Boundary Born (Boundary Magic Book 3) - Melissa F. Olson Page 0,105

a couple of days ago, and it was a completely separate incident. That raised skeptical eyebrows, but no one challenged me directly.

After I was admitted, Lily had quite a few suggestions for the intake nurses. I smiled and let my attention wander as she bustled me around to X-ray and CT technicians, never leaving my side. When the final count was tallied in the early morning hours, I had three broken ribs, a bruised kidney, a broken wrist that would eventually require surgery, and a concussion.

I had gotten off easy.

They made me stay in the hospital overnight to monitor the kidney problem, and I was hurting too much to protest. Then I was on too much morphine to protest. And then I was too asleep to protest.

I heard snatches of conversation as I slept, and voices that seemed so familiar, but I tuned it all out. When I opened my eyes again, sunlight was streaming in through hospital curtains, and the clock on the wall said 4:00. I’d been out for more than twelve hours.

There was something in my hand. Lifting it seemed like too much work, so my eyes wandered to my left. And met the warm brown eyes of John Wheaton.

Even through the morphine haze, my mouth dropped open with shock.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” he said frankly.

I was so surprised that I laughed, a choking noise that probably sounded a lot more like asphyxiation than humor. John winced and apologized, but I shook my head a little. “S’okay,” I mumbled. Then I finally realized why he was here. My parents were my emergency contacts. Oh, crap. They knew. I groaned. “How much trouble am I in?”

John held his hands about three feet apart. “Your folks were pretty freaked out. Your dad couldn’t fly because his back is acting up again, so he and Christy are driving back. Charlie and I caught a flight this morning. She’s with Cara right now.”

“Surprised my mom didn’t come instead,” I mumbled.

John gave me the half-smile I knew as well as my own face in the mirror. “I insisted.”

Joy blossomed inside me, but then his face turned stony and he added, “I figured you probably wouldn’t be able to tell them whatever really happened, and might not have had time to cook up a story yet.”

“John . . .”

He sighed, pulling back from me. He stood up and paced a few feet away. “I know. It’s not your fault. It’s never your fault.” The words were harsh, but he didn’t sound angry. He sounded heartsick.

“John . . .” I said again. “She’s going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to her, I swear.”

He spun around, looking incredulous. “You . . . you think that’s why I’m upset? That I’m worried about Charlie?”

My brow furrowed, which somehow managed to hurt a little. “Why else would you be upset?”

“For the love of . . . Lex! I’m worried about you, you idiot!” He dropped back into the chair, giving me a completely exasperated look. “I know Charlie’s going to be okay. Of course Charlie’s going to be okay, because you would die before you let anything happen to her. And you told me you can’t die.” He gestured to the tubes in my good arm, and the taping and heavy neon cast holding together my broken wrist. “But look at what you’re putting yourself through! Look at how broken you are, all in service to Charlie! How can I live with that? How can I let that go on, while I sit around doing nothing?”

I stared at him, openmouthed. That was what was bothering him this whole time? Then why had he stopped having me babysit on Fridays?

Because he didn’t want to be any more indebted to you than he already felt, I answered myself. We were both idiots.

“You’re not doing nothing,” I said when I could manage it. “You’re raising a toddler by yourself, holding down a demanding job, and putting up with two different nutty families. I’d rather have my gig than yours.”

It was his turn to laugh then, and I saw him brush away tears with the back of his hand. But he shook his head. “It’s not enough. You’re risking everything, and I can’t even . . . it’s not enough.”

I didn’t need Sam’s voice in the back of my head to know what to say this time. “But Charlie needs her father more than anything I could ever do for her. She needs you home