Page 33 of Vain

“Sure. I mean, of course. Absolutely. Can I say I’m a huge fan?Anyone but Youis one of my favorite movies,” she whispers. I grin and squeeze her arm.

“You’re sweet. If you give me your address, I can send you some signed things, as a thank you for keeping my presence here on the down low.”

She sways again, so I steady her, wondering if she has low blood sugar or something.

“Are you okay?” I whisper. “Do you need a Coke or something?”

“Matilda Carson just offered to get me a Coke,” she murmurs before pinching herself.

I wait her out, wondering if this is gonna get weirder or if she’ll shake it off.

Thankfully, she does the latter. “I’m so sorry. I always thought I’d be cool if I met someone famous. Instead, I totally fangirled, and now I feel like a boob.”

I can’t help but chuckle. “I met Denzel Washington at a movie premiere once and forgot how to use the English language completely. I’m pretty sure I just grunted for a few minutes before running away. It’s like my whole brain shut down. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.”

She smiles. It’s shaky, but I can see she’s finding her feet again.

“Come on, I’ll sneak you in.”

“Thanks.” I look back toward the room where Aiden is. “I know I’m being a pain, but would you be able to let the man in that room know where I am? He’s my bodyguard. His friend was hurt, so I wanted him to visit him while we were here.”

“You know Kellen?”

I shake my head. “No. I know Aiden.”

“Ah, gotcha. So, um…you might want to avoid a nurse named Cora. He might only be your bodyguard, but Cora won’t care.”

“Already had the pleasure of meeting her.”

She winces. “She’s not a bad person. Okay…she’s a little high-strung. I think she’s mad primarily because she threw something amazing away, and she knows it’s her fault, but she tries to blame everyone else to make herself feel better.”

“She’s not doing herself any favors, but it’s really none of my business.”

“She doesn’t know you’re Matilda Carson, I’m guessing, or we’d all know by now. She’s so used to being the prettiest person in the room that she’d hate you on sight if you weren’t wearing the disguise.”

“I have a feeling she’d hate me on sight because I have boobs, and I was holding hands with her ex.” Shit, I didn’t mean to add that part, so I push on, hoping she doesn’t focus on that. “Also, I’m not denying Cora’s pretty, but you’re stunning. So I’m not sure how she can always be the prettiest person in the room.”

She pauses, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

“I’m not going to have to resuscitate you or anything, am I?” I ask warily, making her snort.

“Sorry, I glitched there for a minute. It’s not every day your girl crush tells you you’re stunning.”

I can’t help but laugh at how candid she is. As we turn down another corridor, I sense her mood slipping into a more professional one. “Okay, what do you know about Zoe?”

“Nothing,” I admit, feeling like an idiot, but I’m not sure I could explain to her how I feel the need to see her.

She blows out a wary breath. “Zoe is nine years old. Her mom, Claudia, was born and raised here in Tempest. She left for college, met the love of her life, and settled in Seattle, where she got married and had four children. Three boys and one girl—Zoe, was second to youngest.”

She stops and braces herself against the wall. “About eighteen months ago, a serial arsonist was targeting family homes in Seattle.”

“I think I might have seen something about it on the news.” I have a vague recollection, though my mind had been mostly on my recovery.

“He barricaded the exits and set fire to their home. Zoe was the only one who survived.” My hands fly up to cover my mouth in horror.

“I won’t sugarcoat it. She got burned. She has a lot of scarring, and the smoke inhalation did some damage to her lungs. She was admitted here with pneumonia, which, thankfully, is mostly out of her system. She’s due to head down to the children’s ward later tomorrow.”

”I heard you mention residential care. She doesn’t have any other family?”