Page 54 of Thaddeus

“Then why the protest?” Thad inquired.

Oh, no. No more questions. I’d learned my lesson, there was no right answer when it came to Thad. And besides, my parents were not a topic I wanted to discuss.

“None of your business,” I told Thad, then to Declan. “No need to contact my parents.”

Declan eyed me suspiciously but said no more to me and instead went back to Tex. “You got anything else for us?”

“Not at the moment. Stay safe and I’ll be in touch.”

An awkward silence fell over the room and in an effort to break it, I zeroed in on Declan’s injury.

“Do you need stitches on that?” I gestured to his throat.

“Superglue.”

“What?”

“No to the stitches. I superglued it.”

“You superglued it?”

“Yep,” he confirmed.

“I think you need a doctor, Declan. That can get infected.”

“It’s all good, Emerson.”

Fine, whatever, it wasn’t my neck on the line. If Declan wanted to act like a tough guy and superglue his throat back together after it’d been cut, who was I to argue?

“If we’re done, I’m gonna go back upstairs.”

“We’re done for now.”

Without delay I hightailed it out of the room, hit the stairs, and tried my hardest not to take them two at a time. The last half, I may’ve failed.

Tatiana was coming out of the bathroom and I felt it appropriate to thank her for her help.

“Hey, you got a minute?” I asked.

Tatiana stopped brushing her long wavy hair and smiled. “Yeah, of course. Is Brooks still downstairs?”

“Yeah.”

“Come to my room, if you don’t mind, so I can finish getting dressed.”

“If you—”

“No, come on.”

She opened the door to her room and entered. Her and Brooks’ room looked a lot like the one I was staying in, only they had one big bed instead of two.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you, but I wasn’t sure you’d want to talk to me,” she started.

“I’m sorry, I’m normally not so rude. Just with everything the last few days, my manners have taken a hike. Anyway, I want to thank you for the clothes you loaned me. Sorry they’re all muddy. And for uh… bringing me clothes now.”

Tatiana smiled and waved her hand, dismissing my gratitude. “No worries. How are you holding up?”

I thought about her question and part of my thought process was coming up with a lie. But looking into her kind brown eyes I decided on honesty.