, brought back images too painful to remember. But this was his favorite nephew and he wasn’t going anywhere. He owed the boy that, and his mother that much more. “Go on home, son.” Now it was Carter Johnson’s turn to try and convince Night to get some much needed rest.
