Certainty by Eileen Sharp

what he would say, but I couldn't.
    I reached out and put my ha nd over his. “Get better soon. Without you my brain will melt from watching 'Say Yes to the Dress' all day.”
    He squeezed my hand back but he didn’t try to say anything, looking back at me with his empty gaze. I don’t think he understood what I said.
    When we came out of Derek’s room, Mom was waiting with Granpop. She searched our faces.
    “He looks a little scary right now,” she said to James.
    His eyes watered and his mouth trembled. I put my arm around him. He s tarted to wipe his tears away, but then mom hugged him and he buried his face in her arms.              
    Granpop put a tanned, weathered hand on James’ head. “It’s all right, son.”
    “I’ll take them home and then come back to give you a break,” Dad said to Mom, his face a mixture of pain and stoic determination.
    Mom agreed and James and I left with Dad. The three of us stepped out of the hospital into the cold sunlight, the wind sweeping in across the parking lot and chilling me through my sweat-shirt. As we walked past the rows of brightly gleaming cars I thought about Derek and the way he looked at me.  At first I thought he was dazed, but it was more than that. I couldn't put my finger on it but it was as if only part of Derek was staring back at me. I shivered and pushed away my alarm.
    I had to be positive. He needed time to recover and then it would be all right. And what about my feelings last night after I prayed? Everything was going to be okay. Then I remembered the rest of it.
    Even if it isn't okay .
    No. Derek was going to come back, he had to. We needed him to.
    I ran and caught up with Dad and James. Dad clicked the key fob to unlock his Explorer and James and I got in.
    I let James have the front seat. The faint smell of grease and grass was comforting. Dad turned the key and the truck grumbled to life, as did the radio. Dad turned it down and pulled out of the parking space. James stared out the window and so did I. We were all thinking the same thing, I knew. Would Derek ever be the same?
    On the way home Dad bought us lunch at and we ate in the car, the sun baking us through the closed windows. The food woke us up a little, enough for Dad and James to play Punch Buggy. I tried but I'm not as quick to spot the "buggies".
    We got home and I took a shower. Afterwards I finally checked my phone. It was dead, so I plugged it in and sat on the couch to go through my texts. There was a number I didn’t know with the text, Hi its ren is Derek ok?
    I immediately hit reply, wondering how he knew my number. Probably from Katie. Yes sort of
    What day was it? It must be Sunday—time had blurred. Normally my family would go to church, but not today. It felt like Saturday, or maybe some strange extra day of the week.
    My phone buzzed right away and I checked it. It was from Ren. I'm glad he's ok.
    “Kenzie,” my Dad came in the living room, showered and dressed, and even shaved, wearing a navy polo and some crisp khakis. “I’m going back to the hospital so your mom can get some rest. Take care of James, for me, all right?”
    “Sure.” I could hear the shower running, which surprised me. Usually Mom and Dad have to threaten to cut off James’ allowance before he will take a shower. My dad turned to go and I stopped him.
    “Dad?  You said the driver was young. What was his name?”
    “Kyle Worthington. He’s barely seventeen.”
    Dad must have seen the shock on my face because he asked, “Did you know him?”
    “Yes. He’s in my homeroom.” I sat there, absorbing the improbable—or not so improbable. “He must be freaked out,” I said, finally.
    Dad sighed and put his hands in his pockets, a little of his farmer’s tan showing under his polo sleeves. “He was. I told him we knew it was an accident and we weren’t angry at him. He kept saying he was sorry.”
    “Wow.” I stared at Dad, thinking of how scary it would be to hit someone.