"Sure, I …" Jessi glanced towards the bed. "Well, my purse is in the car."
Laurie was giving her the look of assessment again.
"Brandon," Jessi called. "Can you grab my purse from the car?"
He sighed and left his sister's side with a frown. "Keys," he said.
"Thanks, kid." She handed them over.
"I'll start the paperwork," Laurie said briskly and started down the hallway.
Jessi released a deep breath. Her chest was so tight, it hurt. First her Ashley was in the hospital, then a nurse wanted to call social services to take the kids away. Now, she was late for work and probably on her way to getting fired.
What an awful start to her day.
She did her best to appear upbeat and went to Ashley's side again.
"They said you can come home with us," she said. "You feel up to it?"
"Yeah."
"You wanna tell me what you were doing last night?"
Ashley avoided her gaze and twisted the sheet with her hands. Jessi recognized the wall the teen girl threw up. She wiped her face and squeezed one of Ashley's hands.
God, give me patience.
"We'll talk later," she said. "Are your clothes here somewhere?"
"Closet."
Jessi crossed to the wardrobe the same color white as the walls and opened it. Ashley's clothing was neatly folded on a shelf and her socks tucked into her shoes. A small purple purse sat on another shelf. She retrieved everything and nudged the door closed with her hip.
Turning to face Ashley, she stopped in place. A lanky boy in his late teens stood beside the bed. He was handsome and simply dressed in jeans and a dark t-shirt. He didn't appear too different than Brandon's classmates.
Except that there was something … wrong about him. The lights nearest him dimmed while the air around him shimmered, as if he was a mirage.
"Do you want to introduce me?" He addressed Ashley.
Ashley was pale. Her eyes flickered to Jessi, who couldn't quite read the expression on her face. It was almost fear. Or maybe the type of apprehensive awe a teenage girl gave her idol.
"Jessi, this is Jonny. He um, he found me last night after …" Ashley drifted off.
"Oh, so you brought her here?" Jessi asked curiously.
"Yes."
The instinct that warned her of there being something off about the kid grew when he met her gaze. His look was too intense, too soulful.
"Thank you," she said. "Ashley was lucky you were there."
Jonny said nothing. The awkward silence made Jessi antsy. She crossed to her cousin and set down the clothes at the foot of the bed.