Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
When their hands met, Finn let out a wail that seemed to echo and pushed between Jesse and me. His arms curled against his chest as he pressed in beside them, getting as close as possible without pressing against Jess at all.
My eldest’s arm wrapped around their brother, and their fingers slid through the hair at the back of his head.
“We’re all okay,” I told them both roughly, rubbing Finn’s back as I met Jesse’s gaze.
Our little trio sat like that for a long time.
* * *
“You said you’d let me know when they woke up,” Curtis said a couple of hours later, stopping me in the hallway. “What the fuck, Teddy?”
“It was early,” I replied, shaking my head. “I thought you might be sleeping.”
Curtis glared. We both knew that neither of us would be sleeping anytime soon. The excuse wasn’t even thin. It was transparent.
“I’ve been waitin’ all fuckin’ night to hear,” he said, staring at me in frustration. “You couldn’t text me?”
“I thought there were no phones in ICU.”
“Draco’s got my phone, and he woulda come to get me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, glancing at Jesse’s room. “Have you been in yet?”
“I just got here,” he said, letting go of my arm. “Charlie let me know that Jess was awake.”
“Yeah, she’s been in here a few times.”
He looked at me for a long moment and then gestured for me to precede him.
Inside, Draco’s Grandma Brenna was sitting with Jesse, telling them some kind of story. Before the previous day, I hadn’t spent much time with Brenna. She’d been nice every time we spoke, but she and Dragon were a little more reserved than the rest of Curtis’s family. I’d realized the second time she came to check on us that Brenna may not have had the outgoing personality of Farrah, who’d welcomed us loudly, but she was someone who was absolutely solid in a crisis. Calm and strong, she seemed to anticipate people’s needs before they even realized they had them. Being the old lady of the president probably had a lot to do with that. If Dragon was the backbone of the club, Brenna was the heart.
Finn was back by the window, fast asleep. He’d stayed awake as long as he could, but when he’d fallen asleep on Jesse’s bed, I helped him move so he didn’t hurt them by accident.
“Hey, Jess,” Curtis said as he entered the room. “How you doin’?”
Jess shrugged as he went to them and leaned down to kiss the top of their head.
“I’ve been in with Dylan,” Curt said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “They’ve lowered his meds, and they think he’s gonna wake up soon. You got any messages you want me to deliver?”
Jess said something garbled and pointed to their mouth, rolling their eyes.
“We need to get you somethin’ to write with,” Curt said with a soft smile. “You must be goin’ crazy.”
Jess nodded emphatically, groaned, and nodded more cautiously.
“Hey, careful,” Curtis warned. “You’ve got a concussion. Gonna be sore for a while.”
Jess pulled back their lip and pointed at their missing molar.
“I heard you lost a couple. Sucks, but easy to fix, yeah.”
Jess nodded again and raised their arm, flexing their biceps. “Strong,” they said through their teeth.
“Understatement,” Curtis replied, his voice a little choked. He glanced over at Finn. “All three of you.”
“Where was Finn?” Jess asked, surprising me.
I’d told them very bare-bones details since they’d been awake. They knew that I’d followed them and Dylan to the hospital, and they knew that Curtis had stayed behind to find their brother, but they hadn’t really asked any questions.
“He hid under the Chevelle,” Curt said, glancing at Finn again. “We were lookin’ for hours before we found him.”
“Good,” Jess replied. The words were slow and labored as they tried to enunciate. “Told him to hide if anyone ever broke in.”
“You did well, Jess,” Curt breathed, his voice thick. “You and Dyl did exactly right.”
“Tried,” Jess said, tears welling up in their eyes. “Hard.”
“I know you did,” he replied. I swallowed back the sob rising in my throat.
“Dylan?” Jesse asked, raising their eyebrows. “Hurt bad?”
“He was,” Curtis said, nodding as he wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “But the doctors fixed him up. You’re both gonna be okay.”
“I tried,” Jess said, trailing off, wincing. “Help.” They shook their head a little. “Tried.”
“I know you did, sweetheart,” Curtis said, reaching out to gently cup their face. “You two were still holdin’ hands when we got there.”
Jess rolled their eyes. “Don’t tell Isla.”
Curtis let out a surprised chuckle.
Finn woke up a little while later, and Brenna walked him down to the cafeteria to get some breakfast while I sat quietly, listening to Curtis and Jesse talk. He was telling them about when he’d found and restored the Chevelle, and Jess was hanging tiredly on every word. Their eyes drifted shut and then opened again, clearly fighting sleep, but Curtis just kept talking, his voice getting lower and lower until Jesse was out.