“You know the K in K-Pop stands for Korean, right?” I challenged.
“Whatever. You know I don’t see color.” She grinned, knowing my trigger and using it anyway.
“Or know basic geography, apparently,” I retorted.
“Will you please just let me have my fantasy?” she whined.
“Jin Sheeran,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Got it.”
“Yes,” she hissed, clapping her hands.
I rolled my eyes. “You just get worse with time.”
She waggled her eyebrows at me. “You’re welcome.”
I chuckled just as Jekyll walked Mina over to me.
“She won’t eat anything I put on her plate,” he complained.
I smiled gently, reaching my hand out to Mina. She took it and I pulled her forward. “Baby, there are lots of options. What kinds of things do you like to eat?”
She shrugged, staring at her feet.
“We weren’t allowed to ask for things,” a quiet voice said from behind me. Tessa moved to Mina and leaned down to meet her eyes. “We’re safe now. You can have whatever you want.”
Tessa was twelve and had been with Mina since the day she’d been sold to the traffickers. Tessa had been in that hell hole for almost a year, but her ordeal didn’t seem to have taken away her sweetness. She was still wary, but with her ‘sisters,’ as she referred to the other girls, she was all love.
“Definitely,” I said. “Anything, baby. And if you eat some dinner, I know there’s ice cream in the freezer.”
Her head whipped up and she bit her lip. “Really?”
“Yep. Promise,” I said.
“Do you want me to take you to get food?” Tessa asked.
Mina shook her head. “Ekyll.”
“How about you and Tessa go and see what’s on the table, then Jekyll can help you put it on a plate?” I suggested, and Tessa took Mina’s hand, leading her away. I reached up and tugged on Jekyll’s vest and he leaned down, his hands landing on my wheelchair arms, so he was eye-to-eye with me. “You just have to be patient. And if she can’t tell you what she wants, just put a bunch of things on a plate and let her pick at it.”
He sighed. “It’s that easy, huh?”
I stroked his beard. “You’re doing great, honey. You got this.”
His eyes closed briefly, then he leaned down close to my ear and whispered, “Love that, GoGo. You keep callin’ me honey, and I’ll keep tryin’.”
He kissed my cheek and I grinned. “I can do that...honey.”
He kissed my mouth quickly, then went back to Mina.
“I need a biker,” Bellamy whispered.
“Oh, yeah, you definitely need a biker. One that will bring you to heel.”
She raised an eyebrow at me and then we both busted into laughter.
Two hours later, my body was burning in pain, and I was close to tears when Jekyll spun my wheelchair around and pushed me out of the building.
“What are you doing?” I rasped.
