“Do you have any discharge papers for him?” Spitting into the bowl, I rocked back on my heels to crane my neck and breathe heaving gulps of air. Out of the corner of my bleary gaze, Nicole disappears again with determination ticking her jaw. Reaching to rub the thick bandage over my nose, I clamored up to the sink to stare at myself. My eye was almost swollen shut, and I reached down only to realize I wasn’t wearing my jeans. Jackie continued glaring at me in the mirror, and I turned to her to frown when she pointed at me. Damn bitch is gonna attack me without Nicole here to make her think twice. “I don’t like you.”
“Why would I care what you think? You ain’t the one I want.” Alarm flashed in her eyes, and I braced myself on the sink gingerly before gesturing to my face. Jackie was taken aback by my response, and she clenched her jaw hard. “Judging strangers is for bitches fuckin’ the pummel of their high horse. You got no right not to like me. You don’t even know me. I’ll tell you what I told her. I don’t start shit, but I’ll fuckin’ finish it. I warned her, but it ain’t my job to police her.”
“That’s why you’re a piece of shit. You didn’t try beyond the minimum effort required.” I cocked my head at Jackie’s aggressive snap, and my vision cleared a bit as a whirlwind of emotions swirled in my chest. The silence was tense while I thought of my next words carefully, but I didn’t drop her gaze. She tinged darker red with each second that crawled past; it was honestly kinda funny how much emotion Jackie put into it.
“If I am, I am, but then what does that make you, huh?” Jackie’s eyes widened as her face twisted with anger, but I ignored her to turn back to the mirror. Sucking in a sharp breath as I pried apart my swollen eyelids, spiderwebbing pin prickles engulfed my head and stabbed my eyes. I should just leave it to heal by itself, I knew, but the time it was a’tickin’.
Warpath was gonna have to move fast to subjugate Saint George Hellraisers now that things had spiraled so far out of control. I’m gonna have to go back to Margot as soon as possible. We’re down three people. This was so fucking bad it couldn’t even register on the meter.
“I found it.” Nicole shoved the packet at her sister’s chest before her worried eyes found mine in the mirror. I winced as their light pierced my brain, but it’d be easier after today. My body would acclimate to my injuries, and then I’d start healing. “Do you need more ice?”
“Nah, can you get me a paring knife and some alcohol, baby?” Questions floated across her face, but Nicole nodded before striding off in the other direction. Once again, Jackie scowled at me, taking special time to look up from my discharge papers.
“It makes me a good sister.”
“No, it makes you a controlling bitch.” Jackie tensed, glaring at my back. I was sure I had permanent burn marks between my shoulder blades, now. “Don’t judge anyone else’s happiness by your own standards. She’s your sister, yeah, but she ain’t you, and she doesn’t want what you got. So, pull the silver spoon outta your ass because I ain’t gonna be the one that walks out that door.”
Realization flashed in her eyes that I’d heard some of their conversation, although I was sure it wasn’t all of it. Jackie harrumphed, turning to the packet she held in white-knuckle fists and stewed in her rage and shitty morale.
“You’re not gonna cut open your stupid eye, are you? That’s not gonna help you heal.” Grumbling haltingly, Jackie didn’t look up this time as I nodded; I needed to see right now, even if it took a couple of extra days to heal. “You could get an infection.”
“This ain’t my first time. I’ll tell you what—” Turning to Jackie just as Nicole popped up next to her, I frowned darkly. “You wanna call me a piece of shit. Fine. Judge me for whatever. Don’t like me. I don’t give a fuck either way. But stay the fuck in your lane, and we ain’t gonna have any problems. If I want you to open your big ass mouth, I’ll ask you a question.”
Jackie trembled with rage before twisting to stomp to the living room, and my lip curled in a horrible, ugly disgust. Nicole looked between myself and where her sister had just stood and sighed, shaking her head. Setting the bottle of isopropyl alcohol on the sink, Nicole frowned disapprovingly at me.
“That was mean.” Grunting lowly, I reached to cup her cheek, and her cool skin dampened the fire raging through me. Nicole turned into my palm, but the contact didn’t last long before she reached to touch my swollen, black eye. “Is she right? About your eye?”
“Yeah, but it’ll be fine. I’ve done it plenty. Listen, baby . . .” I blinked hard, trying to get the clearest, most focused field of vision I could manage. Nicole stared at me levelly, and I sniffled harshly through my clogged nose before jerking my head in a nod. “If I gotta be the bad guy, I will. Ain’t nothin’ to it. Better your sister hate me than hate you for bein’ with me.”
“What’s the difference?” Emotion thickened her tone, and Nicole covered my hand with hers to gaze from under long lashes.
“Because she’ll blame me. And that’s okay. You changed, and she already blames me, so why not just keep on keepin’ on?” I grabbed her hand to caress the pretty, modest diamond ring on Nicole’s finger. “Sometimes, the people we love most are the ones that want us
