Keeping 13

Four days later, on Friday, Johnny decides to rebuild his old tree house. He is overwhelmed by the grief, the social workers, and the number of people calling him a “hero.” Gibsie finds him out there and calls their teammates Hughie and Feely to help.

The boys spend the rest of the afternoon fixing the tree house. Afterward, they talk about what happened. Johnny tells them that Joey is going to go into rehab for substance misuse for the summer. He has been in a spare bedroom with Shannon the last few days, spending all their time together. The court issued emergency custody of Shannon and her siblings to Johnny’s parents, and Darren supported the idea.

Shannon sits with Joey in the bedroom and tries to comfort him, but he ignores her, lying in bed and staring at the wall. Edel knocks on the door, informing Shannon that Claire and Lizzie are there to see her. She hesitates, but then Aoife walks into the room. Before, Joey had insisted that he didn’t want her to see him going through withdrawal. However, Aoife goes up to him and cradles his head, and Joey moves for the first time in days as he hugs her around the abdomen.