Later that day, I pulled Tyler aside.
“Uncle Jason is trying to help Grandma.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to follow him everywhere.”
Tyler stared down at the carpet.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
He didn’t say anything.
I crouched down in front of him.
“If Grandma needs something, she can call me. Uncle Jason isn’t bothering her.”
Tyler finally lifted his eyes toward me.
“Okay, Mom.”
That night, he slept outside her bedroom door again.
I carried him back to his own bed sometime around midnight.
At two in the morning, he was back in the hallway.
I started wondering whether his fear about Grandma’s health had become serious enough that I should find him a counselor.
Then last Thursday happened.
A little after four in the morning, I woke because I thought I could hear someone talking.
I stayed still for a moment and listened.
