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Genie: I’ll have everything from their great-great-great grandparents to their financials to you ASAP.
I felt irritated that I would have to wait for the information on every person on staff, but Mieke was already doing other shit for me as well.That didn’t matter, though.For the first time in my life, I didn’t have the patience to wait, watch, and listen.I needed answers now, damn it.
Nishia was too important for me to waste even a second.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
nishia
“Your leg lookslike it’s part robot now,” Molly commented after thoroughly examining the boot the orthopedic surgeon had put on me during my appointment earlier.
The thing was huge, going from just under my toes to my knee, and felt like it weighed as much as me, although that probably had more to do with the fact that I’d been mostly carried all over Sanctuary by Jack during the last week.I’d enjoyed being in his arms, but now I felt like I was as weak as an infant, even though the walking boot weighed less than the cast the doctor had cut off.
My doctor warned me I would feel like that for a while since I hadn’t used the muscles in my leg much.Physical therapy would follow after I was completely out of the walking boot, as well as the new cast that had also been replaced on my hand and wrist.But at least I would be able to go to and from the bathroom a lot easier now instead of having to ask Jack or one of the other residents to help me throughout the day.
I flexed my toes when Molly cautiously touched one toe.Delaney had painted them for me the day before, saying I needed pretty toes since they were always on display.Pretty toes gave a girl confidence, she’d told me as she’d dabbed the bright orchid pink on my nails.Since our first meeting, she’d stopped by to see me at least once a day.
After her initial visit, I thought she was just doing it when she volunteered, but Suzanne told me that Delaney only helped out a few days a month or if the staff needed a little extra assistance.I’d learned quickly that if I was in need of any information about the goings-on within Sanctuary, Suzanne was the person to talk to.She seemed to know everything about everyone, maybe even more than the counselors, nurses, and doctors.
It was effortless to understand why.Suzanne was easy to chat with.The other residents turned to her more often than the staff if they needed help with something or simply needed to unload.I hadn’t confided in her myself, but I’d witnessed her nurturing the others throughout each day.
Delaney and I had become good friends overnight, which was new for me.I’d never had any friends growing up, yet suddenly I had several.Jack and Delaney were the closest, though, the ones I’d slowly realized actually would do anything for me if I just asked.It was a nice sensation, knowing someone cared for me.
I liked it.
Maybe a little too much.
My emotions were too close to the surface to comprehend this new switch from having no one to having others who genuinely worried about my well-being.I tried not to think too hard about it.When I did, I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
Why the fuck would anyone care about me?
Molly touched one of the buckles on the walking boot.“This looks like a button.If I push it, will your leg come off?”
“Nope.”
She blinked at me for a moment as if she was trying to determine whether I was lying.“Really?”
Smiling, I nodded.“Really.”
“Huh,” she said, sounding disappointed.“It would have been cool if it did.”
Not knowing how to respond, I just shrugged.I didn’t want to think about what might have happened if I had lost my leg.It was hard enough to get around with the cast on; I wouldn’t know what to do with a prosthetic.
“I like the new cast on your hand.It’s my favorite color!”
“It’s pretty, right?”Even to my own ears, I sounded unsure.I’d had plenty of options, and maybe I should have gone for a more adult color.But this one had matched my toes, and it was the first time I’d been able to pick the color I wore without having to worry about how much it might cost.Anything pretty or cute always seemed to cost more, even at the thrift stores I’d shopped at a few times.
“It’s beautiful,” Molly said with an emphatic nod.“Can I draw on it?”
“Sure, but only one picture.We should leave room for others if they want to draw or sign their name.”
“Okay,” she said and ran to grab her art supplies.
I nearly snickered when her one picture took up two-thirds of the top of the cast.When she was done, she dropped her marker and beamed up at me.“Pretty?”
I inspected her picture.A little orange sun, a generic brown house that she’d told me was Sanctuary when she was drawing it, and a rough-looking black stick-figure bicycle that was really “Mr.Jack’s motorcycle,” according to her, because she thought it was cool.
“Very,” I assured her with an approving nod.“Thank you for your attention to detail, including some of my favorite things.”
