“Jayna?”

The familiar voice intruding on the noisy loneliness that filled her hospital room made Jayna’s heart jump, and the monitor behind her head beeped annoyingly. She barely remembered her injured back in time before trying to turn toward the door.

“Jax?” The word wavered, but then Jax’s face came into view—not on a phone screen like it’d been for a week, but actually next to her bed. “Isn’t it late? Why are you up? How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.” Jax’s hand settled gently over hers. “Fever’s stayed down more than a day this time, so they might let me go soon. How are you? You weren’t answering. I was getting worried. Sweet-talked the nurses into letting me come.”

“Mom took my phone last night. Chat was blowing up when I was getting sleepy.” Jayna blinked against the double sting of loneliness and guilt. “But she had loads of jobs today, so she left before I woke up, and she’s been gone all day. And it’s on silent or dead, so I can’t even tell the nurses where to look.” A hot tear slipped from the corner of her eye, and she rubbed it awkwardly against the pillow.

“Guess I can’t exactly go searching.” Jax glanced at his wheelchair and the leg propped in front of him on one of the footrests, wrapped in layers of splints and bandages. “I’ll ask my mom to come look. But first I have something to show you. They wanted us to watch it together, but obviously we couldn’t get you on a call.”

“From who?” Jayna shifted for a closer look as Jax swiped his tablet open, and a spasm rippled through her back. Jax must have heard her gasp because his hand was immediately on her arm again.

“Careful, Jaye! Don’t hurt it more. From everybody, I guess, but Mercy and Ethan were the planning committee.”

“Mercy and…Ethan?” The incongruity of the thought jerked her attention from the worst of the pain. “How…what?”

“Guess.” Jax’s grin widened, and Jayna thought for a second, then turned her palms up.

“I mean…I’d say Mercy dug some idea out of an old book, but if Ethan’s involved, it’s got to have some kind of wacky twist.”

Jax clapped a hand over his mouth to smother his laughter, probably mindful of his precarious visiting permissions.

“You nailed them,” he managed finally. “Mercy says you should read Jack and Jill, and she doesn’t even care what format. Ready for this?”

Jayna nodded, and Jax lifted the tablet so they could watch together. The video started with their whole small youth group gathered in front of the camera, calling hellos to both of them before finishing in semi-unison with “Happy Washington’s Birthday!”

“Wait…aren’t we past that?” Jayna glanced over at Jax as the picture bounced and panned off-center to Ross, their youth leader, who was apparently manning the camera.

“Holiday was Monday, but Mercy went with Washington’s actual birthday. Said it was more accurate.” Jax winked, and Jayna smiled a little, turning back to the video.

The scene cut to Maria Dolores’s littlest brother in a too-big tricorn hat, hacking at the base of a magnolia with a plastic toy saw, while Jonah attempted to shove his face into the corner of the screen, yelling something about the story being apocryphal until Ethan wrestled him out of the frame. Then Gabe appeared with his glasses pushed down his nose, squint-scowling at the little boy effectively enough that Maria Dolores had to prompt his intrinsic honesty from off-camera.

Next they were at the river, with Jonah wearing the same hat, balancing precariously in his granddad’s fishing boat, and holding a large and very modern American flag as Gabe and Finley sat behind him, trying to look like they were rowing while not upsetting the rocking boat. 

“How wet did they get?” Jayna whispered, and Jax just laughed.

The shot changed to Mercy in an armchair with an old-fashioned cap on her head, the flag in her lap, and a needle in her hand. Gabe stood in front of her, respectfully holding the tricorn and describing the symbolism of the flag he wanted, which they were apparently pretending hadn’t already appeared in the Delaware crossing and wasn’t currently lying finished in her lap. But the scene after was the funniest of all, featuring Ethan with the hat lying next to him, kneeling in prayer in front of an interested alpaca, which kept trying to eat his hair, while Jonah and Mercy argued off-screen with Finley, who had all but promised to borrow an actual horse.

By the time the production finished with a circle of “get well”s, Jayna had tears running down her cheeks, but as Jax set the tablet back in his chair, her laughter dissolved into sobs. Immediately, Jax’s hand was on her arm.

“Jayna. Jayna! Come on, don’t! You’ll hurt your back more, and they’ll never let me in here again!”

“W-why do they care, Jax? Why do y-you still care? It’s all my fault! I’m the one who—distracted you and p-put us here.”

“Jaye, don’t! It was my fault as much as yours. I was driving; I should’ve paid more attention. And besides, you think I’d just, what, quit being friends? Over one bad decision? Come on, Jayna, look at me.”

Jayna blinked hard to clear her streaming eyes, and Jax leaned closer.

“God doesn’t write you off for a failure, Jaye. And we won’t either. Mom told me today she’s going to rent hotel rooms right next door, so we’re sticking around for a while. And now that I’m out of bed, I’m going to haunt this place until they let you come with us.”

“Jax…” Jayna’s voice failed, and Jax squeezed her hand tighter.

“We’re in this with you. Whatever happens. We all are. And as soon as Mom finds your phone, I’m going to show you how to set up night mode, so you’ll never spend another day without proof.”