97
k a r i j o n e s
Advance Reading Copy
wall and instead falls into Ivan, who stumbles and then falls,
hitting his face on the doorjamb as he goes down.
I gasp and scramble over to cradle Ivan’s head in my hand.
“Just go, Maddie,” he whispers.
“What?”
He holds his head in his hands but sits up and says,
“Maddie, leave.”
“Maddie, leave,” mimics Des. His words slur, and he
stumbles as he rights himself.
I’m shaking so much I can hardly form the words to say,
“No, I can’t leave you.”
“We’re fine,” Ivan says. He wriggles until he’s untangled
from Des and stands up.
“Come on, Des, into bed with you.” He once again ducks
under Des’s arm and hoists him by the shoulder.
“Ivan.” I reach out to him, but he moves away. “Please,
Ivan, let me call an ambulance. Or Bo—let me call Bo.
He’ll come and deal with this.”
“Just go, Maddie. We’ll be fine.” He turns his back to me
and walks down the hall to another bedroom.
“Ivan!” I follow him, but he turns at the door and says,
“I know what I’m doing. You should just go.” His voice is
barely a whisper, but there’s no mistaking that he means it.
I don’t understand. Not at all. The only thing I want
at this moment is to get Ivan some help, but he’s already
turning away fromme again, and as he does, he says, “Please
don’t tell anyone, Maddie. Not Bo, not anyone.”
