Page 92 of Boundaries

I flipped onto my side and pushed onto my knees, staring down into Mason’s battered face. There was now a purple mark on the side of his split lip. I grimaced as it looked like it would hurt.

“Here,” I sniffed taking the hand that was closest to me. I then uncurled his fingers and pushed the necklace into his palm, before reclosing his fingers around it.

“There,” I said grinning, mission accomplished.

Mason’s face flickered with a mixture of thoughts, none I could name, but his brows were threaded and so I knew he was puzzled.

So, I explained it to him, “You need to keep that on you all the time. It gave me luck. It can do the same for you.”

His face softened as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. Mason opened his hand and looked down at the necklace before lifting his head, his eyes meeting mine.

That was the first time I had ever seen him look at me in a friendly way. Mason McKenna usually had the meanest eyes on the planet. My friend Betty and me talked about them all the time.

“Cheers,” he whispered with a slight smile.

I beamed back at him, thoroughly pleased with myself. I wasn’t selfish like Mattie said, “No probs. Laters dog face.”

And with that, I pushed to my feet and skipped off back home. I could feel those McKenna eyes burning into my back. But how many pairs were there?

More than one set, as I was sure Mr McKenna had been watching from his window. The mean old buzzard.

The Present

“Amy,” Nixon McKenna’s voice said, biting into my thoughts. So many feelings were flowing through me. I smiled down at the necklace Mason had kept all those years, before pushing it in the pocket of my PJ bottoms and then stuffing the wallet back into the bag.

Climbing to my feet, I dashed away a tear as Mason’s brother approached, Seth at his side.

“Have you heard anything yet?” he questioned. He was so tall, he cast a shadow over me.

“No, nothing. They’ve taken him for an assessment I think,” I replied, feeling relieved that he was there. If there was one thing Nixon brought with him, it was strength.

“Stay here, Seth, look after Amy. I’m going to see if I can get some answers.”

Before he moved away, I shot forward, “You need to go to reception first, there are some questions on Mason’s admittance form that I couldn’t answer. If he is allergic to anything, past conditions, stuff like that.”

Nixon nodded in understanding, before storming out of the waiting area. I’d hate to be on the receiving end of that mood.

Seth and I stood, staring at each other before he offered me a shy smile.

Glancing down at the bag with Mason’s belongings in, I handed it over to his brother.

“Mason’s stuff from his pockets. His phone is dead and his wallet is in there,” I explained as he nodded and pushed them into the inside pocket of his puffer jacket.

We both sat down and Seth explained that Boyd was looking after Chrissy and Jenna and that he had given a statement to the police about the fire.

On their way to the hospital, Boyd had texted Seth to say that the fire was out. I wondered fleetingly what state our house would be in.

Nixon appeared again, looking sheepish and red-faced. “There’s no news at the moment, he’s still being assessed.” It looked like he’d been told off.

As I sat on the cold, hard seating in that stuffy room, Nixon and Seth positioned themselves on either side of me, almost as if they had spread out to hold me up, figuratively speaking. I welcomed their support, considering it was their brother who was in a critical condition.

We all took sips of water, Seth and Nixon didn’t really have a scratch on them. I sat there in my dirty shorty PJs looking the worst for wear and feeling slightly self-conscious.

After seeing me fidgeting with the cuff of my shorts, Nixon offered me the shirt he had tied around his waist and I accepted it, feeling more comfortable as it covered most of my body to my knees.

We all tried to be upbeat, but it wasn’t easy. In between pacing, and light-hearted attempts to lift the mood, Nixon said that Mason had alerted the house around midnight to say he could see what appeared to be flames coming from our farm.

All the McKenna men had then jumped in his truck, having had to take a hysterical Jenna with them.

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