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Liem silently—yes, silently—handed the backpack over to Cody, eyes glued to his movements as he rummaged through it and pulled out a set of my clothes for himself. I blinked the scene in front of me into focus twice to confirm I hadn’t just blacked out.
Very interesting, but I wasn’t about to question it, especially when Cody became my new best friend by zipping up the bag and handing it to me with a wink. “Room 2.”
28
BREE
The nurse who triaged and examined me, cut off my rainboot, and got me to and from radiology was so kind that I felt an instant connection to her. She even managed to sneak in some life lessons in our short time together that would change my life forever.
JK.
It was past midnight at the emergency department of an understaffed, overcrowded hospital. The nurse, Tanya, was brisk and mostly silent as she efficiently did her job. I had received no epiphanies.
The silence did give my mind time to wander, and it ended up where it almost always did—on Grandmother. I adjusted my foot where it was propped up high on several pillows and lounged back on the hospital bed. To my knowledge, Grandmother had never been in the hospital, but I could easily imagine all the staff, no matter how overworked and overtired they were, falling under her charm. By the time she’d left, I’m sure they’d all have one of her signature rare-coin business cards in their pockets, and she’d have one of them in her pocket for any course of treatment—or nontreatment—that she deemed appropriate for herself.
My phone vibrated on the table beside me—thankfully not too terribly damaged from its mistreatment this evening—and I opened a text from Cody.
Cody
*eyes emoji* Your boo bear is *fire emoji* *hot face emoji*
Interesting, considering I hadn’t told Cody about Vinh yet.
It buzzed again. And again, and again.
Cody was the worst cluster texter. I pushed aside the annoying voice—my conscience?—that reminded me of my dumpster-fire series of texts I’d sent him a few nights ago.
Why did I want to respond that to all of his questions, all about you, btw, with…
His next message contained the Chuck Norris “yes, sir” gif.
*smirk emoji*
I snorted. It reminded me so much of high school. The years we weren't allowed to have our phones out in class, Cody would throw notes at me constantly, which meant I left each school day with a bag full of his chicken-scratch stream-of-consciousness thoughts. I still had them in a box at the Big House, tucked away in the back of a closet. I really needed to find those before Grandmother reviewed tonight’s footage from the security camera and had me barred from the property.
My phone buzzed just two more times.
But in the name of clear, healthy communication I need you to know that I’m still angry and we’re going to have a blowout fight ASAP. You can sit down for it, so don’t worry about your ankle.
I’ll see you tomorrow. Liem’s going to give me a ride back to Dad’s. *kiss emoji*
I sat up straight in the hospital bed, feeling my smile drop as I reread the last text. He left? And yes, we were going to be having words tomorrow, especially since he dodged every single question I had about how he was here and where Austin was.
And the nature of his relationship with Liem.
Grimacing at my damp clothes, I turned toward the doorway and found Vinh leaning against the doorjamb, ankles and arms crossed, a rain jacket stretched tight across his shoulders, and a backpack slung over his shoulder. He was watching me with startling intensity and a good bit of scrutiny too, making me keenly aware of my bedraggled appearance. His eyes methodically, almost clinically, traced every inch of my body. I tried to smooth my hair back as I took in his damp, messy black hair, boots and jeans covered in mud splatter, and finally, the questioning look in his eyes.
Or maybe that was just the naturally arched brow I was obsessed with.
I swallowed thickly and readied myself to break the silence and see what lay on the other side. “Hi, Vinh.”
His answering smile was warm, loosening a bit of the tightness in my chest.
“Good morning, Bree.” His eyes darkened, the double meaning of the greeting apparent. He uncrossed his arms and strode to my bedside, frowning at my ankle as he hesitantly reached out. He glanced at me long enough to get permission, keeping his touch featherlight as he brushed his fingers over the sliver of bare skin above my ankle, careful to not topple the cold compress resting on top of my foot. Shivers shot up my leg, and I squirmed.
Mistaking the reaction for discomfort, he removed his hand with a murmured apology and pulled up a rolling chair to sit by my side.
“We’re waiting on the X-ray results. It should only be a few more minutes. But they don’t think it’s broken or anything. Probably just needs to be iced and elevated,” I explained. “Definitely a waste of a trip, especially since it ended up dragging you and Liem out of bed. But at least it wasn’t busy, so I could camp out in an actual room.”
