"Yeah." I smiled at James and then walked over to the window so I wouldn't disrupt his sleeping.
"How is he doing?"
"Good. He's a lot better today than he was yesterday. And I think they're going to discharge him for his birthday."
"And how are you holding up?"
"Better now that he's awake."
He was silent for a second. "The cops stopped calling me. I saw what happened on the news. How Isabella broke into your house. Are you okay?"
"I'm good. And yeah, they arrested her. They shouldn't be bothering you anymore."
"Thanks, Penny."
"How are you?" I held my breath as I waited for his response.Please be good. Please don't be hurting because of me.
He was silent again. "Better. Actually, I met someone."
"Really?"
He laughed. "Don't sound so surprised."
"I'm not. Any girl would be lucky to be with you."
"Oh, no, we're not dating or anything. She actually just needed a ride to the west coast. We're just friends."
"What's her name?"
"Hailey."
"So you're on a road trip with a relative stranger. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
He laughed again. "No, just learning how to live again."
"You're having fun then?"
"Yeah. I'm having lots of fun."
"Good."
"This was exactly what I needed."
"Hailey or the trip?"
He was silent again for a second. "Both, maybe. I should go, Penny."
"When do you think you're coming back?"
"I don't know. I'll stay in touch, though. Tell James I said I hope he makes a speedy recovery."
"I will. And don't pick up any scary hitchhikers."
"I think I'm good with just the one. Bye, Penny."
"Bye."
It wasn't our normal flow of conversation, but he did sound better. I wondered what Hailey was like. Hopefully she was sweet and caring and loyal.