Page 61 of The Fractured

“Hm.”

“I’ve broken ribs before, remember? This is nothing.”

“That doesn’t exactly make me feel better.” She paused for a moment. “I’m not used to you fighting again, that’s all… When is the next one?”

“Monday night. But remember, this situation is only temporary…” It was temporary because after this came prison. Unless I continued fighting on the inside… I brushed the thought aside and smiled at her. “Tonight, I’m okay.”

She inhaled, possibly brushing aside a few thoughts of her own, and then let herself relax. Offering me a happier smile, she took my hand and led me to the living room.

In the short moment Lily and I had remained in the hallway, Seb and Kira had barely struck up a conversation. Instead, it was awkward small talk and plenty of polite smiles on Kira’s end when the chat died down. She glanced at her phone.

As I followed Lily to the kitchen, passing Seb where he sat on the end of their pastel blue couch, I nudged his arm. It prompted him to inhale, like he was giving himself a moment to recoup, before his attention was on Kira.

I joined Lily in the kitchen. As she busied herself making tea, I grabbed a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and pressed it to my hip.

“So, Smi—I mean, Kira…” Seb began. Not the strongest of starts, but it was something.

Kira looked up from her phone and waited for the rest of his sentence. The expression on her face was indifferent. “Yes?”

The stirring of the spoon in Lily’s teacup slowed.

Seb scratched the back of his head and got to his feet, wiping his palms down his thighs and clasping his hands together. “Mind if we talk?”

Worry flashed across Kira’s features, but she stood. “Yeah. Sure. We can talk in my room, if you want.”

He nodded. “Sounds good.”

Kira led the way.

Once the bedroom door was shut behind them, Lily stopped stirring and looked across at me.

“Whatisgoing on with Seb?” she whispered.

“Family trouble.” I pushed the side of my shorts down to ice the bruising further. Its colors blended with the tattoos that covered my left side. I winced and inhaled. “But we handled it.”

“Was that the PTA meeting?”

“His older niece broke her leg at school. And her teacher was a dick about it.”

Empathy filled her eyes. “Is she okay?”

“Seb says she’s barely fazed,” I shrugged. “Probably more excited about getting people to sign her cast.”

“Speaking of injuries.” She cupped her hands around her tea and brought it closer to her chest. Her eyes fell to my bruise. “Maybe you should see a doctor about that?”

I sighed and crossed the kitchen to her, plopping the frozen bag onto the counter before rolling down the side of my shorts and briefs — and hoping Kira and Seb didn’t finish their chat early. I wasn’t exactly flashing anything, but enough around the base was showing.

Her eyes drifted across the bruise, as they had earlier, but with the stove light brighter than the dim lighting of the hallway, she could take in more details of it. Examine it as if she were back in The Den’s basement. She wasn’t a qualified nurse, but still, her role in that place had left a mark. And maybe because sheno longer watched me fight, she felt she had to check things over anyway to put her mind at ease.

“It’s surface level. No breaks or fractures,” I said gently.

Her eyes remained on the bruise, but she nodded. “Okay.”

“Hey.”

She tilted her head as she studied the bruise, carefully touching my hip and the surrounding skin.

I lifted her chin up and half smiled, finally getting her attention. “Speaking of doctors, I noticed the psychologist’s card is gone. Did you call them?”