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Morgan were sitting in the living room with Grandma and
    Grandad, and Dawn had disappeared.
    “Dawn’s with Mom,” I reported to Ducky.
    A few more minutes went by and Ducky and I heard the front door open. We turned around and saw Grandma and Grandad.
    “Call us,” Grandma was saying to Dad.
    “No matter what time, son,” Grandad added, and touched Dad’s shoulder. I have always thought that Dad is lucky to have parents like Grandma and Grandad.
    Dad closed the front door, and Ducky and I stood up.
    “You remember Ducky?” I said.
    Ducky stuck out his hand and first Grandma, then Grandad shook it. But nobody said anything.
    Then Grandma turned to me. “You too, honey,” she said. “You call us anytime. For any
    reason.”
    “Okay,” I replied. I wasn’t sure why she said that because I thought it was kind of understood. I mean, I call them plenty of times for plenty of reasons.
    Grandad hugged me then and stepped off the porch. Grandma took my hand and held it and
    looked deep into my eyes. She started to say something, then pursed her lips to keep from crying, turned, and followed Grandad. They got into their car and pulled out of the driveway.
    Ducky and I looked at each other. Finally I said, “Want to go inside?”
    Ducky looked like that was the very last thing he wanted to do, but he said, “Sure,” stood up, and held the door open for me.
    Dad and Aunt Morgan were standing in the kitchen, conferring about something. The door to Mom’s room was still ajar. It opened slowly and Dawn tiptoed out. She was crying.
    “What — ” I started to say.
    But Dawn held her finger to her lips. “Shh,” she said very, very quietly. And she headed for the front door. So Ducky and I turned around and followed her back outside.
    Ducky looked at Dawn’s tearstained face and held his arms out to her. He enveloped her in a bear hug. And once again a cold feeling washed over me. Had Mom …? No, she couldn’t have.
    Dad and Aunt Morgan wouldn’t have been talking so calmly in the kitchen. They would have been I Mom’s room. Or on the phone or something.
    I waited until the fear had melted away, sighed hugely, and then said, “Dawn, what is it?”
    Ducky released Dawn from the hug and she turned to me. She was still too choked up to speak, but I had the feeling that even if she could have spoken, she wouldn’t have wanted to.
    “Sunny,” said Ducky, “I’m going to walk Dawn home.”
    “Okay. I’m glad you guys came over.”
    “Me too,” replied Ducky. “Want me to call you tonight?”
    “Sure. Definitely.”
    Dawn and Ducky left and I went into the house again. I hadn’t spoken to Mom in hours and I knew I had to go into her room.
    So I did.
    9:58 P.M.
    Quiet. Nothing going on downstairs. The phone has rung a couple of times. That’s all.
    Dad and Aunt Morgan were still in the kitchen. They were sitting at the table with some papers spread around them. I signaled that I was going in to see Mom and they nodded.
    I stepped into Mom’s room, which we’ve been keeping dark. For some reason, the light
    sometimes hurts Mom’s eyes. She was lying on her bed, looking paler than ever. Honestly, her skin sometimes looks translucent. You can see her veins in places — places you wouldn’t expect to be able to see them. Her breathing was shallow and her eyes were half open.
    “Mom?” I whispered.
    Her eyes opened. “Hi, honey. How was school?”
    I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the reason I hadn’t visited her all day was not because I’d been at school, but because I was a great big coward.
    “Well …” I began. Was I actually going to lie to my mother? Lie to her now? I couldn’t do that.
    But then, I really couldn’t tell her I’d been home the entire day and hadn’t come into her room even once. Finally I said, “It was about the same.” I figured that probably wasn’t a lie. I was sure school had been about the same. I just hadn’t been there.
    Okay, okay. I feel very bad