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Then everyone looks at me. I grimace. “Yeah, I know. I’m dumb.”
“You’re so much better than him!” Fallon yells at me, and I nod. “You’re lucky you have a great friend who will protect you.”
I move my attention to Asher, but Lucas is looking at him. “Man, how’s the other guy look?”
Aiden scoffs. “Like roadkill. Asher got him good, and the only reason he’s a pirate right now is because the dude was wearing a ring.”
Lucas smacks Asher on the back. “That’s my boy.”
“Lucas!” Fallon exclaims.
“What? He stood up for his friend. He’s a hero. Be proud of him!”
“But he could have lost his eye.”
Lucas shrugs. “Yes, but he looks dashing with the patch.”
“Dad, be real. He looks like a wannabe Jack Sparrow,” Stella says dryly as she looks him over.
“Hopefully his audition tape for that gets lost with the one for Fast and Furious,” Emery says, shaking her head, and I snort.
Asher glares. With one eye. “Guys, I’m good. Can someone get these girls out of here?”
They both feign hurt. “We came to support you and make sure you’re okay, Bootstrap Ash. Be nice,” Emery teases, and then she snorts. “Ha! How will Asher communicate with his other pirate friends?”
Stella grins. “How?”
“Aye to aye!” she announces in her best pirate voice. Asher is not impressed. My side hurts from laughing. Poor Fallon and Lucas are trying not to laugh, while Aiden is lying across the bed cackling. “I got another one! If Asher were a pirate in college, what grades would he get?”
Asher is going to lose his shit. Emery, she doesn’t care. “High seas!”
No one can contain their laughter—well, except Asher. “Chuckle it up, chuckles.”
Oh, she does. She holds up her palms to him, snorting and choking on her laughter. “One more, one more.”
“Can I be discharged?” Asher yells, but Emery is louder.
“It’s really going to be hard to get Asher on the phone now that he’s a pirate.”
Emery looks at us, and Fallon asks, “Why?”
“You know, because he’ll leave it…off the hook!”
The laughter in the room is abundant as Asher hits the nurse button continuously. “Yeah, all of you laugh. What a family I have,” he complains, but it’s too funny to ignore.
I do feel bad, though. He did become a pirate for me. I reach out, squeezing his shoulder, and heat runs up my arm. I think he feels it too because he looks up at me, his eye dark and hooded. My breath catches as my lips part, and his eye locks with mine. I don’t know what to say, but I sure as hell want to kiss him again. I can’t in front of the peanut gallery, though, not until I know what he is thinking. I really wish I knew what he was thinking.
The doctor comes into the room then, stealing Asher’s attention. “All right, you are discharged, Mr. Brooks,” he says, handing him some papers. “You’re not allowed to drive until that patch comes off. Take your meds and make sure to go to your appointment. Can someone take you home?”
I go to volunteer, but Fallon beats me to it. “Yes, he’ll come home with us.”
“Wait, what? No, I’m good!” Asher tries, but Lucas takes him by the shoulder with a stern look on his face. “No, son, you’ll come home. We gotta make sure you don’t walk the plank.”
I press my lips together as the room explodes with laughter. Emery and Lucas high-five, and I notice even the doctor is laughing. Aiden is on the floor, laughing, and Asher, bless him, but he is livid. “Can I be admitted?”
The doctor laughs as he shakes his head. “Nope. But you can leave—and take these people with you. They’re loud.”
“Exactly. Please don’t make me leave with them,” he begs, but the doctor walks out of the room with no concern for Asher’s wishes. Reluctantly, Asher follows his family out. I walk with him, waiting for him to say something, but he doesn’t. He looks at the paperwork, his phone, and soon, an awkward feeling rushes over me. I press my lips together as my heart sinks in my chest.
