On the night before Isaac got out of the hospital, a storm blanketed the world in slick veneer of shiny white, rendering the roads impassable and snapping ice-coated branches off trees. When morning came, brilliant winter sunlight danced along the icicles that lined the roof and sent dazzling beams of light across the snow in the front yard, frozen into a sparkling, pristine covering where it hadn�t been piled by the snowplow. Nora flipped on the morning news. �Tay, school�s canceled.
�Oh, NO!� Taylor wailed. He buried his face in his hands. �It is?�
�I�m sorry,� Nora apologized, reflecting that delivering this news to any other kid would make her feel happy, not guilty. �Maybe there�ll be school tomorrow. . .�
Before Taylor could get too upset, however, he remembered something. �Ike is coming home today.�
Nora nodded, grinning. �Yeah, we�re going to pick him up this morning.�
�I�ll get to come?� Taylor�s eyes gleamed.
�Of course!� Nora assured him.
�Zac, too?� Taylor asked
�Zac too,� Nora agreed.
Taylor threw his arms out into the air. �This is the bestest day of my whole entire life!�
�Remember, when Ike gets home, that even though they�re letting him out, he doesn�t really feel good yet,� Nora cautioned, as they drove to the hospital later that morning.
�Yeah, he�s kinda tired,� Dan agreed. �So don�t all jump on him at once or anything.�
�Kinda tired?� Zac repeated, looking worried.
�I mean, he�s all right. . .� Dan began.
�You have to be quiet,� Taylor told Zac. �You�re too loud.�
Zac�s eyes filled. �I�m not too loud! You. . . you talk too much!�
�I don�t talk too much!� Taylor�s lower lip quivered. �Nora says I talk just enough!�
Dan glanced at Nora. Her eyes were squeezed shut, the corners of her mouth tightened as if suppressing a grin. Dan tried to keep from laughing himself, but his wife sent him over the edge. He snorted. Nora started giggling.
�It�s not funny!� Taylor wailed. �I talk just enough!�
�You talk just enough!� Nora gasped. �That�s right. And Zac, you aren�t too loud!�
�I told you so.� Vindicated, Zac stuck out his tongue at Taylor.
�You guys. . .� Dan began, �do you think Isaac wants to come home and hear you both fighting?�
Instantly, any conflict between Taylor and Zac was entirely forgotten.
�I�m sorry I yelled at you,� Taylor apologized.
�I think you talk just enough,� Zac affirmed.
�So, you aren�t going to fight any more?� Nora prompted.
Taylor looked offended. �Me and Zac never fight!�
�So. . .� Dan said to Isaac, �are you sure you don�t want to stay?�
�Two more years?� Zac piped. �Five more minutes?�
�Are you crazy?� Isaac shook his head. �No way!�
�Uh oh.� Dan bit his lip, sucking in his breath.
�What?� Isaac asked, worried. He wouldn�t feel safe until he was as far away from this hospital as he could get.
�We told them you wanted to stay another week,� Dan said. �I�m sorry, I thought you really did.�
Isaac�s mouth dropped open. �You did not!�
�Shoot,� Dan sighed. �Too bad, huh?�
�Nora, he really didn�t.� Isaac hoped this wasn�t true. �Did he?�
�Dan, that�s mean!� Nora protested. �Ike, of course not.�
�I didn�t believe you,� Isaac told Dan. �I knew you were joking.�
�Right.� Dan nodded.
�I didn�t!� Isaac insisted.
�I know you didn�t.� Dan agreed, grinning.
�I didn�t!� Isaac rolled his eyes. �I promise, I didn�t!�
It felt weird to be wearing regular clothes, Isaac reflected, instead of pajamas. It felt weird to be standing in the elevator, walking down the hall. Through the heavy glass doorway at the end of the corridor, he could see the world outside. His neighborhood.
Not his anymore. He probably wouldn�t live there ever again. Or with his mother, at all, anywhere. His mother wasn�t his anymore, either. She belonged to the state. In prison.
Even his brothers, Isaac thought, observing the easy way Taylor and Zac had attached themselves to Dan and Nora. His brothers weren�t his any more, either. Not the way they had been.
Nora put her arm around Isaac, gently, as they walked down the hall. She didn�t know what he was thinking, but she could sense his hesitance, his uncertainty. �It must be kind of overwhelming,� she said.
Isaac nodded, gratefully. Maybe everything would be okay.
The air outside was frigid, the sunlight blinding, exhilirating. Suddenly, Isaac wasn�t worried about anything. He was out. He was free.
Isaac stared up at the sky for a minute, feeling as if he�d never seen it before. It was beautiful. The dirty gray slush in the gutters was beautiful. The graffiti-scrawled windows of the abandoned pawn shop across the street were beautiful.
Isaac wasn�t sure where he stood right now, or what was going to happen. All he knew was that he was glad to be back.