“This is my dad,” Kelly says, drawing my attention back to her.
I look at the picture on screen and see a short man with grey hair, a wide smile, and eyes like Kelly’s. The old man has his arms in the air, enthusiastically waving at someone.
“This is how he greeted my mom every time she came back from a tour. She was a pilot.” Kelly starts crying. I wonder if the tears rolling down her bruised cheekbone hurt.
“They had the best relationship.”
I lift my lips in an understanding smile.
“Thank you for giving me a piece of him back,” Kelly says. Then she swipes under her eyes to brush away a tear and winces.
I was right. The bruises are still tender.
“How do you know so much about computers when you’re so young?” Kelly asks, looking me over.
“I have a lot of free time.”
Kelly smiles again. Even when she’s crying, she’s pretty.
I can’t help comparing the both of us. Kelly has long, wavy brown hair that’s thick and shiny, while my blonde hair is the color of wheat.Drywheat. It never shines. It never curls. It just hangs there, lifeless.
Kelly also has more of a womanly figure. Even bruised and recovering from a fractured rib, she makes the hospital gown look like evening wear. I’m younger than her, but I don’t look half as good in these loose gowns.
“Well, I’m grateful that you’re the one sleeping next to me. I’ve only been here a few days, but it getssoboring when you’re gone.”
“It’s not that bad.” I shake my head and smile.
“If it wasn’t for you, this place would have been dreadful.” Kelly shudders.
“After a while you learn to… create your own excitement.”
She makes a disbelieving noise. “I wouldn’t want to stay cooped up here. There’s a whole world beyond these four walls.”
A whole world, huh.
Must be nice.
Kelly’s nose is red, but she’s stopped crying. “When are you getting out and going back to school?”
“Oh, I don’t go to school.”
“You graduated already?” She surveys me. “You look around my sister’s age and she’s in high school.”
I shake my head, hoping the conversation will drop naturally.
“I always see you on your laptop, so I thought you were taking online classes. I didn’t realize…”
My eyes dart away.
Kelly gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. “I believe you’ll get better, J. And when you do, you should definitely go to college and get a degree in tech or IT. With skills like yours, you could do some serious damage.”
“It’s not a big deal. It’s just a few recovered photos.”
“Are you kidding? You’re, like, agenius.”
My lips coil up because she’s not wrong, but also, it would be impolite to outright agree.
Kelly continues gushing. “If you wanted to, I bet you could build an app and have your own company. In a few years’ time, you’d have people begging to work with you.”
