“Oh, good, thank you, Coop.”
He put his fingers on his lips, pressing until his skin was turning pale, like he was trying to keep it civil.
Then he leaned forward again. “So where were you, really, and how did you get so sick? You know, Torin swears he’s going to protect you, and then he brings you back and you have to be hospitalized.”
“It’s not Torin’s fault, at all, I just… I was so stressed out, and I was supposed to, you know, just poop on the ground, but there was no toilet paper, and I just couldn’t. I didn’t for three days, and then I started running a fever. Could be the water — we drank out of streams, never done that before. I assume there’s no factory runoff, but what else might be in there? It might have been the food,everyonehad questionable cleanliness, and they know nothing about food borne illnesses. I got served a stew that was months old, apparently.”
Jen screwed up her face. “No way, you ate it?”
“I had no choice, I was really hungry. And there weren’t any salads, no medicine, damn sure wasn’t any Pepto. So when I got sick, there was nothing I could do to fix it. Madame Agnes gaveme some herbs, they prayed over me. When I was thirsty they fed me bitter ale. I was just sick. So very sick.”
Cooper said, “They prayed over you? Who’s they?”
“Madame Agnes and um… Torin.”
He narrowed his eyes.
Jen said, “I’m so glad you got home.”
He said, “Why didn’t you come back earlier, that’s what I don’t get, Torin just kept you there?”
“The vessel didn’t work, he doesn’t know how it’s supposed to work, he knows barely anything, but even the little he knows wasn’t working. I don’t know. It was completely dead, we checked it all the time. He was desperate for it to work.”
“I bet.”
I yawned. “I’m really sleepy.”
Cooper smacked his palms down on his thighs, “Yeah, of course, I’m going to get some dinner going, why not rest?”
He gave me a hasty kiss on the cheek and left the room.
I waited until he left and said, “He’s mad at me.”
Jen said, “I think he was just really worried, and now you’re back and he was going to be the hero, you know? He was going to shoot someone with that gun, but now you’re back and he’s not the hero, there’s a lot of ‘Torin this’ and ‘Torin that’. He’s just having trouble.”
“I can’t help any of that, Torin was the one who saved my life.”
“And you can imagine how that makes Cooper feel. I’m not saying it’s justified, I’m just saying it’s how the world is.”
I yawned again. “I’m sorry I’m falling asleep.”
“That’s okay, want me to stay for dinner and hang out? I gotta go to school tomorrow.”
“Nah, why not go home, get ready for work. I’m mostly going to sleep, not even sure I can stay awake through a meal.”
She patted my ankle and left, stopping in the kitchen to speak with Cooper, as I fell asleep.
28
LEXI
2004 - LAUREL RIDGE
Ihad a TV tray in front of me, with new warm soup in a bowl, more saltine crackers. I smiled at Cooper for having gone to the trouble, and said, “Let’s see if this time it works.” I took a bite and said, “Yum. Delicious.” And then said, “Ugh,” I leaned my head back on the cushions. “I’m not ready for food.”
He said, “You will be, a bit every day… and all that. You’ll be good in no time.”
“How’s Ferrari?”
