“We’ll talk about it later.”
“I am so sorry.”
“I know.”
Mara looked past him and noticed me.
Her eyes moved over the waitress uniform, the hospital blanket, and my bare arms.
“Who are you?”
Before I could answer, Harlan did.
“Rue Callaway.”
Something happened to Mara’s expression.
It was small.
So small I might have imagined it.
Her lips parted.
Then she looked at her brother.
Harlan gave her the faintest shake of his head.
That bothered me.
“What?”
Neither answered immediately.
I stood.
“What was that?”
Mara recovered first.
“Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing.”
Harlan rubbed one hand over his jaw.
“You’ve had a long night.”
“I work double shifts at a diner.
Long nights don’t make me hallucinate.”
Mara almost smiled.
Harlan didn’t.
A doctor entered before either could explain.
“Harlan?”
Everything else vanished from his face.
The doctor smiled.
“She’s stable.”
