Nineteen
We stopped about three hours away from Warwick- and by 'we stopped' I meant Dexter made me.
Yawning, I looked over at Dexter sleeping in the single bed across from mine.
'What are you doing?' He asked slowly.
Maybe not.
'Huh?' I looked away. 'Nothing.'
'Why were you just staring at me?' He asked, sitting up.
'I wasn't.'
'Yeah you were.'
'No, I wasn't.' I snapped.
'I saw you!'
'So?'
'So why were you staring at me?' He asked loudly.
'Be-because I can't sleep until I know you're sleeping and OK!' I snapped, rolling onto my side with my back to him.
'Ever since you were two and we started moving every couple of days you hardly ever slept unless I was around, and it just became a habit that I made sure you were asleep before I could.'
After a second, he muttered, 'Really?'
'Yeah. So shut up and go to sleep.' I snapped angrily, clenching my jaw.
'I don't remember you ever doing that.' He muttered quietly.
'Leave it alone.' I said angrily.
Yawning, I opened my eyes to see sunlight struggling to shine through the closed curtains. This hotel room was actually pretty nice and clean, with only one separate room, which was the bathroom. That seemed a commonality in all the hotel/motel rooms we rented out.
There was only one problem- Dexter was gone.
'Dexter?' I called, sitting up. 'Dexter!'
'What?' He asked, opening the door and holding a greasy brown paper bag. 'What're you screaming about?'
I fell back, breathing hard. 'Jeez, man, you scared the crap out of me!'
'I was only gone for ten minutes.' He laughed, sitting on the opposing badly-made bed. 'Remind me again how this is healthy?'
Pulling out two Mediterranean pizzas, I immediately fell on mine and started pulling all the vegetables off.
'Meat and vegetables. Yum.' I smiled.
'I think taking the vegetables off kinda defeats the purpose.' Dexter pointed out, eating his own.
'Meh.' I shrugged around a mouthful of pizza. 'So have you found anything more about that Medicus dude...thing?'
He nodded and swallowed. 'Did you know 'Medicus' means 'Doctor' in Latin?'
'I do now.' I mumbled. 'What about Dana?'
'She's at the RoadHouse.' He said.
'How do you know?' I asked.
'Mum called. She sounded really...well awkward.' He did too.
'Well I wouldn't be surprised.' I said, finishing my pizza in one last massive bite. 'That was good.'
'What's that supposed to mean?' Dexter asked.
'My pizza tasted nice despite the grease?' I tried to clarify.
'No.' He stopped eating. 'Why aren't you surprised that mum sounded weird?'
'Well...I, uh...no reason.' I got up and opened the curtains wide, temporarily blinding myself.
'Tell me.' He snapped. 'I'm sick of you keeping things from me.'
I clenched my jaw, only for a second, but he caught it.
'What?'
'Mum's always been weird around you.' I said, turning back but not daring to make eye contact. 'That was a tiny little reason why he had to move so much. Seriously, I didn't actually first meet you until I was five. I mean, I know that was only four months, but...still. That, and mum had post-partum depression when she had you.' I shrugged.
'You're not serious.' He said.
I nodded. 'We're all screwed up.'
'That's a bit of an understatement, don't you think?'
'Probably.' I rubbed the bridge of my nose embarrassedly. 'Can we change the subject now? I'm still hungry.'
When he didn't say anything, I grabbed my bag at the end of my bed. 'Well I'm gonna get changed and call Johnny.'
'Whatever.' He opened his laptop and turned away.
Shaking my head, I shut the bathroom door behind me, and muttered, 'That's not going to end well.'
