Page 13 of Cruel Love

“That was crazy.” Shane straightened and moved to the side of the entrance, where several nurses waved before going back inside. His clipped responses echoed my impatience. He’d been in just as much of a hurry and pushed the process along as quickly as he could. Neither of us liked to be a patient in the hospital, and knowing my brother, it was killing him that it had been me in there. It would’ve for me if had been him.

We didn’t need to express every thought and feeling between us because we could feel it—we were twins and were tethered together whether we liked it or not. I had an odd sense that I’d been reading something off about him for a while, even if I couldn’t remember what. It was there in the way his eyes would stray away from mine, as if he could barely contain whatever was bothering him. But there was enough going on as it was, and eventually, he would tell me. Or I would make him.

Mindy, the charge nurse, winked as she accepted the papers I’d signed then took them back to wherever she needed them to go. My muscles were stiff, and I grunted as I stood then settled into the ridiculous wheelchair Mindy steered my way.

Everyone was cool, but the nurses flirting with me was a little off-putting, which was weird. Normally, I would have been into it, but I kept thinking about Aspen and only Aspen.

Shane snapped another picture, and I growled at him, silently plotting payback as he slipped from the room to pull the car around while Mindy wheeled me out. We waited for him to pull up, making small talk until he arrived. After thanking her, I got out and into Shane’s car. Seat belt on, I turned toward him as he pulled away. “How did you break me out of there without Mom coming?”

Finally, we were in the car after that embarrassing wheelchair ride, which my asshole brother documented with a video he put on social media and that picture, which he set as his screensaver.

“She’s been working too hard and worrying just as much. The accident she had to work the double shift for must’ve been tough, and she’d just gotten home when I pulled up. After she talked to the doctor on the phone about your progress, she passed out on the couch. I carried her to her room and made sure it was dark. That’s the only reason she wasn’t there, and she won’t be happy to find out you got out early without her.”

“Nothing about this is great. I’ve got a lot of PT until I can go back to school, and I have no idea how I’ll be able to handle the workload.”

Shane took his eyes off the road for a moment. Guilt was painted all over his face, which was nearly identical to mine. Even if I hadn’t been able to read his features like a book, I could feel it radiating off him. We were usually in perfect tune with each other as a routine part of our lives.

“You’ve got a tutor. Remember Noel Simon?”

“Oh, yeah.” I grinned. She was cute and a total brainiac. “Wait. Why the hell aren’t you helping me?” Maybe that was the guilt I was getting off him.

He winced. “Grandad has shit for me to do every day. And if I don’t do it, or if I’m late…” He slammed his palm against the steering wheel multiple times. “I’m sick and tired of getting bitched at about it.”

“What’s his deal?” I wasn’t following, but the mention of Grandad wasn’t sitting right with me, and I had no idea why. “He knows you have school and football.”

“Doesn’t matter. He’s on my ass. He wants me to know his business's ins and outs for when we take it over.”

“Whoa, that’s not in our plan. Or not mine, anyway. Did he have me doing that stuff too?” Finally, someone was talking to me like I wasn’t fucked in the head. The constant tiptoeing around everyone was doing was pissing me off and making me even more determined to regain what I’d lost.

“No,” Shane growled. “He seemed to have singled me out. I have no idea why. Maybe because he knows about Aspen? With Grandad, you never know. He’s a sneaky bastard, something I’m coming to find out more and more.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What?” Shane changed the station on the radio then turned it way up. “Grandad being sneaky,” he shouted over some annoying song. “He is. What’re you going to do at home? Can you get around at all?”

“Stop changing the subject.” I turned the radio down.

Shane sped up, and we flew down the highway.

“What’s there to know about Aspen?”

“Nothing. I’m just annoyed. At school, there’s this little prick, Luke Green. I punched him the other day.”

“On school property?”

“Yeah, I know.” Shane clenched his jaw. “But Coach didn’t find out about it, so I’m good.”

“You’re lucky. You could have gotten kicked off the team. What about the fights? Are those still happening?” We’d just started them—wait. We started them when I was fourteen.

“They are, and Jake Flynn wants a rematch with you.”

I had no idea who Flynn was, but I wanted to get back in the ring. Our cousin Cole had started the underground league his first year in high school. We weren’t long to follow, and it was the best way to get aggression out. I was glad I remembered. It’d been going on before our state championship game, so I wasn’t surprised that I did, but still… it would’ve been nice if more memories followed. I needed my brain to make more progress so I could get my life back. “I’m in. I just need a little time to get my body working right.”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea. Do you remember him?”

“No, but does it matter?” I flashed him a cocky grin. All four of us were badasses in the ring. I wasn’t worried.

“He’s a huge guy. And…”

---