Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“I brought some electrolyte drinks and broth. I figured you guys wouldn’t be able to stomach anything solid.”
“That sounds lovely. Would you mind just uncapping a drink and waterfalling it straight into my mouth?” I tip my chin up and part my lips.
He suppresses a smile. “You can’t sit up?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t tried.”
Kat yanks back the shower curtain, and Logan jumps in surprise. Oh right—he didn’t realize she was in there.
Unbothered, she makes a Give it here motion with her hand. “Here, pass one over and I’ll give it a go.”
Over the next half hour, Logan gets us all situated with our drinks. He doesn’t have to—he should be off having people tend to him—but he helps Yasmine to her bed and Kat to the sofa, and then he comes back into my room to see me sitting on the edge of my twin mattress, my head in my hands.
“I’ve just left a message for the school to get a sub for tomorrow. I’m disappointed because I hoped I’d get the chance to go talk to my headmistress about…well…you.”
I look up to see him frown like he’s as disappointed as I am by the turn of events. “You think you’ll still be sick in the morning?”
I peer up at him as he strolls closer.
“Who knows, but even if I’m not, I’ll be dead knackered. No way I’ll be chasing after toddlers in this state.”
“Right. Here, lie back.”
I do as he says as I’m in no position to put up a fight. He tugs back my covers, and I lay my head on my pillow. He lifts the duvet up and over me and then he stands. My hand shoots out to grab his wrist, to keep him near me.
“You aren’t going to rush off, are you?”
He rubs the back of his neck then pulls out his mobile and shakes his head. “I can stay for a little while.”
“Maybe just until I nod off? I haven’t had a proper tending-to like this in ages. It’s quite nice, you know?”
He smiles and sets his mobile down on my nightstand then puts his wallet down beside it. After, he sits down on the edge of my bed and turns to look at me.
We don’t say anything for a little while. There’s a silence that feels heavy and powerful, and I’m scared if I pop it with a needle by opening my mouth, everything I think about him will tumble right out into the open.
His mobile buzzes on the nightstand, but he ignores it. I smile and prod his thigh with the tip of my finger.
“All right, Nurse Matthews, tell me something about yourself.”
His brows furrow in confusion. “What do you want to know?”
“What are your parents like? Your mum? Is she really pretty? Must be to have made a lad like you.”
I swear he sort of goes rosy on his cheeks as he looks away.
“There’s not much to say. I grew up in Florida. My dad has an orange orchard, and my mom teaches.”
“She’s a teacher as well? Like me?”
“Yeah. She teaches physics, up at the high school. She studied aerospace engineering in school though.”
“Bloody hell. She sounds brilliant. I haven’t got the head for maths or science. It’s why I stick with the youngsters. Best to let them think I’m smarter than them, though I swear there are a few who could outpace me in a round of Jeopardy.”
He laughs like he doesn’t quite believe me (he should), and then I continue on, “How’d your mum end up teaching then?”
He shrugs. “She just sort of fell into it. She had a job working for NASA. She wanted to go to space and was even accepted into their astronaut training program and everything, but then one of her friends introduced her to my dad.”
“She gave it all up for him?”
He aims a lopsided grin at me. “Well, it’s not like she was about to leave for Mars the very next day or anything, but yeah, they dated for three weeks then he proposed. Said he wouldn’t be able to live without her if she went up into space.”
“I think I’m crying.”
I sniff to prove it.
He laughs and shakes his head. “They’ve been married twenty-six years.”
“What a story. Sheesh. My parents met at a bar then a few months later, my mum got knocked up with me and they sort of both agreed, Well, we might as well give it a go, right? Never had a proper wedding or anything, just exchanged rings and went round to my gran’s for some tea and cakes afterward.”
“Do you think they regret it? Getting married just because your mom was pregnant with you?”
I think of the way my mum dotes on my dad, the way he’s always teasing her and making her groan in annoyance and swear she’s had it up to here with him, though we all know she secretly loves it.