Nell woke up when the television turned on. She sat up straight and looked around. Derek had a remote in his hand and had turned on his TV. He was looking at the startled girl inscrutably.
"My shows are on," he said by way of explanation. "It's, like, noon."
"We slept longer than that," Nell said hesitantly.
"Yeah, 24 hours longer. Long damn time to be sleeping, but I feel pretty good."
"Not me," she said, and thought of the boy, Daniel.
"'Cause of that little kid you liked? He's fine. It was on the news."
"When did you watch the news? Did Sneak Peek call?"
"No, no phone messages. Watched the news yesterday. You slept straight through it. Seer was on. They didn't really discuss anything except that the boy's alright."
"Did they say anything about Walker and Doug?" She asked, getting to her feet and stretching. She had forgotten entirely about the bullet wound and its stitches, and she screamed when she pulled them. The bruises from being beaten added a chorus of agony from other points in her body. She collapsed forward on the floor, clutching at the old wound.
The Afterdark gave no response to her screech of pain or the fact that she was struggling to her feet, but answered her question: "Nope."
"But Daniel's fine?"
"For the last time, yes."
Nell was glad, but her smile on Daniel's behalf became an awkward grimace of pain. She'd never been this hurt, except perhaps for last winter's extreme hypothermia.
"Eat some food," Derek commanded presently. "You haven't eaten in quite a while and you have to if you want to heal any time soon."
The Fixer didn't argue with him and ate many slices of toast while Derek watched the show where the white trash shouted at each other.
"They talk a lot about babies, huh?" Nell commented. The show often involved a woman and her child attempting to identify the child's biological father.
The Afterdark nodded. "Oh yeah. Big point of drama. Mostly the men who get 'accused' of being the biological father don't want the responsibility."
That made Nell sad. She watched a man talk about how he would not care for a child and wondered if her biological father had been like that. Maybe that was why her biological mother had put her up for adoption as an infant.
"My shows are on," he said by way of explanation. "It's, like, noon."
"We slept longer than that," Nell said hesitantly.
"Yeah, 24 hours longer. Long damn time to be sleeping, but I feel pretty good."
"Not me," she said, and thought of the boy, Daniel.
"'Cause of that little kid you liked? He's fine. It was on the news."
"When did you watch the news? Did Sneak Peek call?"
"No, no phone messages. Watched the news yesterday. You slept straight through it. Seer was on. They didn't really discuss anything except that the boy's alright."
"Did they say anything about Walker and Doug?" She asked, getting to her feet and stretching. She had forgotten entirely about the bullet wound and its stitches, and she screamed when she pulled them. The bruises from being beaten added a chorus of agony from other points in her body. She collapsed forward on the floor, clutching at the old wound.
The Afterdark gave no response to her screech of pain or the fact that she was struggling to her feet, but answered her question: "Nope."
"But Daniel's fine?"
"For the last time, yes."
Nell was glad, but her smile on Daniel's behalf became an awkward grimace of pain. She'd never been this hurt, except perhaps for last winter's extreme hypothermia.
"Eat some food," Derek commanded presently. "You haven't eaten in quite a while and you have to if you want to heal any time soon."
The Fixer didn't argue with him and ate many slices of toast while Derek watched the show where the white trash shouted at each other.
"They talk a lot about babies, huh?" Nell commented. The show often involved a woman and her child attempting to identify the child's biological father.
The Afterdark nodded. "Oh yeah. Big point of drama. Mostly the men who get 'accused' of being the biological father don't want the responsibility."
That made Nell sad. She watched a man talk about how he would not care for a child and wondered if her biological father had been like that. Maybe that was why her biological mother had put her up for adoption as an infant.
