Fix My Feet When They're Stumblin'

Chapter 30

     Her heart beating wildly against her ribcage in trepidation, Tana stepped out into the hallway with Mandy, noting her pale skin and lips drawn thin in distress. "Mandy, what on Earth..." She trailed off as a faint sound down the hall caught her attention, and her blood ran cold as she put the pieces together: Ronnie, so angry he was practically breathing fire and simultaneously crying about being 'the worst friend'; Mandy, clearly upset...and Brandon, alone in his room, weeping desperately as if his heart had been torn to pieces.

     "Oh my God, Mandy, that's Brandon, isn't it? What...what did Ronnie do?" Tana asked in a hushed tone, her eyes wide, perturbed at the apparent seriousness of Ronnie's mistake.

     The nurse bit her lip, not meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have let him visit, I don't know...it happened so fast, he just snapped, and he - oh, Mrs. Flowers, I'm so sorry! Mr. Vannucci - Ronnie, he was upset, he was apologizing to Brandon, he feels like he...like the accident was his fault, like it's his fault Brandon was injured. He started crying, like...really crying, and Brandon was trying to make him feel better, he tried to tell Ronnie that it wasn't his fault, and, um..."

     Tana could hear her heartbeat pounding inside her skull as the nurse took a deep, shaky breath and then plunged ahead, speaking quickly in a whisper. "Ronnie just snapped, he - he yelled at Brandon, he - he - oh, well, I suppose it's easiest if I just tell you...he said 'How the fuck do you know? You can't remember a fucking thing, you barely even know your own fucking name,' he was so angry with him...and Brandon, Brandon...he didn't take it well," she whispered, eyes wandering down the hall to her patient's room. "He seemed to catch himself almost immediately, he kept apologizing, but - he'd already said it. I had to threaten to call security on Mr. Vannucci to make him leave."

     What?! Tana thought she might forget how to breathe, shock boiling the blood in her veins. "He said...he said what?! But I - that's...no way, Ronnie would never, he's got to know what that would do to him, when he's so - so fragile. Why would he - they've never - in all their years - never..."

     She was so rattled she couldn't think straight, tripping through her sentences haphazardly. The soft sounds of her husband's muffled weeping filled her ears, blocking out everything else and bringing hot tears of her own to her stinging eyes. "God, oh my God - how could he? He's been so shaken up by everything already, so upset that he can't do things and he can't remember why, and Ronnie really just...oh, Ronnie, why? And you said it was because Brandon tried to tell him it's not his fault he got hurt? Seriously?"

     Mandy nodded, squeezing her lips together tightly, and Tana closed her eyes and tilted her head back toward the florescent lights on the ceiling. "God, Ronnie, I'm going to kill you, I swear," she hissed to the skies through gritted teeth, and then she sighed heavily and counted to ten silently, and then to twenty, trying to compel her wired body to relax. "Well...thanks, Mandy. Is it okay if I...can I visit him? Maybe I could help. Or...do you think we should just leave him alone?"

     The nurse shrugged. "I think he's going to be pretty exhausted, but...I don't think leaving him like this is a good idea, either...and I'm hesitant to just subdue him with medicine, I don't think it would really fix...anything. This is - it really cut him deep, Mrs. Flowers. I've seen how close he was with Ronnie, and for him to...yes, I'll let you in, if you want."

     On rickety legs, Tana forced herself to close the distance to Brandon's room, sucking in a deep, fortifying breath as Mandy opened the door and slipped inside behind her. Brandon lay curled on his side in the dark room, blankets drawn up over his head like a heartbroken child, his slim body wracked violently with sobs.