Fuck.
“If you see Nina before you see them, there’ll be hell to pay,” Bryce warned.
“How bad do I look?”
“Like death warmed over.”
“Thanks.” I punched his arm.
“Austin?”
“Yeah?”
“You ever run background checks on us?”
I nodded. Knowing how it sounded, I said, “Only to make sure everyone was safe.”And give myself some sense of connection. A false sense. So many things, important things like Eva’s love of old words, didn’t show up in background checks.
“You know we’re going to discuss this later, right?”
I did. He accepted my nod as the only reply I’d give.
“Can you send the herd in?”
“The nurse may throw a fit,” he chuckled, “but yeah.”
“Then I want to see Nina.” Understatement of the year. I had to see her to make sure she was okay.
“I’ll talk to John.”
When had Bryce stopped calling him Uncle John?
So many things I didn’t know about my family. Luckily, I planned on spending my medical leave of absence in Weatherford and Laurel Springs.
The instant Bryce opened the door, Cassie, Dalton, and Eva rushed to my bedside.
Laughing when they pulled up fast and knocked into each other like the Three Stooges hurt my ribs and soothed my nerves.
“Hey Big Brother,” Cassie said. “Is it safe to hug you?”
“Just be gentle.”
Cassie’s hug was physically gentle, emotionally powerful, and everything I needed. The strength of her love,love I don’t deserve but will earn, brought tears to my eyes. Tears I didn’t bother wiping away.
“Please tell me the other guy looks worse,” Dalton said, holding up his fist.
Eva gasped when I said, “They do.”
“Hey, come here.” I beckoned her closer. “I’m okay.”
She stared at me with tear-filled eyes for three Mississippi's before accepting my extended hand.
“You don’t look okay.” She called me on my lie as she squeezed.
“Give me a week and I’ll be right as rain.” Except for my ribs and knee, they’d need longer. After a week, facial recognition programs would recognize my face.
The room went quiet. Four very different sets of eyes looked everywhere but at me.
A knock interrupted the awkward silence a second before a nurse walked in.
