Page 251 of The Storm Boys Series Collection

“Jesus.”

“Right near the heart.”

“And the Lichtenburg marks?”

“You mean my Lightning McQueen racing flames?”

She smiled at that, but then looked at my torso. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It’s unreal. Any exit wounds?”

“A matching pair on the sole of each foot.”

She shook her head, seemingly lost for words. “You were lucky, huh?”

“Yes.”

“So, no more storm chasin’, huh?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw what I put Tully through, and I can’t do that again. I need to think of him now too. I don’t think he’s happy with my decision, but...”

“Give it some time,” she said. “It’s not so much the storm chasin’ you gotta quit. It’s the doin’ stupid shit like runnin’ out in a lightnin’ storm that you gotta quit.”

I snorted. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’m just sayin’, if you love it, if it’s part of what makes youyou, then if you quit, then you’re quittin’ part of yourself. And that can lead to resentment and if you blame yourself or Tully, or maybe he’ll blame you. It ain’t good either way.”

“What’s not good either way?” Tully asked as he walked back in, holding a takeaway coffee cup. “Nurse said they’re comin’ to put some dye in ya for the echo-thingy ultrasound. I asked if the dye would make you glow in the dark. She said no. But I did ask if the coffee was okay, and yes, you can still drink this.” He put the coffee on my table. And then he saw the shirt. He held it up. “Oh my god, this is the best thing I’ve ever seen. I’m gonna need one in every colour.”

“It’s not yours,” Doreen said. “It’s Jeremiah’s.”

“We share a wardrobe,” Tully said. “What’s mine is mine and what’s his is mine.”

Then, because Tully was Tully, he pulled his own shirt off over his head and pulled on theI love Dickshirt. He patted it down and grinned right at me. “You like?”

I couldn’t stop smiling at him. “I love.”

He beamed, giving Doreen one of his grins, and she rolled her eyes.

Tully rolled his other shirt into a ball and shoved it in the bag. “Anyway, the nurse said we gotta go. I’ll come back as soon as they let me in.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Love you. See you soon.”

“Love you too,” I said.

He was still beaming, and he laughed when my ECG line stuttered upwards. “Oops.”

My nurse appeared like magic again, her glare fixed directly at Tully. “Is your husband being a menace again?”

I saw Doreen do a double take at the word husband, and Tully must have seen it too. He quickly took her arm. “Come on, Dory. Time to go.” She managed a wave before they disappeared.

My nurse tsked after him. “Does that grin of his get him whatever he wants?”

I chuckled. “Yes, it does.”

She patted my arm. “Okay, let’s get you ready for this test. What did we call it?”

“One step closer to going home.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

TULLY

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