The House Above the Sea

39.

That day, Neo gets three visitors.

The night before, he got home from the hospital, his right ankle encased in a blocky boot and crutches underneath his arms. His father, sitting in the living room with his head in his hands, jumps up, but Neo turns away from him. His aunt Vivian fusses at him, asking if he needs water or if he'd like her to bake him cookies or if his room is too cold, but Neo sends her off, knowing she's more worried about Joey, who she left in surgery while she drove Neo back to the house.

The first visitor, then, is his father.

He lets Neo sleep, but the second dawn peeks above the palm fronds, Aaron O' Reilly is knocking at the bedroom door, nudging it open with his shoulder before Neo can tell him to leave.

Neo blinks the crud from his eyes and watches his father meander around Joey's duffel bag and a pile of sweaty workout clothes. Balanced on his open palm is a plastic platter, a plate of steaming scrambled eggs, toast, and an obligatory fruit cup sitting on top of it.

Neo sighs. When he speaks, his voice is still crusty from sleep. "I'm not hungry."

Aaron frowns at him. "You need to eat to heal."

"It's just an ankle bone. I'll be fine."

"You broke it in two separate places, Neo."

Neo winces. A funny landing is one thing. A funny landing followed by some heavy lifting is another entirely, and he paid dearly for it.

Reluctantly, Neo accepts the platter. His dad grins and pats Neo's head, ruffling his curls. "There you go."

Neo takes a bite of the eggs, chews, but says nothing. He has nothing to say, in fact, that he hasn't already, and Neo is no waster of words.

He keeps eating, leisurely, twisting his fork around on his plate, until the tension building in Aaron's body finally reaches his breaking point, as Neo knew it would. "I'm angry with you, Neo."

"Really," he says. "I didn't know."

A vein pops in Aaron's neck, but his voice is chilly. "Do not be smart with me."

Neo closes his mouth.

"You stole that ring, for one thing. And then when I tell you it's time to go, you run off like some toddler who doesn't want to leave his playdate," says Aaron, and the words make Neo's blood boil, so much so that he drops his fork with a loud clank. "I know you. I know you know better. So what in the hell has gotten into you?"

Neo scoots the platter aside. He's no longer hungry. "I told you," he snaps. "I told you exactly what's going on here, and that's that I—"

He stops, his throat tightening. No, he thinks. No, I'm not gonna do this here.

Except it's not up to him, and his eyes are already stinging, all the emotion he was fighting back suddenly rushing in on him like an unforeseen storm. He weeps, tears rolling down his cheeks in fat drops, his nose starting to run. There is a ceaseless ache in his chest that worsens when he thinks of his mother, that worsens still when he looks his father in the eye, and sees that he doesn't know what to do, either.

Aaron hesitates, but sits forward, leaning Neo's head against his chest. He pats Neo's back, whispering, "Okay, okay. Tell me what you need me to do, okay? Tell me what you need me to do. Let's work this out somehow."

Neo snivels, his chest heaving in a big gasp. He waits until his shoulders have stopped shaking, until his mouth can form words again. "I can't," he says. The words crack him open, and soon everything is spilling out. "I can't do this anymore, Dad. I don't know how...I don't know how to be a family without Mom, I don't want to know how. Please. I'm begging you. Give her another chance. Give us another chance."