I feel lost. Something is going on. She’s acting weird. “Hi, sweetness.” I hold out my one good hand for her. “Come here.”
She sits on the edge of my bed. Touches her forehead to mine. “You’re awake. You’re—you’re alive.” She hiccups, sobs. “I—I thought you were dead. You—you were barely breathing. I thought I’d lost you. Again.”
“I’m okay, Ky. I mean, I’m all kinds of f**ked up, but I’ll be okay.” She nods, but doesn’t say anything. “What is it, Kylie? Something’s wrong.”
“The front desk…they wouldn’t tell me your room number.”
“What? Why?”
“Be—because I didn’t know your real name.”
“Oh. Shit.”
She sniffles, makes an odd sound that I can’t decipher. “Yeah. I asked for you. For Oz. I just wanted to see my boyfriend. I was a little crazy, and they just wouldn’t—they wouldn’t tell me where you were. ‘His name is Oz Hyde,’ I said. You want to know what they said? What they told me?”
“What?” I almost don’t want to know. It’s just a name. I don’t see why it matters, but she’s acting so strange.
“They told me your name. Your whole, real name.” A pause, a deep breath. “Benjamin Aziz Hyde.” She pronounces it slowly, each syllable succinct and clear.
“Yeah. So?”
My door opens then, and Ben comes in. As he approaches me, hands in his pockets, his eyes …they’re…god, I’ve never seen such torture in a person’s eyes before.
“Ben. What—what the f**k are you doing here?” I demand.
He just stares at me for a moment, and then he squeezes his eyes shut as if to hold back strong emotions. “I’m sorry…Oz. I’m so sorry. I should…I should never have…acted the way I did.”
I blink. He’s the last person I ever expected to see walk through that door, and I certainly never expected an apology from him. “I’m not sure what you want to me say here, man.”
“Nothing. You don’t have to say anything. I was…I was way out of line, and I’m sorry. That’s all I wanted to say.” He draws a deep breath, and lets it out. Looks at Kylie.
“I think Kylie’s the one you should be apologizing to, not me.” The pain on his face makes it impossible to hate him. “It was an accident, Ben. A fight’s a fight, but getting hit by a car like I did, it could’ve been either of us.”
He just nods, and it seems like he wants to say something else, but can’t get it out.
An awkward silence ensues.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore. I look at Kylie. “What is so important about my name?”
“Your name is Benjamin. So’s his.”
I shake my head. “So? It’s a fairly common name. It’s just a coincidence.”
She leans forward. “But you two—you almost look alike. I mean, both of you have almost the same color of skin, like, exactly the same shade. Your noses, they’re almost identical, too. And your eyes…Oz, yours have more gray in them, but your eyes are almost the same, too. It’s eerie. I’ve noticed it before, but…having the same first name? It’s too weird to be a coincidence.”
“So what? We’re…like, long-lost brothers or something?”
Kylie shakes her head. “I don’t know. It’s just bizarre.”
Ben paces away, across the room. “No way we’re f**king brothers. There’s no f**king way in hell my parents would keep a secret like that from me. And besides that, I know for a fact my parents have never been with anyone but each other. It’s impossible. It is weird, though.” He growls and heads toward the door. “I need some air.”
He leaves, and Kylie fits her feet onto the bed, lies beside me, and nuzzles into me. “It’s crazy, but it doesn’t even matter.” She carefully rests her hand on my chest, avoiding my injured arm and leg. “I love you. You’re alive. That’s all I care about right now.”
“I love you, too.” I twist my head to kiss her temple, and she turns her face to meet my lips. It’s a quick, shallow kiss. I break it first. “But for real…what the hell is going on? I don’t—I don’t get it.”
Kylie sighs. “I talked to your mom. She’s on the way, too.” She kisses my jaw.
I lift my good arm so she can rest her head in the nook. We let silence wash over us, except for the beeping of the monitors and the occasional squawk of the PA. I almost fall back asleep, but then I hear footsteps approaching, and my door opens. Mom comes in, followed by Ben. Kylie doesn’t move from my side, but I know she’s awake and watching, waiting.
Mom leans over me and kisses my forehead. I don’t remember the last time Mom kissed me. “Oz, baby. I’m so glad you’re awake. How do you feel?”
“Hurt. Confused. Fucked up.” I glance at Ben, then back at Mom. “Where did you get my name?” I demand.
She pales. “What? Why are you asking now?” She backs away, shaking her head. “I’m not—we’re not discussing that now. We’ll talk about it when you’re feeling better.”
“We’ll talk about it right the FUCK now!” I shout. Kylie flinches, but doesn’t otherwise move or speak.
“Hold up, Oz. Wait till my folks are here,” Ben says.
Mom is staring at Ben as if she’s seeing a ghost. “Who—who are you?”
“Ben Dorsey.” He shakes her hand, his expression impassive. It’s as if he’s shoved all emotions down, deep into a locked closet of his soul.
“Ben Dorsey,” Mom repeats. “You look—you look like—”
She doesn’t finish, though, because the door opens one more time, and Jason comes through, Becca right behind her. Jason steps aside, and Becca moves forward, past him, toward me. She sees Mom standing at the side of my bed, on the opposite side of Kylie.
“No…” Becca breathes. “It’s not…it’s not possible.” She stumbles, pale, hand over her mouth. “Kate?” She leans into Jason, staring at Mom in shock and old pain.
Mom sags backward against the wall, clutches the railing of my bed as if she’s about to faint. “Becca. My god.”
I look from Mom to Becca. “Wait…you know each other?” My fists clench. “What the hell is going on? Somebody start giving me some goddamn answers.”