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“Th-that’s not what I’m worried about. P-please, Troy.” My heart thuds rapidly in my chest, my anxieties and fear taking over all reason. “You promised you would talk to the physician. I’m not staying here. It’s not prison. They can’t make me.”
I have the right to walk out of here. They can’t hold me against my will.
Kellan is standing in the corner. I can see on his face the moment it all clicks for him. My past. My comment about the hospital not being a prison. He gets it.
Dr. Thompson walks into the room, presumably to check on me. Troy explains I don’t want to stay.
“I would rather you stay overnight, Jessica.” Dr. Thompson gives me a smile that under other circumstances might have been reassuring. He does look like his sister. The same copper-brown skin, same chocolate-brown eyes, same all-consuming smile.
Kellan pushes away from the wall. “What if someone stays with her at her house? That way she’s not alone.”
“She can stay at my place,” Troy says.
“Right, you’re both injured. So that won’t work,” Kellan points out. “Jess’s leg was sliced open, which means she won’t be able to walk on it for a few days.” He looks at Dr. Thompson for confirmation.
Zara’s brother nods, though I get the feeling he’s not giving the red light to small things like going to the bathroom.
“How are you planning to help her, Troy?” Kellan asks.
“I’ll be fine,” I jump in since I have no intention of staying in the hospital, regardless of what everyone thinks.
“Or she can stay at my place,” Kellan goes on as if I haven’t said anything.
Troy’s eyebrows lower into a scowl. “Hell if that’s going to happen.”
Dr. Thompson and I stare at the two men for a beat. I’m half expecting them to charge at each other, horns ready to gouge. Zara’s brother appears highly amused.
“I can sleep on Troy’s couch if it comes to that,” I rush to say. “But I’m sure I can manage to walk upstairs to go to bed and shower.” I shoot Dr. Thompson a pleading look. “I promise I’ll take it easy. I just can’t stay here. I don’t like hospitals.”
I swing my legs over the side of the bed, making it clear that one way or another I won’t be spending the night here.
“I can’t stop you from leaving, Jessica,” Dr. Thompson says. “I can only strongly recommend you don’t. But I will feel better if you stay with someone who can keep an eye on you. I can swing by Troy’s place on the way to the hospital tomorrow morning.”
I glance at Troy to make sure it’s okay with him, willing him to say yes.
“I’m more than happy to have you stay with me, Jess,” Troy replies with a soft smile, and a relieved breath whooshes softly over my lips.
Before I can thank Troy, I catch the look in Kellan’s eyes. A warning look. Troy knows.
Knows what? The unease stirring inside me tells me I’ll find out soon enough.
“Your clothes are wet and muddy,” Kellan reminds me since I’m currently wearing a hospital gown. “I’ll go track down some dry clothes for you and ask Em to pick up some more from your house to drop off at Troy’s.” He holds out his hand to Troy. “She’ll need the spare key.”
The key that Troy has because he’s been helping me with the renovations.
12
Angelique
July 1943
France
* * *
A week after I discovered Oskar and his family hiding in Jacques’s barn, Johann paces on the dirt-covered ground inside the building. Restlessness seems to fuel his steps. The pre-dawn light isn’t enough to cut through the dim space. He’s a tall, dark shape moving through the shadows.
“I’ll be gone for four days,” he tells them in German, referring to the mission he and his unit will be away for. He hasn’t told me what the mission is, though, and I have a feeling he has even spared Oskar those details.
