Page 5 of Jagged Burn
Anna Alexander
I’m shivering, soaked to the bone, but I would much rather be outside in the middle of the summer storm than in this truck with my brother and Stefan at this moment.I can feel the anger radiating off both of them in waves, and I know the questions are going to start sooner or later.I have no fucking clue how I will answer them when they inevitably lay into me, but I know I will have to.I owe them both that much for coming to my rescue tonight.
Looking out the window, I see the hospital looming in the distance.
“I’m not going to the hospital.”
“Excuse me?”Matt asks.“Of course you’re going to the hospital.”
“No.I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“I’ve had worse.”The words fall from my lips before I can stop them, and I know I could have said anything else in this moment, and it would have been fine.
I hear the steering wheel strain beneath Stefan’s grip.He remains silent as my brother turns in his seat to stare at me in shock.Before he can speak, I jump in.
“All I need is a good long soak in a tub, a long night’s sleep, and a couple of Advil.”
“Anna...”
“Please,” I plead with my brother.“I just want to forget this entire mess.”
Before Matt can say anything else, Stefan turns onto a dust road, taking us away from the hospital and back toward town.
“You’ll both stay with me tonight,” he says, his voice the same deep baritone I remember.“My place is closer and it’s getting late.We can sort out this shit show in the morning.”
“You’ll have to drop me off at the bar,” Matt says.“I need to get my bike and head home.I have to be there for the morning shift.”I give him a look but all he does is shrug.“Anna will be safe with you.You know I have roommates and zero extra space.”
“Whatever,” Stefan mutters.
“I can go to a motel,” I say from the back seat.
Neither of them answer me, but they both snort at my apparently unacceptable suggestion.Five minutes later, we drop my brother at the bar and then we are alone.
Chapter Five
