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Jamie headed for the kitchen and called over her shoulder, “I’ll go get you some. Anything else?”
“Just the ibuprofen. And water. Please.”
I leaned my head back against the couch and closed my eyes, begging for a reprieve from the pain, but all I saw was a different kind of pain. Cassie getting hit, and me running toward her. My eyes shot open to stop seeing the image of her like that, and Jamie was there, holding an Advil bottle and a water.
“Your hair.” She studied me and sucked in a breath through clenched teeth.
“That bad?” I had no idea what I looked like, and wasn’t looking forward to getting in front of a mirror.
“It’s pretty matted,” she said, frowning. “Is Cassie okay? Have you talked to her?”
“I talked to Jack. He’s with her now.”
“Oh, good. I bet he’s pissed, though,” she said before looking at Matt and Brett.
Matt winced. “I’m sure we’ll get an earful the next time we see him.”
“Speaking of, I need to call him before we leave.”
I pulled out my phone and glanced at Brett, who stood next to the couch, refusing to sit down in case the blood transferred from his shirt and stained the furniture. I hadn’t been as thoughtful.
“Where are you?” Jack said instead of saying hello.
“At Matt’s. Are you staying at Cassie’s tonight?” I asked, already assuming the answer.
“Yeah.”
“Can I stay there too?”
“Hold on.” He covered the phone, muting his voice for a moment. “She says it’s fine.”
“Okay, cool. Do you guys need anything?”
“I don’t think so. Hold on, I’ll double-check.” He covered the phone once more before saying, “She says no.”
“Do you think Cassie will care if I stay there all weekend?”
The last thing I wanted was to give Gran and Gramps something extra to worry about. If I looked as bad as Jamie seemed to think I did, I could only imagine how Gran would react when she saw me.
No, it was best to lay low for a couple of days until I could pass muster.
“She won’t care,” Jack said. “But make sure Gran knows we’re both staying here before you leave.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
“Okay. See you soon.”
I put away my phone and moved to stand up. “I’m ready,” I said to Brett, and then looked at Jamie. “Thanks so much for the aspirin and water.”
“Of course. Feel better, and tell Cassie to call me, okay?” she said before giving me a cautious hug.
“I will. See you later, Matt. Sorry about the couch.” I glanced at it and grimaced at the small dots of blood I’d left behind.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, waving me off. “Drive safe.”
Playing House
After some disagreement because he was worried about my driving, Brett finally agreed to follow me as I slowly drove Gran’s car home. It was late and I was tired and felt like shit, but I couldn’t leave her and Gramps without a car for the weekend. Thank goodness she had an extra set of keys, so I just left the car in the driveway and didn’t have to go inside and risk her seeing me like this.
