Zac Hanson
Then the phone rang.
My father excused himself from the table as he got up to answer it, mumbling something about salesmen and how people would probably like them a little more if they didn't purposely call during dinnertime.
Half-listening on, I only caught bits and pieces of the conversation. When my father's voice changed dramatically from his usual "phone tone" to a tone that almost suggested panic, everyone still present at the table simultaneously looked up from their plates. My mother got up from the table and went into the kitchen to see what was going on. My eyes instinctively darted to the empty chair that Taylor normally occupied and then met with Isaac's eyes.
"We'll be there as fast as we can," I heard my father say from the kitchen into the phone. "Okay...All right...Good-bye."
It was so silent in the room that we could all hear the click of the phone being put back into the cradle. Even Zoe wasn't making any sounds. Her curious eyes searched all of us. Even as young as she was, she coud obviously feel the tension in the room.
When my parents re-entered the room, the expressions they wore on their now pallid faces weren't good for anybody's nerves.
"That was Gina," my father began finally, his voice oddly even, as if he were numb with shock. "You all remember Gina, right?"
He said it the way he usually asked us if we remembered an aunt or an uncle that we hadn't seen since we were very young.
We all nodded in unison.
"Parker's mother," Isaac added as if it needed to be said.
"Right," my father said. "Well, it....It appears that...It appears that something happened. Something bad. Uh, Taylor's in the hospital."
My eyes went wide.
"Is he going to be all right?" I asked instinctively.
"They don't know yet," my father said.
"What happened?" Isaac asked next.
"Gina's not sure. Parker called Gina from the hospital. She said that he wasn't exactly clear with details, so she didn't really know."
Again, we all nodded. I felt the numb shock that I could hear in my father's voice wash over me.
"I think you'd better get packed. I'm going to call the airport," he said, walking back into the kitchen with my mother following him with Zoe in her arms. Once they were far enough away, we could hear them speaking with each other, but couldn't make out what they were saying. We all obediently got out of our chairs and went to pack.
I was the last one to walk into the room that Taylor, Isaac, and I shared and as soon as I closed the door, Isaac sat down on the bed and covered his face with his hands. It wasn't long before I saw his shoulders shaking.
Not being very accustomed to being the comforter, but knowing I had to do something, I hesitantly walked over ot him and sat beside him carefully. I wasn't sure what to say. Luckily, he was the first one to speak.
"I don't get it, Zac," he whispered, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "I mean...is this some sort of test or something."
"I don't know," I said slowly.
"I mean, where the hell did all this come from all of a sudden?" he said. "Barely two weeks ago...Taylor was just one of my little brothers and the biggest thing I had to worry about was how long it would be before he emerged from his latest low funk."
I nodded, knowing what he meant but not knowing what to say.
"And now..," he said, gesturing toward the air.
"Look, Ike, it might not be that bad," I said carefelly. "For all we know he accidentally hurt himself with a common household appliance. You know how Tay is."
"That's true," he said, smiling a little. "But still...I mean, the way Dad made it sound..."
"Dad doesn't know any more than we do right now," I said.
"Still..." he said, sniffing. I don't think in the course of my entire life I had seen Isaac cry as much as I had seen him cry over the past couple of weeks. It scared me. Mostly because if he wasn't able to keep it together, I was the next in line to have to do it. And I wasn't exactly prepared to take the job.
"Look, there isn't much we can do about it now," I said, getting up. "We may as well just start packing or something."
He nodded. "Yeah, you're right," he said, standing up himself. He sighed and began going through some of our drawers, taking out random articles of clothing and laying them on the bed.
"Do you think Taylor would want us to bring anything for him?" I asked, trying to speak positively in the hopes that it would help comfort him a little bit.
"I don't know," he said, not looking up.
"Clothes? Comfort objects?" I wasn't about to say "old toys." "Nothing?"
After a momentary puase, Isaac looked up at me.
"There might be one thing," he said.
"What's that?" I asked, preparing to retrieve it.
He pointed to his heart and immediately I knew what he meant. I nodded in agreement, pointing to my own heart before going back to our closet to dig out more clothes and things to bring with us.