Me, Me & You

Chapter 5

The nurse led me to visitation area of the hospital where all the meeting rooms were. Rows of doors lined the hallways that opened to identical rooms of blue-grey, high-traffic carpet, and white walls with either a poster on the human brain or addressing addiction. On a piece of computer paper, the visitation rules were printed and tacked to the wall: no smoking, no shouting, no recording devices. Furniture was sparse, only table and chairs, except these chairs were cushioned and had metal legs because they trusted us to not kill ourselves around family, I guess.

The nurse gestured toward the door. Through the glass window, I saw my so-called sister. My mouth must've dropped open, but all I could think was, "Oh, my god." My mind shorted, and I became vaguely aware of the nurse who brushed me aside, opened the door, and gently nudged me in.

"Hi, Archie," Tori said softly.

"Hi," I murmured, my brain still rebooting.

Tori, who'd mocked me and helped send me to this hospital, stood across the room, looking banal in the drab meeting room. Now, I wondered what I ever saw in her flat-ironed hair and Aeropostale t-shirt with skinny jeans. With an adult monitoring her, she acted bashful with her eyes flitting around the room, pretending she could only meet my wide-eyed stare for a few microseconds, but I remembered the sneers and insults.

My brain restarted and I logged back in.

"What are you doing here?" I spat.

Tori flinched and turned to my dad for guidance. My dad looked the same as he usually did, wearing his at-home clothes of jeans and a cotton t-shirt. It must've been the weekend if they were here visiting me. Shit. Where had the time gone?

He stood on the opposite side of the room, leaning against the wall in his usual way with his arms crossed over his chest, hiding the Army logo printed on his t-shirt. His face betrayed nothing. He cleared his voice and spoke.

"Hey, Arch', I know this is sudden, but Tori wanted to speak with you. She came to me, told me the whole story, and, well, she can say the rest. Just give her a chance 'cause I think it'll do you good." He rubbed his lip with his thumb.

Tori turned back to face me, her ponytail swinging. "Yeah, I'm sorry for saying I was your sister, but it was the only way they would let me in to see you, even with your dad's help." The meek smile on her lips returned. I wanted to smack that grin and tell her that those tricks wouldn't work on me anymore, even if these stupid adults fell for it.

"Do you want to sit down?" She gestured to the round table in the middle of the room, the barrier between me and her.

"I don't want to sit," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Oh, well...." Tori moved her hands with unease. With protocol broken, her script derailed. "That's fine. We can—."

"We'll sit down," my father interjected, pushing away from the wall and over to one of the flimsy, folding chairs. "Come on, Archie. You, too."

I scowled at my dad who only looked back at me with a commanding look in his eye. Seeing no way out of this, I hooked my foot around the chair leg and pulled it out, keeping my arms folded over my chest.

As she waited, Tori played with the end of her ponytail, then folded them on the table, then she tucked an imaginary strand of hair behind her ear. I sat motionless.

Finally Tori settled on keeping her hands folded in front of her. Clearing her voice, she began.

"I know this is weird, but I just want to say that I'm sorry." She blinked rapidly like she was about to cry. "What happened that day... I was caught off guard. You surprised me. I was always told by my dad to not lead boys on and to be honest about getting asked out and stuff. I thought I was doing you a favor," Tori said, her voice cracking at the end. Her eyelids kept fluttering and it drove me nuts. I wanted to roll my eyes again at the theatrics but I could feel my father's stare.