Page 28 of The Outsider
“What about me?” Asha asked. “What should I do?”
John shot me a questioning look, silently asking if I was alright being left alone with her. I inclined my head slightly, and he sighed.
“Nothing,” he said gruffly to Asha. “Just stay with Claire.”
Asha nodded curtly, then joined me at Kimmy’s side. She held the bandage taut so that I could cut it into strips more easily.
“He doesn’t like me,” she murmured after a few minutes.
“That’s not true,” I said, even though it was. “He doesn’t know you well enough yet.”
She gave me a tight, uncanny smile that reminded me too much of my mother.
“Neither do you.”
Chapter 9
Claire
Itried to find a moment to speak to John alone that day, but it never came. After tending to Kimmy, he insisted that I rest, so I slept a couple of hours in the tent. I didn’t know if anything passed between John and Asha while I napped, but when I woke late that afternoon, they seemed largely unchanged, sitting on opposite sides of the ruined room, ignoring one another. I sighed.
Thankfully, even after just a few hours, Kimmy seemed better. Her breathing was more normal, and the angry, red-hot skin around the wound had receded. She was noticeably cooler to the touch, and I was willing to bet her fever would break before morning. She may actually survive this.
I could tell the lack of sleep was starting to wear on Asha, even as she tried to stay awake. I sensed she didn’t want to sleep in John’s presence; the two of them seemed to have taken an instant dislike to each other. It wasn’t a promising sign that John would be open to allowing her to tag along with us to the Valley.
Can’t you at least smile or something?I wondered, my frustration mounting as I watched Asha’s head fall onto her shoulder before she jerked awake again.Do anything at all to show him you’re not about to slit our throats in our sleep?
The old Asha would’ve charmed him with her cynical sense of humour and silver tongue. She would’ve told him funny stories about our younger selves, often at my expense—since she’d always perceived me as the prissy, demure one, while she’d been bolder and less careful about what others thought of her. John would’ve related to that and traded tales of his own troublemaking, much to her delight.
But this new woman in front of me…perhaps she was right. Perhaps I didn’t know her very well at all.
“You can sleep, Asha,” I finally said, pushing aside my frustration. “We’ll keep watch.”
Her dark eyes immediately glanced at John, who’d taken a seat next to me by the fireplace, but after a moment, she nodded. She had no sleeping bag; instead, she fetched a threadbare blanket from her backpack and rolled it into a pillow before lying right on the ruined floor. Moments later, her heavy breathing revealed she’d already dropped off.
“She doesn’t trust me,” John said in a low voice, the corners of his mouth quirking up.
I opened my mouth to reply, but he shook his head.
“I’m not complaining,” he said. “She shouldn’t.”
There was something vaguely ominous behind his words. I didn’t have time to dwell on it, however. John covered my hand with his and brought my fingers to his lips, gently kissing them. The firelight illuminated his hard jawline and shining eyes.
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Now that Kimmy’s not on death’s door, I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the Cave.”
My stomach tightened. Memories of my father suddenly swirled in my mind, making a lump harden in my throat. I didn’t want to talk about it, yet the news about my father was a leaden weight on my heart that felt too heavy to carry alone.
“What about it?” I said, keeping my voice even. “That my mother and sister revealed themselves to be even more insane than I feared, or that my father…”
I swallowed, unable to even finish the thought. I stared at the floor, but John used his free hand to tilt my face toward him. His eyes were soft, somber.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I know what he meant to you.”
I bit my bottom lip to keep it from trembling.
“Yes, well, I suppose my mother never felt the same way about him.”
John stroked my hand, still holding it tightly in both of his.
