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“What happened!?” he barked. “Are you OK? Is Parker OK??”
“He’s fine,” Rene assured him, “we’re both fine. Jesse not so much.”
Without a word, Hyde ran over to his son’s room, and rushed inside. Rene didn’t follow. She went over to Jesse and helped him up. Together, they walked over to the living room, and he slumped down onto the sofa. He had a shiner, which was promising to look even worse tomorrow, but apart from that, he was breathing more steadily now.
“How are you feeling?” she asked him.
“I’ve seen better days,” he grinned, coughing once, then slumping back into the sofa.
“Should I get you something?”
“No, relax,” he grabbed her by the elbow.
“We need to get you to a hospital.”
“No, no hospital,” Jesse was unflinching in his demand.
“But, you’re hurt!”
“Don’t worry about that, I know a guy who can patch me up, if I need it,” he assured her.
“Are you serious?” she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“I’m fine,” he waved his hand dismissively, “I’ve seen worse, trust me.”
“Well, I haven’t,” she eyed the dried trickle of blood in the corner of his lips, “and I’d feel much better if I took you to a hospital where professionals can check you out.”
“How do you know Keith isn’t a professional?” Jesse eyed her, and she realized he was making fun of the whole situation.
“Seriously, Jesse…” she sighed.
But, before she could say anything else, Hyde walked into the living room. Neither of them said hi. They were all silent. Rene was wondering if they would explain what just happened, or if she would need to poke around for answers. Or maybe, they themselves didn’t know who that guy was? She doubted that. They had to have some idea, after all those questions asking her if she’d seen something or someone strange lurking around them or the house. That couldn’t have been a coincidence.
However, as seconds passed by, it became obvious to Rene that neither of the two men were willing to talk. Jesse was resting. His eyes were half-closed, but she could forgive him. He almost got his ass whopped by that giant, so she figured he probably wasn’t feeling up to talking. But, Hyde was another thing. He just got here. And the intruder ran away the moment he heard Hyde’s voice. Coincidence? Probably not.
“Is Parker OK?” she dared ask the first question, to try and break the ice.
Hyde eyed her suspiciously, as if he was just deciding whether to trust her with the answer or not. But, a second later, she realized it wasn’t distrust. It was pure exhaustion combined with fear.
“Yeah,” Hyde nodded, “he heard some commotion. I said that a stray raccoon somehow got into the house, and the whole commotion was the result of you guys trying to catch him.”
“A raccoon?” Jesse laughed, and the moment he did so, he pressed his open palms against his abdomen, trying to suppress another bout of painful coughing.
“You don’t look so good,” Hyde approached him.
“I’ll go see Keith, don’t worry,” Jesse assured him.
“I already offered to take him to the hospital, and he declined,” Rene interfered.
“We can’t go to the hospital,” Hyde said calmly, which surprised her even more.
She hoped Hyde would be the voice of reason in this whole mess, but it turned out it was the exact opposite.
“Then, are you at least going to tell me what’s going on?” she growled at both of them, unable to hold it in any longer.
Something was obviously going on, and she had no idea what it was. Since she was in the middle of it, she was determined to make them tell her, or she would quit. She signed up to be a nanny, not to be in life-threatening danger.
Hyde looked at Jesse. They exchanged a few meaningful glances, when Jesse finally nodded. Hyde sighed. He sat down in a small armchair, opposite the sofa. He bent forward, his elbows resting on his knees. His forehead instantly got covered in a million little lines, each of them a stress line.
