A Reprieve WHO Evan McKenna OT Savannah McKenna WHAT Lunch date WHERE The Banjo Bar & Grill WHEN Saturday, July 30, 2016 around noon WARNINGS None
Jake's apartment felt empty.
The first couple of days that Jake had been in the hospital, and conscious, Evan hadn't noticed the difference because he'd only been by the apartment long enough to grab a shower and a change of clothes, and to pack a bag for his brother so he wouldn't be stuck wearing the hospital gown home.
After the doctors had decided that a medically-induced coma was necessary, every time Evan unlocked the door to the apartment, he was met with a heavy air of expectancy, as if the place was holding its breath, waiting for its owner to return. It wasn't the first time Evan had had the place to himself. When Jake and Elise had run off to Spain, Evan had revelled in the privacy. It wasn't the same now, and he was just glad that Hadley had spent a lot of time there with him, so he wasn't left alone with his thoughts and the ghost of his brother.
Not that Jake was a ghost. He was going to be fine. He just needed time to heal. Evan believed that, had to believe that, but it didn't change the fact that his family was fractured. Once Jake was better, everything would go back to normal, but it was so far from that right now. That was one reason Evan was so glad to know that Sav was here.
It'd been a long time since he'd hung out with her much, but he could still remember summers when they were younger and the whole brood of McKennas would gather together to be wild and free. Savannah had always been closer to Jake and Lanie and Lance, since they were all around the same age, but you could never really get one McKenna without the others tagging along, and Evan had always been eager to be included. He'd looked up to many of his cousins, as far as family went, because they were so different from his siblings — from different places and different parents, with their own stories and adventures to tell. Savannah had been one of his favorites because of all the things she'd seen and done at such relatively young ages. Aunt Tina hadn't been one to settle down like his parents had, and Evan had enjoyed listening to Savannah talk about the people she'd gotten to meet and the places she'd visited. In fact, his interest had been so pointed that it might have seemed he'd inherited the same wanderlust Jake possessed, but Evan was much more practical. There would be time enough to see the world later. His education had always come first.
He hadn't had a lot of time to just sit and talk with his cousin since she'd arrived in town, though. He wasn't sure what had brought her out this way, or how long she was planning to stay. Making plans to meet her for lunch was a good opportunity to catch up, and also — as much as he was grateful to Hadley and worried about Lanie — it was a welcome reprieve to the feeling that he simply wasn't doing enough to help right now. He wasn't a doctor. He wasn't a witch. And other than using brute strength to carry his sister out of Jake's room — which he wasn't sure wouldn't land him in a hospital room of his own — Evan had no idea what he could do to heal Jake any quicker or to make this easier on his family as a whole.