Page 38 of Serial Burn

“How about I go with you?”

“God bless you.”

He led the way to Nathan’s makeshift room and rapped his knuckles on the door.

“Come in.”

Jesslyn followed Andrew inside and let the door shut behind her. The space was bigger than she’d anticipated. And organized well.

Nathan was lying on a gurney on his right side, facing the door. He cracked his eyes open at their entrance. “Hi,” he said.

Jesslyn gave a sympathetic smile. “How’s the hip?”

“Fine. They gave me a muscle relaxer too. Forgot how dopey those things make me feel. I should have refused.”

“Right. Well, while you’re dopey and in no shape to kill me if I messed up...” Andrew cleared his throat. “I have a confession to make.”

Nathan’s eyes narrowed. “Okay.”

“I ... uh ... called your parents and told them you were here.”

“Oh.”

Jesslyn raised a brow at Andrew’s questioning look.

“Wait. You what?” Nathan popped into alertness, the fog in his eyes clearing.

“You gave me their contact info in case anything happened. Something happened.”

“Dude, I meant if I died. Not if I bruised a hip.”

“Oh, right. Sorry about that.”

“’S’okay.” He closed his eyes again. “Parents are good people. Eli’s the one I gotta watch out for. No idea what his problem is, but...” He mumbled something she couldn’t catch.

It was Andrew’s turn to raise a brow at Jesslyn. “How much of that stuff did they give him?”

“Beats me.”

A knock on the door sounded and Jesslyn opened it to find a couple in their late fifties. “Hi.” She introduced herself and Andrew. “I’m guessing you’re Nathan’s parents?”

“We are,” the man said and held out a hand. “I’m Blake and this is Connie.”

“Nice to meet you.” Connie’s slightly furrowed brow clued Jesslyn in to the woman’s worry despite the smile on her face. “He’s fine. Come on in.”

Blake turned to look behind him. “This is Eli, his brother, and Carly, his sister.”

Carly, who looked very much like a feminine version of Nathan, rushed past them all and beelined for her brother. He’d rolled to his back. “Nathan, are you all right?” Carly leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“I’m fine, sis. Just a bruise.”

His parents greeted Nathan with pats and his mother held his hand with no clear intention of ever letting go. Eli hung back near the door and shuffled his feet, his ill-at-ease hovering painful to watch.

Jesslyn’s attention switched back to the parents. They looked younger than she knew them to be, and Nathan favored his mother but got his smile from his father.

She switched back to study Eli. The brother Nathan avoided. He looked like a slightly older version of Nathan. Anyone looking at them would pick them out as siblings.

She smiled at Eli, and he returned it while raking a hand over his head. He nodded and stepped into Nathan’s view.

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