Page 116 of What We Break
The little brother. Still following.
I don't finish the sentence.
Laine nods, like she understands what I'm not saying. "He's incredible. You should see him with patients. He's got a way with them."
"Yeah." My voice is flat. "He's a good guy."
"He is." She looks at me then, direct and clear. "So are you."
I don't know what to do with that. It's nice to hear, so nice, I don't want to tell her how wrong she is.
"You kept that mother calm," she continues. "I saw you with her. Cleaning her up, talking her down. That's not easy, finding the right words."
"Just kept her busy."
"That's not nothing, Blake." She holds my gaze. "She was about to fall apart, and you gave her something to hold onto. That matters."
I want to look away. I can't.
She sees me.
The thought hits like a punch to the gut. She was working on a bleeding kid, fighting to keep her stable, and she still noticed what I was doing. She stillsawme.
No one sees me. I make sure of it.
But Laine Mitchell looked up from saving a little girl's life and saw me anyway.
"Reid's lucky," I say. I don't know why I say it. The words just come out.
Laine's expression softens. "I'm the lucky one."
No.He's the lucky one. He found someone who runs toward the fire instead of away from it. Someone who sees the quiet things, the invisible things. Someone who?—
I shut that fucking thought down hard.
Reid jogs back over, slightly out of breath. "She's stable. They're taking her to St. Charles in Bend. Mom's riding in the ambulance."
He looks at Laine—at the blood on her clothes, at my jacket swallowing her up—and something flickers across his face. But it's gone fast, replaced by that easy Reid grin.
"You okay, babe?" He wraps an arm around her.
"I'm good." She leans into him. "Just need a shower and a change of clothes."
"We can stop somewhere. Find a store."
"No." She shakes her head. "We're already behind. I'll survive."
Reid looks at me over her head. "We good to roll?"
"Yeah." I'm already walking back to the truck. "Sunriver's another forty minutes. We're behind schedule."Way to be an asshole.I hate that it's my default, but it's been that way for so long, I don't know how to be any different.
I check the hitch, the trailer, the tie-downs. Everything's secure. The sedan is still sitting against the guardrail, waiting for a tow truck. Not my problem anymore.
I climb behind the wheel. Adjust the mirrors.
Reid helps Laine into the passenger seat, then climbs in the back. She's still wearing my jacket. It shouldn't matter. It doesn't matter.
I put the truck in gear.
