Page 39 of Keeping Sarah

“I’ll be right back,” he said, and left us on the bed.

“He’s running away from me,” she said piteously.

“No, I am certain he is—"

“Doesn’t matter,” she wailed miserably. “Everyone leaves me eventually. My mom left.”

The urge to pet her back or hold her was overwhelming, but she did not appear to want that, so I held back. “I am sure she did not want to leave you. She was sick, wasn’t she?”

“She liked my brother better than me,” she said in a woeful tone.

I frowned, thinking back to my many conversations with Sarah about her siblings. “You’ve never spoken of a brother, Sarah.”

She looked up at me in confusion. “I don’t have a brother.”

I was equally confused. “You just said…that she liked your brother better than you.”

“Oh god,” she whispered and put her hands against her head, her eyes wide. “I…Rex...his mom toldhimshe liked his brother better than him.”

Apprehension trickled through me, and I fought a shudder, just as Jac returned with Ode. I was relieved to see them both.

Ode had her med kit, and she smiled at Sarah. “I hear you’re not doing too good with the whole solo thing.”

Sarah sniffled, frowning at Ode. “You don’t need to be here. I’m not sick.”

Ode set her med kit down and opened it up. “No, but sometimes medicine can help when you’re not sick, but your brain feels complicated.” She produced a jet injector from the bag.

“What are you doing?” I asked in a low voice.

Ode gave me a reassuring look. “I think this serum will help her sort through what’s Rex’s memories and thoughts, and what is hers.”

“No,” Sarah said adamantly. “I don’t want that.”

“Why not?” Jac asked.

Panic etched her expression. “I…I need to figure out how to deal with this on my own.”

“It’s just a sedative, Sarah,” Ode said gently. “You need sleep to be able to process—"

“No!” she roared. Then she leaned her head against me and started to cry again.

Ode huffed in frustration. “Fine.”

As she repacked her med kit, I noticed that she did not put the jet injector back into the bag. Instead, she seemed to tuck it beneath the footboard.

“Whatever you want, Sarah,” she said in a placating tone as she picked up her bag. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

Ode looked at Jac, then purposefully shifted her gaze down to the jet injector. He knew what she had done and gave a subtle nod. Then she left.

He palmed the tool and climbed onto the bed next to Sarah, keeping it out of her sight. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know,” she said softly, still leaning on my shoulder. “I’m so tired. But I don’t think I can sleep anymore.”

He nodded. “I get that. Sometimes after a long scouting trip, I’m wiped out, but also wired, like I can’t sit still. I think that’sbecause I don’t let anyone else drive.” He shrugged. “Control issues.”

She nodded and exhaled a shuddering sigh.

I said, “Perhaps, if you—"

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