Page 20 of Heartbeat

“Not yet,” he softly said.

We stood there for at least five minutes, him holding me by the waist while I held on to his jacket.

“Okay,” I finally said, standing upright. “I think I’m good.”

“No more dizziness?”

“Nope.”

He took a deep breath, as though relieved, and then took off his brown leather jacket and handed it to me.

“What’s this?”

“So you can hide the blood,” he said. “The new kid with a bloody T-shirt isn’t exactly the kind of thing people will ignore.”

“But you can’t give me your jacket.”

He did make a good point though.

“Why not?” he asked, puzzled.

“It’s cold.”

“I’m training for most of the day, anyway. I won’t need clothes.”

And that kind of visual wasn’t helpful either.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Just get it back to me tomorrow or something.”

“Are you sure?” I repeated.

“It’s just a jacket. But if you prefer to walk around with a bloody T-shirt—”

“I don’t,” I said, making sure he saw me putting it on. “Thank you, Ethan.”

He looked at me and seemed surprised to hear me say his name.

“What?” I asked him.

“Nothing. Looks better on you.”

Chapter Six

The Stare

“That’s a nice jacket,” Dr. Foster said, smiling.

“What?” I asked her absentmindedly.

“Your jacket.”

“Oh.” I looked down and then back at her. “Yeah, it’s not mine.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, this guy from school lent it to me.”

---