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They called two really, one for Frankie and the other for Mitch. Not that I cared. They could have left him.
They should have left him.
I snagged a blanket from the back of the sofa and draped it over her. A flicker of a smile faded almost as soon as it pulled on her cheek. “I’m all right,” she told me, and I eased onto the sofa next to her. I wanted to pull her in my lap and just hold her, but I also didn’t want to hurt her again. There was a bruise on her shoulder and another on her back. I’d seen that one this morning when I helped her change.
She must have landed on something on the floor in that room. It was another conference room from the looks of it, filled with chairs and tables. Just an innocuous place, and he had been going to…
When her hand touched mine, I turned my hand over so I could cradle her fingers. Why couldn’t time turners or shit like that be real?
“You want coffee, babe?” Arch asked. At least he didn’t look quite like hammered shit today.
“You guys have already done a lot…”
“Uh huh. You want coffee?” Archie even managed a real smile.
“I’d kill for some coffee.”
“Done.” Keys in hand, he glanced at me, and I nodded as did Coop. “Awesome. I’m grabbing some pizza, too while I’m out.”
“Archie…”
We all focused on her.
“Thank you.”
“Always.”
After he left, Coop said, “I’m going to take a shower. You need anything?”
“I’m okay,” she told him. “Really. Jake is staying with me, right?”
“Like I’m attached,” I told her, and that almost got a real smile.
Coop lifted his chin toward me, and I nodded. Of all of us, Coop had kept his cool. Sooner or later, he was going to burst, and we’d have to watch for it. But I had this. I’d stay calm.
Frankie needed calm. That was what the advocate said. The doctor said. Hell, even the lady cop who’d interviewed me pulled me aside after and said that.
I wasn’t planning on throwing a rave, but I got the damn message.
I’d be calm.
Alone, I focused on her. “Movie? YouTube? Book? Stand up comedy?”
She laughed at the last, it was a real if faint, and she grimaced as she put a hand to her chest. “Don’t make me laugh.”
“Okay,” I said, hanging my head. “So horror movie right?”
When she swatted me, the first real sense of relief hit me. There she was. There was my girl. “How about a tearjerker?”
“Fuck. No.”
Her sigh tugged at me, and I was ready to capitulate before the corners of her mouth turned up again. “Blowing shit up and shooting people?”
“Now you’re talking my language.”
I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, flicking it over to Netflix, we hunted for something. I had an idea…
“Jake?”
