Page 99 of Shelter for Morgan

Palmer had taken a leave of absence from work to be with her as she was in the hospital and then after she was released, he’d done everything to make her comfortable at home until her doctor cleared her to return to work.

And he’d just fallen asleep when she opened her eyes to stare up at the ceiling.

She knew how much strain Palmer was putting on himself to make sure that she was okay. It hadn’t helped that Jacob had been called back to Center City to work on a developing case and he’d pulled Palmer aside for a ‘talk,’ before he’d gone.

Jacob had put a lot of strain on Palmer, likely just by being a big brother, but also because he was a law enforcement officer.

No matter how much she’d told Jacob that she didn’t want him to push Palmer more than he was pushing himself, she had a feeling that Jacob was doing whatever he wanted to do.

Just like he always did.

She sighed and Palmer turned over to face her. His eyes opened and he was completely awake.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

She gave him a hesitant smile. “No. I thought you fell asleep.”

He smiled back, the action softening his features. “I thought if I looked like I was asleep, that you’d have an easier time.” Palmer reached out his hand and gently touched her arm. “You’ve had so many people watching over you at the hospital and now here at the apartment, I thought you’d like the privacy.”

Morgan grinned. “It was a little awkward with my brother in the other room.”

A corner of Palmer’s mouth quirked up. “I think he thought he was being funny when he commented on the dust layer on your bed.”

“He knows he wasn’t,” she settled down in the bed, careful not to jostle her arm in its cast, “he was just being an asshole.”

“He was being a big brother.”

“Same difference.”

They went silent, just looking at each other.

“When my arm gets better,” she whispered, “you can have your side of the bed back.”

He shrugged, and the gesture was more on one side of his body than the other. “I don’t care. I just want you to be comfortable.”

Morgan blinked back some tears. “You’re too good for me.”

Palmer lifted his hand from her arm and gently wiped at a tear that slid down her cheek. “I think you’re too good for me, so I guess that makes us a pair.”

She smiled again. “You say the sweetest things, I-”

A flash of light hit the ceiling and the top of the wall over the window and Morgan jumped a little.

“Morgan?”

Her breath hitched in her chest and the world around her went dark.

The light.

The only light she could see was across the grass.

The science building.

“Oh god.”

Morgan swallowed hard as her mind brought back all of the memories that she’d lost. She relived them as a silent observer in her own head.

Walking over.

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