Page 86 of Controlled Burn

“I was, but I’m home now, and Spencer and I are about to leave.”

“I’m fine, baby brother. I have a broken leg, but other than that, I’m fine.”

“Mom said your left leg looks like it got chewed up by a gator.”

I glanced down at my leg. “Maybe so. I haven’t seen it. They have it all wrapped up. But I’m fine. They’re gonna let me go home in the morning. They wouldn’t be letting me leave if I wasn’t okay. Why don’t you and Spencer just come up this weekend like we’d planned? I’ll be bored by then, and y’all can entertain me.”

He paused for a minute, and I knew him well enough to know he wanted to argue with me, but I heard a muffled voice in the background. Then he was back.

“Okay, Spencer says if you’re well enough to be this cantankerous, you probably aren’t lying, and you’re okay. But we’ll see you Saturday instead of Sunday since you won’t be working.”

“Sounds good. We’ll see you Saturday.”

I ended the call and let my head fall back. Looked like an alligator had chewed it up, huh? I’m pretty sure there weren’t any alligators in that building, but the whole thing was a disaster. Who knows what happened to it.

And something was really bothering me about the dog being tied up and the way the floor gave way. I’d assumed the pup belonged to a vagrant who was squatting there, but would they have gone off and left their dog like that? I didn’t think so. Something felt off, but between the fall and whatever wonder drug was dripping slowly into my system out of that bag over there, I couldn’t put the pieces together.

My eyes started drifting shut, and I decided all of that was a problem for another day. I was alive. Caleb was still here, and he loved me. Everything was right in my world.

Caleb

I watched as the silly man reached behind him to grab his crutches out of the back seat.

“You were literally discharged from the hospital a half an hour ago. I’m pretty sure it won’t kill you to let me get those for you.”

“My leg’s broken, not my arm,” he grumbled, but he stopped struggling to get them. I hopped out of the car and ran around to his side. I got the crutches out of the back, opened his door, and waited while he carefully turned around in the seat with his legs on the ground.

It might only be his leg that was broken, but his whole body hurt, and he’d already made it clear that he was going to be difficult about taking any pain meds. He slowly made his way up his steps and into his house. He stopped just in the doorway and inhaled deeply.

“What’s that smell?” He looked over at me like he thought I’d had something to do with the fantastic aroma that was wafting out of the kitchen.

“Don’t look at me. For one, I’ve been with you all day, and for two, I’ve never made anything that smelled that delicious. I guess someone let themselves in. Who all has a key to your house?”

“There’s a spare at my parents’ house. My sister and both my brothers have one. Oh, and your dad. He has a key.”

“Really, well, if I knew you handed out keys like candy, I might not have been so impressed when you gave me a remote for the garage door.”

“Ha, ha, those are for emergencies, not to come and go freely. You, my little rabbit, are always welcome here.”

We continued in and headed straight for the kitchen to locate the source of the scent. Sure enough, we found an unfamiliar crock pot with a card propped up against it.

Keith,

Don’t worry, I didn’t make it. Del did. It’s her white chicken chili. And if you think it smells good, wait till you taste it. We didn’t think you needed to be up cooking, and if you leave it up to my son, you’ll be eating take-out all week. I thought this might at least give you a couple days’ reprieve before the pizza deliveries start. I’ll pop by tomorrow to check on you.

Robert

I shook my head and sighed, trying to look put out. “It’s almost like he knows me or something.”

“It does smell really good.”

“It does. Are you hungry now, or do you want to wait a bit?”

“I think I want to get settled first, maybe take a nap.”

“That’s a good idea. Why don’t you do that, and I’ll make a run over to my apartment and pick up a few changes of clothes.”

He lay down on his couch, and I fussed over him, making sure he had enough pillows, snacks, and drinks. Finally, he reached out and grabbed my arm, stopping me from bustling around.

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