Everest, untitled.

Chapter 26

"It's good to be home!" I shout dramatically as I enter our doorstep.

"Einstein, did you miss me? I missed you! And Queen Elizabeth, I forgive her Royal Highness for not greeting me upon entry, though I'm a bit hurt."

"Just checking in Nate, they still gave you drugs today, yeah?"

"They did!" But it's just been painkillers, and sleeping pills.

The nurse this morning saw Javi sprawled all over me, because Javi can sleep everywhere, even if that everywhere is a hospital bed. And Javi being Javi moves a lot, ignoring his damaged boyfriend underneath who couldn't move the tiniest bit. Fine, maybe I didn't want to move, and enjoyed the familiarity of his touch. But since the bed was small, and we are both not exactly small, I didn't get much sleep.

So the nice nurse gave me an extra dose of sleeping pills.

"For when you get home and need to catch up some of that sleep. You won me fifteen bucks with that nightmare Janice." I took the sleeping pills and didn't feel sorry for Janice's loss.

My dad, as promised, picked me up right after the final checkup at eight and grabbed my bags.

"I don't like hospitals," he explained.

I agreed. On the way home I declared I was hungry, and we went to Applebee's to eat breakfast. It was weird, but in a nice way.

"You don't eat much," my dad commented.

"It's the medication," I said, but the truth is that I have never been able to stomach food when I felt being watched. That's why I either cook or eat when no one watches me, to have some feeling of control.

So I packed my muffins for the twins later, and we finally headed home.

I wave in front of Einstein's aquarium.

"Good to see you buddy. Hey dad, daddy, daddi-o, we're bonding right?"

"You mean the starfish and you?"

"Technically it's not a fish, the right term is sea star. But I mean you and me, me and you." Maybe I was a bit overly happy from the pills on an empty stomach. I also quite liked it in the morning when I followed a rush of impulse and made out with Javi before he left for school, but now I feel I could enter dangerous territory.

"I hope so. Do you need anything? The doctor said you should take it easy, and you don't have to go back to school until next week."

"Cool, extra time with you. Oh don't make that face, I'm much more talkative than you think, we'll have a blast."

"I'm sure we will. Nate, can I talk to you though about something?"

"Ask away," I say dramatically before I slowly lower myself on the couch. I could get used to this. Usually I'm only talkative around the twins or Javi, to let all my nervous energy out. But now dad would have to suffer through me. Peachy, I think quite satisfied.

"Javi told me about the things you said on the phone that night."

"Oh." He already has turned the table and makes me suffer it seems.

"It's fine," he says quickly. "We can talk about this another time."

"It's alright, I just didn't...well, I knew it would come sooner or later, so shoot." I say and find that I mean it.

"Did Lina really tell you to not say anything?"

Oh, so he was worried about his sisters failure. "Yes." I see him hesitate.

"Oh my god, you don't believe me, do you?"

"No!" he says right away. "I do. I'm trying to understand why. But this comes much too late Nate, and I'm so sorry. But this is unacceptable. I will have a talk with her, but there is no way of forgiving this." He looks at me. "There's no way you should forgive me."

It feels nice to hear my dad say those words, but while I dismissed him before easily, I want to believe him now. "It wasn't your fault," I try.

"No, you were absolutely right. I was passive to it all, and allowed in a way that all this happened to you. I wish I had your bravery son, when there's a problem I wait it out. But you,-" he faces me, with sad eyes. "you battle it head on. This will never happen again, I swear."

My throat forms a lump. "The court?"

"There's no way she'll get through it. Not with," his Adam's apple jumps, "not with what I know now. A lawyer from my firm specialised in family law agreed to help me out, and I trust him, he's a fantastic lawyer. You won't have to say anything, I will drag Lina in there to testify myself if I have to."

"That's...good. Thanks." I say. He should have said those words a long time ago, but I'm relieved. The twins are safe from the monster. My dad is on my side.

"We'll be okay Nate."

"Yeah, I think so too."