Traveler by L.E. DeLano (book suggestions .txt) 📕

ending in my body. I twist my head to the side and I am suddenly, spectacularly sick.

Somehow, Finn doesn’t drop me, and lays me gently on the ground again.

“S-sorry,” I mumble, trying to wipe my mouth with my good arm. Even that hurts. I’m embarrassed beyond belief. My eyes fill up with tears, and they stream down my cheeks sideways, into my hair.

“Don’t cry, Jessa,” he says softly as he lifts me again. “Please don’t cry.”

He starts toward the car. My mother and Danny meet us halfway, and after a quick introduction and debriefing from Finn, she helps him settle me in the backseat of the car for the ride to the emergency room.

“Someone drove across the bridge?” my mom asks incredulously. “They’ve had that road closed off for forty years. There are signs all over the place! Who would do that?”

“S-some idiot,” I say, keeping my eyes closed. The motion of the car is making me feel sick again.

“Someone in a blue sedan,” Finn adds.

Danny reaches back from the front seat and pats my head.

“That car shouldn’t have killed you, Jessa,” he says.

18

Loopy

I lie still, trying to wrap my fuzzy mind around where I am.

I’m in a hospital bed, and Finn is sitting next to me. There’s an IV in one arm, and a sling around the other. I think I’ve got a bandage on my forehead, too—I can feel it pull when I frown.

“Hey,” Finn says, reaching out to touch my IV’d arm.

I close my eyes and smack my lips at the sticky feeling in my mouth.

“Why do I feel so weird?” I murmur sleepily.

“They’ve got you pretty drugged up.” He moves his hand up to push my hair off my face, and I roll my cheek toward his hand.

“S’nice,” I say. “Your hand is warm.”

“You want to hear about the damage?”

“Sure. Lay it on me.” I smile, totally loopy.

“Well … you’ve got a dislocated shoulder. That’s why your arm hurts.”

“It’s not broken?”

“No. They reset it while you were under, but it’ll be sore for a while,” he explains. “Along with that, you’ve got assorted bumps, bruises, and scratches, and an IV pumping antibiotics into your arm because you got creek water in your lungs.”

“Awesome,” I say, closing my eyes again. “That’s just awesome. I have to write now.”

I can hear the smile in his voice. “No, Jessa. You have to rest. You can write later.”

“No, I need to write it while it’s fresh in my mind.” I open my eyes and smile at him. “While you’re fresh in my mind.”

“Oh,” he says, and I can tell he’s pleased. “You’re writing about me.”

“I always do,” I confess. “Well, almost always. Even before I knew you were you, I wrote about you.”

I try to get up, but the movement makes the room spin madly and I slump back down.

“Whoa. Spinning.”

“Would you like to sit up a little?” Finn asks. “I can raise the bed.”

“Mmmm,” I reply noncommittally. “Where’s my mom?”

“Danny was hungry, so she took him down to the cafeteria. They’ll be back soon.”

“Oh.” I close my eyes, and I think I may be dozing off again. I feel Finn straighten my covers, and then he kisses my forehead. I break into a loopy grin again.

“What?” he asks.

“You kissed me,” I say, and then I giggle. I never giggle.

“It was just on the forehead,” he protests. “I thought you were asleep again.”

“You kissed me right on the mouth,” I explain. I pull my IV’d arm up and put my fingers on my lips. “Right here.”

“I did?”

“Other you did. And you were a pirate.” I open my eyes, and he slowly comes into view. “You look good in black, you know.”

He looks at me carefully, and then glances around the room before lowering his voice. “Jessa, did you travel without me somewhere?”

“Mm-hmm. It was easy this time. Piece of cake.” I point at him with a crooked finger. “You didn’t think I’d be good at this, did you?”

“I never said that.”

“Well, other you seemed to think I was pretty awesome,” I tell him, giving him a smug smile.

“Is that so,” he answers drily.

“And boy, can he kiss,” I add. My eyes slide closed, and I drift away again into a dreamless sleep.

When I wake, Finn is gone, and I can hear my mom talking quietly with Ben. My head is a little clearer, but now I can feel my shoulder a lot more.

I shift onto my side, to find the button that raises the bed up, but I groan as everything starts to hurt. My mom and Ben both turn at the sound.

“Looking pretty gnarly, St. Clair,” Ben teases.

“Just out for an afternoon swim,” I quip. My mom joins him on the other side of my bed. She reaches down, taking my good hand.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” she says. Tears start to fill her eyes, and she blinks them back before she leans down to smooth my hair off my forehead.

“They’ll be bringing you more pain medicine soon. Your dad stopped by, but you were asleep and he didn’t want to disturb you. He’ll be back tomorrow.”

I frown, and it pulls at my bandage again. “I have to stay here all night?”

Mom’s hand gently strokes through my hair again. “You’re hurt, honey. Are you hungry?” she asks. “Can I get you anything?”

I hadn’t been, but now that she’s said it, I am starving. “Yeah. I’ll take whatever. You know what I like.”

She glances toward the door. “I think they brought you soup, but you were still sleeping. They may still have it out there.”

“Soup is fine,” I say, clearing my throat. My voice is husky and my throat feels raw. I guess that’s what happens when you swallow a creek.

“I’ll be right back,” she reassures me, kissing me again.

Ben takes her place, folding my good hand into his. “Hey, listen, St. Clair,” he says. “Just because I’m dating another girl doesn’t mean you have to throw yourself off a bridge.”

I roll my eyes. “Please. How did it go?”

“How did