Chapter 28
After about twenty minutes of Nathan and June talking and giggling like old friends,
Sy returns
to remove the cannula in June’s arm.
The doctor checks her blood pressure one last time, checks her eyes and face for any sign of paleness, which would mean anemia, and then smiles at my sister.
“You’re all set, sweetie.”
June smiles, idly caressing the little rainbow sticker over the injection site. “Thank you.”
Penny ruffles her hair. “You’re very welcome.” She stands and says to Nathan and me, “I’ll come back in the morning to check on her.”
Then she extends a small bag towards me. “I took the liberty of getting these from the pharmacy. I’ve written the dosage in there for her.”
I take it gratefully. “Thank you, Penny.”
She gives a dramatic bow before leaving with a cheerful wave.
“Can I go back to our room now?” June asks, already swinging her legs over the bed.
1 smile, reaching for her hand.
Nathan, who’d stayed crouched by her bedside all this time, finally stands, and I notice him wince as his legs straighten out. I frown when he rubs his left knee, his face slightly contorted in pain.
I remember then that in senior year (way before the disastrous party that ruined the rest of my high school career), during the homecoming game, just before Nathan was about to throw the winning touchdown, he was tackled. Badly.
When the dust cleared, I remembered my heart pounding wildly in my throat when he just lay there and wouldn’t get up. We found out later, after the medic team got to him and he was taken to the hospital, that he had a meniscus tear and even had to have surgery and intensive physical therapy afterward.
I also remember crying because I’d known he planned on playing football professionally, and had felt awful that his dreams had been crushed. Of course, I didn’t know who he really was or that he could afford fifty dreams.
1 watch him discreetly stretch his left leg out, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. It must still hurt after all these years.
I turn my attention back to June as she hops off the bed. I take her hand, and we turn to Nathan.
“Thank you,” I say, feeling inadequate. There’s no way I could ever repay him for helping my sister. All I can do is hope he can feel my sincerity.
He moves towards us and gently pats June’s head. “I’ll check on you tomorrow, okay?”
Her eyes widen with slight panic. “Wait, don’t go yet.”
I squeeze her head. “Summer, he’s already done a lot for you tonight.”
She shakes her head, having one of those rare moments when she doesn’t listen to me. “Don’t go,” she insists, imploring him with those big pleading eyes that make me let her stay up past her bedtime.
“June,” I hiss.
Nathan just shrugs and smiles, taking her hand. “Do you want me to walk you to your room?”
June beams, nodding her head.
“You don’t have to,” I tell Nathan.
He barely looks at me, still smiling down at my sister. “I’d love to.”
Who on earth is this person?
1/3
Chapter 28
With one hand in mine and the other in Nathan’s, June starts to tug us forward.
“Wait.” We stop, looking at Nathan in question.
His hand slips out of June’s, and he heads to the white cupboard beside the hospital bed. He reaches in and pulls out a pair of white Crocs.
“For you,” he says, glancing pointedly at my bare feet, dirty and scratched from walking through the lawn earlier.
Embarrassment colors my face red. “Thank you.”
He starts to crouch down, and my eyes widen. “Wait, don’t!”
He pauses mid–crouch to shoot me a confused look. “What?”
I open my mouth to speak–to tell him not to crouch so he doesn’t further aggravate his hurting knee. But he’s going to wonder how I know about the injury, and I’ll have to explain our…history.
Tonight has been one roller coaster of events and emotions, and I’m not ready to add one more twist.
When I close my mouth and shake my head slightly, he crouches and sets the shoes in front of me. The sight of him, down in front of me, know for a fact that the action hurts him, sends warmth through me.
Then the wince on his face, when he stands again, sends guilt chasing the warmth.
when I
I slide my feet into the shoes, grateful to be off the cold tile floor. Nathan takes June’s hand again, and the three of us make our way out of the infirmary, through the rear garden, and back into the house.
All the way back, June peppers Nathan with a million questions, from mundane ones like his favorite color to whether he’s ever had an allergic reaction like she did.
Nathan answers every single one of her questions patiently, smiling all the way. By the time we enter the mansion again—this time through the main entrance–my sister is positively and irrevocably charmed by Nathan Ashford.
I, on the other hand, stay quiet all the way, unsure of what to add to their animated conversation. It doesn’t help that I’m still reeling, trying to reconcile this Nathan to the quiet, impersonal one I’ve seen since I came here.
And honestly, tonight’s back–and–forth events have given me so much whiplash that I just want to sink my exhausted body into bed and forget it all happened.
Due to how late it is, the house is mostly empty, and other than the guard who was situated at the door, we don’t meet anybody else until we stop at my room door.
“Thank you,” June says, hugging Nathan around his waist.
He wraps an arm around her and strokes her hair lovingly. Again, I have that unbidden image of him surrounded by little children who look like
- us.
Stop it, April!
“You’re very welcome,” he tells my sister.
I open the door and usher her inside after she lets him go. “Go start a bath, I’ll be in soon.”
I leave the door slightly ajar, not quite ready to let her out of my sight just yet.
I turn to Nathan, and something in me dampens when I see that his face has reverted to that blank, impersonal mask.
“Get some rest,” he says flatly. “You’ve had quite the day.”
The introduction ceremony in the morning, the suffocating dinner in the evening, the Lucas and Sarah incident, June’s horrifying accident…
‘Quite the day‘ is quite an understatement.
I nod. “You too.”
2/3
12:42
Chapter 28
There’s so much I want to say. Thank you. I’m sorry. I won’t tell anyone what I saw. Thank you.
But Nathan tucks his hands in his pockets and turns away before I can muster the nerve to say any of them.
