Page 91 of Lies and Lullabies
“Excuse me!” I elbowed my way into the center of the group. “Jonas, what are you doing here?”
He turned to me, looking flustered. And, damn it, just one look into his green eyes had a wave of longing rolling through me like the tide. It took a few beats of my heart before I could focus again. Belatedly, I noticed he was holding a rather enormous plush horse in his arms.
“You weren’t answering your phone, and so I followed the signs to surgery.”
Focus, Kira. “I need to get back to Adam.”
“Why? Is he all right?”
“Yes, probably. But we sure aren’t here for the fun of it.”
I couldnothave this conversation in a public place. I turned away, and Jonas followed me to the double doors. After pushing through, an unfamiliar nurse stopped me. “Who are you here for?”
“Adam Cassidy. I’m his sister.”
The nurse checked her clipboard. “Okay. And you?” She gave Jonas an evil stare. Clearly she was not a Hush Note fan. “Are you family?”
“Yes,” Jonas said at the same moment that I said, “No.”
“Am so!” Jonas complained. “I’m his niece’s father.”
The nurse rolled her eyes, tired of us already. “You have ten more minutes in that recovery room. Then Mr. Cassidy is relocating to a private room down the hall.”
“Thank you.” I stalked past her, Jonas hot on my heels.
When I reached Adam’s side, he gave me a watery smile. His eyes drifted behind me, to Jonas and the giant stuffy under his arm. “For me? You shouldn’t have.”
“It’s for Vivi’s birthday.”
“She’ll fucking love that,” Adam rasped. “She’s going to make us pretend it’s real, isn’t she? I’ll have to feed it.”
“But not clean up after it,” Jonas pointed out.
Two nurses swooped in on Adam, one checking his IV, the other writing on his chart. “We’re going to move him now. Room number 227. Okay, Adam? Are you up for a little ride?”
“Whee!” Adam called as the gurney began rolling.
Without a glance at Jonas, I began following my brother down the hall. When we reached room 227, the nurse paused at the door. “Give us a couple of minutes to settle him.”
And so we stood there in the hospital corridor: Jonas, me, and a large stuffed pony. Reluctantly, I met his eyes.
“Baby, why?”
“Whywhat?”
He rolled his eyes. “Why won’t you talk to me? I’ve been out of my mind.”
I took a minute to study his face. With those warm, clear eyes looking back at me, it was hard to keep my cool. “I just wanted to get through this.” I tipped my head toward Adam’s room.
“But I can help you, right? Withanything. Wasn’t that the plan?”
I thought it was. Until I realized all over again that you could break my heart. “I thought it would be easier to talk to you when things had settled down.”
“Easier for you, maybe. But I’m all alone on that bus, wondering if you guys are okay.”
All alone, he’d said.As if. That only made me angry.
“Why couldn’t you just return one of my calls?”
