“And I can’t get well at home?” Jane tried to sound angry, but she was already relenting and leaning back in the bed. “Does Jonathan know I’m here?”
“Um, kinda.” I exchanged a look with Mae. “Did you tell her how she got here?”
“I told her that you found her at the club, and she was in bad shape.” Mae once again deftly avoided the truth, and I wondered how often she lied to us.
“He won’t be happy when he finds out I’m here.” Jane wasn’t threatening us, and from the look she gave Mae, I’d say she was actually just trying to protect us. Her “boyfriend” definitely had an anger management problem.
“We know, but we wanted you to be safe,” I said.
I didn’t really understand the animosity between us. She had been living a reckless, dangerous life, and I wanted to help her change that, and maybe get back to being friends again. It would be neat to be friends with someone that didn’t live in the same house as me. Although, she probably would be living here, at least for a little while.
“I understand.” Jane picked at her chipped nail polish and stared down at it for a minute. “You look really good. Your hair is longer.”
“Yeah, our hair grows really fast.” I played with a strand of my hair and smiled at her. “You look… Okay, I can’t lie. You look pretty bad right now.”
“I know.” She shrugged her bony shoulders. “But I’m here now. So I guess that’s something, right?”
We talked for a few more minutes, but she was obviously getting tired. Mae sent me away, saying that Jane needed her rest. It had been awhile since I had been bit, but I remembered being exhausted for days afterward. Jane had to be stronger than I was just to be able to sit up and talk.
As soon as the sun set, I enlisted Milo to make a run to the store with me. We picked up groceries for Jane, namely things heavy in fat and red meat, and energy boosters, like Red Bull and vitamins. Before we left I went to see if there was anything in particular she’d like to eat, and she said no, but requested we get her some hair dye.
When we got back, Milo made her food, and she came downstairs to eat it. Bobby joined her, and she seemed semi-interested in him until she found out that he was gay and dating Milo. Then he became almost a nonentity to her. It was good to see the old Jane back in action.
Half-way through her steak (which seemed unnecessarily rare, even by my standards, but Milo was the chef), Peter decided to make an appearance. It wasn’t really intentional. He had been back in the den, working with Ezra on something, and he wanted to go up to his room to grab a shower.
As soon as Jane saw him, she locked her lasers on him. Naturally, he ignored her, but she almost tripped over herself trying to get up after him. Milo managed to assure her that Peter was completely off limits, but that probably only made her want him more. She realized that she wasn’t up to getting a new suitor just yet, so she let him go without chasing him down.
Jane downed about ten Red Bulls, then went upstairs. I finally convinced Mae that Jane would be safe in my hands, even though I felt a bit thirsty. Jane wasn’t appetizing because she didn’t have healthy blood, and what she did have was tainted by another vampire’s scent. But I knew I’d have to eat before I went to bed.
“So, I don’t really understand,” Jane said. She strolled through my closet, looking for clothes to borrow since I hadn’t thought to stop and pick hers up. I had a new and improved wardrobe, and for the first time in our friendship, I had clothes that she actually approved of.
“What’s not to understand about clothes?” I sat down on the small bench by the shoe rack.
It was overwhelming being in the closet, surrounded by all of Jack’s things. I had to go in here every day to get clothes, but I hurried out as quickly as I could. I lay back on the bench so I could stare up at the ceiling instead of Jack’s stuff.
“Half of this closet is Jack’s stuff,” Jane touched one of his shirts. “But nobody’s made any mention of him since I’ve been here. Where is he?”
“I don’t know.” My phone was in my hand, and I looked down at the screen, willing him to call me.. I hadn’t tried calling or texting him today, but I hoped giving him some space would make him come home. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Jane had moved on to leafing through my clothes, and she looked at me sharply. “Aren’t you two like in love or something ridiculous like that?”
“Something like that,” I muttered and lay my phone face down on my belly, so it couldn’t taunt me anymore. “We got in a fight, and he left.”
“What’d you fight about? Who left the lid off the toothpaste?” Jane asked dryly.