I hated ruining Mom’s special dinner, but it was obvious something was very wrong.“Oh, Mia, my dear, feel free to stop by and visit if you miss us. There was no need for you to catch the flu,” Dr. Kevin said with a jovial pat on my shoulder.I was too tired to even whimper. The medications, bed, the flu: I buckled under the stresses and demands of the past week and shut my eyes.I slept eighteen hours and woke up on Friday feeling better-ish and also worse. Frustrated. I wasn’t going home today; East vs. Green would proceed without me. I’d been foolish to mark it on my calendar; arrogant to assume I had any control over my life. Just recording the game on the tiny square marked October eleven was asking to be proven wrong. Hope can be the most dangerous emotion, because when it’s destroyed, it’s deadly.I dozed most of the day, played cards with Dad—reminded him repeatedly to grab my horseshoe next time he went home—worried about how overwhelmed Ryan looked when he dropped me off yesterday, and the fact that Mom had run interference on calls from Ally and Hil but I hadn’t heard from Lauren.I didn’t want to call her—she was right, the hospital was boring and I didn’t want to be a burden.
