Page 36 of The Voices are Back

Things happened fast after that. X-rays were taken, an MRI was done, blood was drawn, and pain meds were administered. It was only after she was back in her room, an IV dripping into her arm, that I said, “I wouldn’t have brought you here had you not scared the crap out of me.”

She shrugged, back to not speaking.

The doctor had reiterated her need to remain mute until he could get a look at everything.

Which thankfully, he did early thanks to the utter deadness inside the hospital.

“Everything looks really good, considering,” the doc said as he walked into the room unannounced. “Other than swelling which will go down in a few days, I think you’re good to go. However, her memory loss does concern me that she has a concussion.”

She couldn’t remember anything that happened after she pulled up to get gas. Not why she’d gone in the store. How she’d ended up on the side of the building, and not the trauma itself.

“It’s normal for her to have some cognitive problems after a trauma such as what she sustained,” the doctor said. “Her memory of the incident may or may not come back. Only time will tell.”

I nodded, my face going soft when I caught Morrigan looking at me.

“She’ll need to stay with someone tonight so we can follow concussion protocol,” the doctor continued. “Or we can keep her overnight.”

Morr started to wave her hands in the air as if that was completely unacceptable, her eyes serious.

“You can speak, but I think it might still be good to give your vocal cords some time,” he said as he handed her a pen and a piece of paper. “Here, write on this.”

She did, then flipped it around for us all to see. “I don’t have a concussion.”

My lips quirked. “You hit the ground pretty hard according to KD. With your head. That’s why you have that cut on your hairline. You banged it on the ground.”

She clenched the board, frustrated.

I could tell she didn’t want to be left here.

“I’ll watch over her,” I suggested, feeling Wake get more and more angry behind me.

Wake was a new addition.

He’d appeared sometime after the doctor had walked in telling us what all was wrong with Morr. I could tell that he wanted to talk to me, but until I’d heard that Morr was okay, I wouldn’t be taking her anywhere.

“That’s perfect,” the doc said. “The nurse can help you get dressed in some hospital scrubs. That okay with you?”

Could he read the tension, too?

I definitely could feel it.

Said nurse walked into the room with the scrubs in her hand, and I gave one last look at Morr before I exited, pulling the door closed behind me and the doctor.

“She’ll be just fine,” he promised me.

Then he was gone, leaving me alone with a very upset Wake.

When I’d met Wake the first time, I’d thought he was an asshole. Mostly because he was overly protective of his little sister, who had a very real head on her shoulders. She didn’t need him being so overprotective. But there he was, always in Danyetta’s business, which put him in my business.

Over time, I came to realize that most big brothers were like that. And, possibly, I hadn’t had the best examples of how a healthy family should perform.

Granted, I had a great mom and dad. They were truly the best. They just weren’t a typical mom and dad. They were flighty, neurotic, and sometimes forgot they had children. I was raised to be an independent person. So were my siblings.

My sister could totally handle her own.

And always let me know real freakin’ quick how she didn’t appreciate my “man strength” being lorded over her. Or whatever it was that she liked to say to me on a weekly basis.

“Are you just going to stand there and act like you aren’t hurting my sister?” Wake snarled.

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