The Name of the Game

Chapter 26

Ray and Mikey stood outside of the hospital door, hands clasped together, staring at the number. Mikey, not looking at Ray, said, "You should go. You'll be late to class."

Ray just shrugged. "One day won't kill me."

Mikey turned his head, breaking the trance. "Ray, you know you aren't coming in there with me," he said.

Ray sighed. "Why not?" he asked. "Is it really a big deal? I mean, with the current situation-"

"Exactly," Mikey said. "The current situation has them on edge. You're not meeting them."

"But Mikes, I have to meet them eventually, don't I?"

"No. Not unless we-" Mikey stopped himself.

"Not unless we what?"

"Nothing. Look, Ray, usually I'm a doormat, but I'm putting my foot down on this. There's no way you're meeting my parents. They're mean, power-hungry people. Well, at least my dad is. But he controls the whole family. He's the reason Frank could die, and there's no way I'm putting you in one of these beds."

Ray sighed again. "Fine," he said. "But I'm not leaving. I'm staying right here until you come back out."

Mikey nodded. "Okay. But if that door opens and it isn't a nurse-"

"It won't," Ray said. "Swear."

Mikey gave Ray a quick kiss before quietly nudging open the heavy wooden door. There was a curtain between him and the beds. He couldn't see his parents, but he could hear them bickering.

"You told him what?!" Donna said. "Donald, I just woke up, and that's the first thing you tell me?!"

"Well, I had to let you know that we wouldn't be seeing him anymore," Donald said simply. "I'm not heartless enough to leave you in the dark about that, Donna."

"He's our son," Donna said angrily. "He's either dead or disabled, and your first thought is to kick him out of our home?"

"He broke the rules," Donald said. "He betrayed the family. He doesn't deserve to be under our wings anymore."

"He's our son," Donna said again. "Yes, he messed up, bigtime. But that doesn't mean we can just throw him onto the street. We can talk about giving him some kind of dishonorable discharge situation later, but we're not kicking him out. End of story."

"Donna-"

"I said end of story!"

It was silent, and Mikey took the opportunity to knock on the wall. He stepped out in front of the curtain. "Hey, mom," he said. "Hey, dad."

Donna held out her arms. "Mikey, sweetie!" she cried. "Come here!"

Mikey made his way over to his mother and leaned down. She wrapped him in her arms. She still didn't have all her strength back, but she was holding her son as tightly as she could. "I'm so glad they didn't get you. I love you, sweetheart."

Mikey smiled down at his mother. "I love you too, ma."

"Y'know, I have yet to figure out how you avoided them," Donald said from behind him.

Mikey stood up and turned to his father. "I ran to Gerard's room," he said. "There's a crawlspace behind his bed, and he made me get in it."

Donna cleared her throat loudly. Donald glared at her. "I see," he said. "Well, good. I'm glad you're safe."

"So," Mikey said, crossing his arms and leaning against his father's bed, "How'd you two get a room together?"

"Oh, your father did what he does best and threw a fit," Donna said. "I'm sure everyone here is aware that they were trying to take his wife away from him, and that if they didn't put us together, he would sue them. So they did."