No pain right now. It’s the meds, but everything will hurt in the morning.
“Everyone’s been asking about you. You’ve got an entire hallway and waiting room full of guys waiting to do your bidding. Just say the word, and any of us will do or get whatever your heart desires.”
Mom comes up beside him and my muscles twitch when she touches his arm. Touches him. I turn away, because since Dad died, I’ve been unworthy of touch.
“The doctor said she’s dehydrated, bruised, and that there’s damage to her knee. I’m worried. They’ve mentioned surgery.”
Weird how important surgery seems, but how no one’s mentioned that to me.
“She keeps trying to get out of bed. God only knows where she thinks she’s going. The nurse told Violet to push the button if she needed to use the restroom and Violet seemed to understand, so I don’t have a clue what she’s doing.”
Even though Mom’s talking, Eli keeps his eyes on me and I don’t like that he watches me so intently. My thoughts have been tough to capture, but what if he’s able to read me and he knows what I’ve been assigned to do?
“She’s still not talking,” Mom whispers.
“But I bet her hearing still works,” he responds.
The right side of my mouth turns up and Eli almost smiles along with me. A crinkling near his eyes, a small spark, but his expression then falls near black with seriousness.
I agree. This entire scenario is as serious as a severed artery.
“Are you purposely ignoring me?” Mom pushes down the sleeves of her red sweater. “Because if so, that’s childish. I’ve been worried sick—”
My forehead furrows. The thrumming. It grows louder and causes a slashing pain in my head.
“She’s not ignoring us,” Eli says, and Mom’s guilt trip magically vanishes.
Now it’s his turn to lower his voice like I can’t hear. “Just talked to Pigpen. Chevy’s confirmed it’s been a complicated few hours for her. More than we originally thought.”
The air catches in my throat. Chevy.
“Complicated?” Mom’s hand goes to her chest like the word crushes her lungs. “Complicated how?”
“I’ll tell you in the hallway. I’d like to talk to you and Nina at the same time. An opportunity for all of us to get on the same page.”
Eli angles for the door and I grab his wrist. He knows about Chevy. Eli turns back to me, studies my face, then the worry in his expression fades. Sort of like he had spent the past few hours trying to solve a math problem, but then the answer appeared in a heavenly glow along with a choir of angels.
“Chevy’s okay,” he says like that’s a secret between us. “He’s tough. Just like you.”
He’s okay. That’s a start. I drop Eli’s wrist and calculate how I can find him without Mom freaking out.
“Want to see him?” Eli asks.
Yes.
Eli does a quick scan of the IV leading from me to the machines. A tug of his ear and he sweeps me up into his arms. Multiple hospital sheets and all.
“What are you doing?” Mom demands, but I know and approve. “Eli, her knee. Be careful of her knee!”
“Do me a favor, Jenny, and grab that IV machine.”
And we’re moving. Eli kicks at the closed door of my room as a knock and the door is immediately opened by Hook. He’s Razor’s dad and my mind slowly feels like it’s stretching after being asleep.
Razor.
Oz.
My best friends. My brothers.