side.
He doesn’t answer.
“Can you tell me where it hurts?”
Sherm points to his elbow, and when the nurse tries to move it, he grimaces and cries out. She spends the next several minutes poking and prodding. “Dislocated elbow, looks like,” she finally says.
“Is it broken?” I ask.
“Hard to tell,” she says, lowering his arm. “He needs to go to the hospital for X-rays. Is his family on the way? Or do I need to call an ambulance?”
Before I can answer, I hear Rob yelling Sherm’s name. I turn, and he and the pretty woman with long sandy hair are jogging from the parking lot. I can’t help scanning the pair for any family resemblance. Where Sherm is the spitting image of Rob, I don’t see any of them in their sister.
She squats down next to him where he sits on the ground. “Hey, you. Did you fall?”
Sherm shakes his head.
“Are you his mother?” the nurse asks.
“Sister,” she says, and flicks a wrist at Rob. “My brother Rob is his legal guardian.”
I glance up and see Rob looking at me. I expect blame or accusation in his gaze. What I see instead is a storm of emotions swirling in depths that I never knew were there. For the first time ever, the walls are down and I see his pure, unadulterated love for his brother. I also can’t help but notice the bruise under his left eye.
“Rob?” the nurse says approaching him, and suddenly I put her in context. She was two years ahead of me at Loveland High. Candy or Cindy or something. “I think he’s dislocated his elbow and there’s the possibility it’s fractured. He needs to be transported to the hospital for X-rays and treatment.”
Rob’s eyes stay fixed on me for a moment before shifting to her. When she gets a clear look at his face, she runs her tongue over her lips and gives him look that I swear has her phone number encoded in it.
“We can take him?” Rob asks, not seeming to notice the flood of pheromones coming at him like an undertow.
She nods. “Just try not to jar his arm. It’s only about fifteen minutes over the bridge to Loveland Medical Center, so he’ll be fine.”
Lee stands and helps Sherm to his feet.
I turn to her, because I don’t want to admit to the dagger of jealousy that’s slicing through my stomach, and I certainly don’t want Rob to see it on my face. “Thank you for coming so quickly. I’m so sorry this happened.”
“Thank you for calling.” She extends an arm. “I’m Lee, Sherm’s sister.”
She really is beautiful, and her voice is low, with a timbre that could soothe the most savage beast. My eyes flick to Rob as I take her hand and shake. Candy has unbuttoned her collar and stepped closer, but Rob’s eyes are back on me.
“Adri Wilson,” I tell Lee, clearing my throat. “I want you to know the other boy involved is in the principal’s office. He’ll probably be suspended for his part in what happened.”
“What did happen?” My head jerks up at Rob’s voice, right next to me, and I shudder at his proximity. Sand is crusted on his lower legs, and he’s in black athletic shorts and a damp T-shirt, as if he was at the beach on a hot day. But it’s not a hot day. It’s a typical cool February afternoon. Which means he was probably running or working out. The tangy scent of his sweat is enough to send me over the edge.
“The boys who have been picking on Sherm tried to throw him in the trash can,” I say, gesturing to the steel drum at the end of the table.
Rob’s jaw tightens as Lee hisses, “Those little shits.” But then her eyes widen and flick to Sherm. She grimaces and starts guiding him to the car.
“Why did you call Lee instead of me?” Rob asks, his eyes searching my face again.
With his proximity, and the musky male scent that comes with it, my thoughts scramble. It’s a second before I can retrieve his answer from my brain. “Sherm. He asked me to call Lee.”
His full lips press into a tight line as he nods, then he turns and follows Lee and Sherm to the car without another word.
Candy catches up with Rob before they reach the Lumina. I turn toward my classroom and try to focus on the task at hand. Something is tearing Rob up inside, and it suddenly seems even more