Page 53 of 16 Forever

“Have the doctors,” I say, “like Dr. Reedy and whoever else... Have they ever said they think I’ll get to seventeen? Do they have hope?”

“Honestly, Carter,” Mom says as she grabs a tissue from my nightstand and blows her nose, “I generally believe in doctors. But when it comes to this? And a condition they’ve never seen before? They say a lot of fancy things, and they try to seem confident, but it’s become clear to me none of it means all that much. Because they don’t have a fucking clue what’s going on with you.”

“Whoa, Mom. Language.”

“As you know, sometimes cursing is necessary. And cathartic.”

“Fuck yeah I do.”

Mom laughs. “And, to answer your question, sweetie:Ihave hope. And so does Dad. Which is why he just set up an appointment for you with an Ayurvedic doctor for early next week.”

“Okay. Do you think that’s the answer?”

Mom shrugs. “Worth a fucking try, right?”

I lean in and hug her again. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Love you, Carter.”

“Love you.” I move my leg, and the pain isn’t nearly as bad. The Advil must be kicking in. “Hey, Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Have we... had this conversation before?”

She pauses a moment, and I can tell she’s not sure if being completely honest will mess with my head too much. “We’ve had a version of it,” she says. “But not exactly like this. This is the best one yet.”

“Sure it is,” I say, laughing.

“Now get your butt out of bed so you can start your Sunday.”

“On it,” I say, and somehow, Mom has made my first hangover feel about a hundred times better than it did ten minutes ago.

Roberta.

That was the driver’s name.

I wonder what I said to Maggie Spear. Hope I didn’t embarrass myself.

I should message her to say thanks.

I pick up my phone and see a string of texts from Bodhi:

Yo heard you got a car home, sorry didn’t get to say bye

I was too busy DOMINATING BEER PONG w Lizzy

And then we DOMINATED EACH OTHER’S MOUTHS

(we made out hardcore is what I mean by that)

IOU for getting us into the party, it really was a movie

I text back:YOU AND LIZZY! YEAHHHHHH

I’m happy for him. I almost mention Maggie, but I don’t need to have another useless exchange about Muggy Sphere.

I check to see if Maggie’s name is in my contacts so I can text her, but of course it’s not. I have literally nine contacts, and three of them are my family members. I found Maggie on Instagram after I saw her in that yearbook photo, but her account was private and I felt weird trying to follow her. I push the button now.