Three Day Summer(49)

“He punched him,” Rob says.

“Who punched you?” I ask Wes.

“No,” Rob says. “He.” He points at Wes. “Punched him.” He points at Michael.

“Oh my God,” I realize, horrified. “What?!”

“And then, of course,” Evan continues calmly, “I had to defend my friend.” He gestures to Wes’s bloody nose. “Even though I’m a pacifist. Usually.”

“Oh my God,” I say again, lost for other words.

“I’m sorry, but he’s an *, Cora,” Wes starts, his voice nasal from the blood and the handkerchief. “Seriously, I need to start filtering your boyfriends. First, that guy, now this?” He nods at someone behind me and I stupidly look in that direction. Of course it’s Ned, standing there frowning. We are, after all, not that far from the opening of the tent. I’m sure he heard every word.

“Are you out of your mind?” I seethe at Wes. “First of all, he’s not my boyfriend.” I realize I’m not sure if I’m talking about Ned or Michael. Both, I guess.

“You’re damn right he isn’t!” comes a voice from behind. I look to see Amanda storming up to me. “Can’t we take him to another tent?” she asks Rob. “I don’t want this hussy—”

“Hey!” Wes says. “Don’t talk about my sister—”

“Oh, shut the hell up, Wes,” I say. “I can fight my own battles. Thank you.” And immediately, I’m struck with the thought of Amanda and me ending up with two broken noses ourselves.

But instead, I turn to her as calmly as I can. “Look, he’s unconscious and he needs medical attention. Let them bring him inside. Now. Or do you want to risk his life because you’re too worried he’ll come crawling for me in his sleep?”

I hear Rob whistle under his breath.

I said I was calm, not that I wasn’t feeling vicious. Also, I realize saying his life is at risk is a little dramatic. But then again, I don’t think this girl can deal with anything other than drama.

“You stay away from him . . . ,” Amanda sputters.

“Fine, whatever,” I say, thinking quickly. Michael really needs to get checked out, no matter who wants to claw out whose face. “I have other patients to deal with.”

Of course, Ned is the closest person at hand, so, in my best brisk-nurse voice, I ask him if he can help the boys bring Michael in, and tell him that I’ll be examining my brother.

Ned is silent as he leads the boys into the tent. The three girls follow. I’m sure they’re going to get kicked out as soon as Anna realizes there’s only one patient, so I need to make this quick.

I turn around and punch Wes in the arm.

“Ouch!” he says, dropping his bloody handkerchief to grab his arm.

“What the hell, Wes?”

“Look, he’s with that pretty blond girl, okay? He’s jerking you around.” While he’s talking, the medical side of me quickly starts to examine his face. I touch his nose lightly.

“Ow!” he yells again. “Stop it.”

“I’m not trying to hurt you! I’m examining you,” I say in exasperation. “Now, hold still.”

His nose is definitely bruised but not broken. He breathes in through his mouth as I touch a particularly painful spot. “He’s not jerking me around,” I finally say. “I know he’s with her. I’ve always known, okay? Besides, he’s just a friend. Who’s leaving town tomorrow,” I add for emphasis.

Wes looks down at me. Neither of us knows what to say. I stop touching his face. “I can get you cleaned up,” I say.

“Cora,” he says. “I’m . . . sorry.”

I sigh. “I know your intentions were honorable and all. But is this really the time to finally find your courage?”

There’s a beat where he doesn’t know exactly how to react, until I smile up at him.

“Ouch,” he says for the third time. “I guess I deserved that.” He touches his nose gingerly. “What needs to happen here?”

“Not much we can do, really,” I say. “The bleeding seems to have stopped. We can just clean off the blood.”

“Okay if I run along instead then? That way I can catch some of the concert.” He looks over at the tent. “And you can make sure your friend is okay.”

I look at him. “Yeah, it’s okay,” I finally say. And then, right before he leaves, I have to ask. “Wait. Is this because you want Dad to see you finally got into a fight?”

He grins and shrugs before heading off.

I look after him and then take a deep breath before I walk back into the tent.

Sure enough, just as I expected, one of the other nurses is telling Michael’s friends they have to leave.

“No!” Amanda says. “That’s how we got separated for two days last time!” She sees me and glares.

“I’m sorry, there’s just not enough room in here . . . ,” the nurse continues.

I walk over to them. “What if you guys wait just right outside? He’ll hopefully wake up soon. I’ll come and give you updates. . . .”

“No way,” Amanda says. “I do not need to see your bitch face ever again.”