“You’ve done enough, and I appreciate it, but I’m a big boy. I can take care of this,” he said. He wrapped his arm around her, pulled her in for a hug. “I’ll text or call, I promise. You’re the one and only person in the world who even has my phone number.”
*
Lionel was awake and bandaged. Tallie and Emmett stood next to his bed freshly sanitized, in their burn-unit-mandatory yellow gowns and gloves.
“So glad you’re okay, man,” Lionel said to Emmett upon seeing him.
“Are you kidding me? I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m thankful I was able to get to you,” Emmett said. Lionel reached out his left hand for Emmett, and he took it, gently. His own hands were still calescent and tender, as if they’d been set on high.
“Thank you. I owe you one. As long as you still want to be my friend now that I’m half monster. A mummy,” Lionel said, his laugh stumbling out drowsily and medicated.
“You look great. You really do. You’re impossible to kill,” Tallie said, leaning over and touching his face.
Lionel wanted Emmett to tell him what he’d seen, how it all went down.
“I didn’t know what was happening, but the light caught my eye,” Emmett said. “Fire holds such a strange light as it moves…flashes bright. That’s how I knew something was wrong.”
“I couldn’t see much with the mask on. I stepped up too close to the pit. I wasn’t even drunk. I’d been nursing the same beer for an hour or more. It was warm,” Lionel said.
“I, uh, had to get you on the ground so you wouldn’t run. So I knocked your leg out from under you and threw my jacket over you to smother the flames,” Emmett said. The almost of what could’ve happened to Lionel rose like a wrecking wave. The haunting flashback took its place in line with the other surrealities he’d suffered through. “It was over quick,” he added.
Lionel said something Emmett couldn’t make out, so he asked him to repeat it.
“Sweep the leg. Like from Karate Kid. That’s what you did,” Lionel said.
Emmett smiled and quoted the “sweep the leg” line from Karate Kid back to him verbatim before adding, “Exactly. That’s exactly what I did.”
“Emmett, you’re officially my new best friend. Lulah, please get his info to me so we can talk again once I’m out of this joint,” Lionel said, smiling sleepily. His eyes closed before he winced and showed signs of intense discomfort. Tallie went to get the nurse so he could be given more pain medicine.
（Lionel’s eyes open, close again. His mouth is a straight line. He frowns. Half of his mouth lifts in a smile that crinkles his eyes. His bedsheet is white. His blanket is white. The wrapping is white. The walls are white. The nurse comes in, dressed in blue. The morphine drip is clear. Soon Tallie will know everything, and this will be over. Drip. Drip. Drip.）
“Of course. You get some sleep. We’ll be around. Well, I will. Emmett may be leaving,” Tallie said when the nurse was finished. She looked at Lionel, then Emmett. “I love you,” Tallie said, gently touching his unbandaged hand.
“Love you, Lulah.”
“I’ll see you soon, Li,” Emmett said, wanting it to be true.
“Looking forward to it. See you soon, brother,” Lionel mumbled before turning his head and closing his eyes.
*
In the hallway, Tallie stood with her back against the wall, texting. She smiled at her phone and shook her head, texted more. Probably Nico. Emmett had seen firsthand how Nico looked at Tallie: the same way Emmett looked at the moon. He put his hands in his pockets and waited until she was finished.
“Okay. Hey. Emmett, what if you stayed? You don’t have to leave. You could stay a little longer. Maybe you need more time. Do you think you need more time?” Tallie asked.
Emmett had found himself hoping she’d ask him to stay, although he knew he wouldn’t. Shouldn’t. He felt so guilty about being a burden and about what he’d done. He’d been gearing himself up to tell her everything before he left, and he’d put an extra beta-blocker in his pocket just in case. He stepped over and took it with a drink from the water fountain. Now it was finally time to tell her, and he didn’t want his heart frenetically tap-dancing when he did it.
But when he looked at Tallie, she was wide-eyed. Thunderstruck. As if she already knew what he was going to say. Her brown cheeks flushed with pink; she pushed her glasses up, and her mouth trembled into a snarl.
“What…what the hell is he doing here?” she asked over Emmett’s shoulder.