Jasper took two steps in and stopped, his body rigid. “I’m here. Happy now?” he muttered, looking anywhere but at the bed.
Vincent propped the door open and stood behind Jasper as he studied the sleeping, emaciated man lying on the bed. He had the same brown skin and blond hair as Jasper, but that was the only resemblance he could find.
“You should have been here yesterday,” Amber said, sitting up from the makeshift bed she’d put together against the windowsill.
Jasper flinched back half a step. “I didn’t want to come to begin with,” he hissed.
“Yes, you made that abundantly clear,” she replied with an annoyed glare. From the state of her hair and makeup, it was clear she’d been here a while.
Vincent didn’t quite understand the dynamics, since as far as he understood, they were cousins through Jasper’s mother, not his father. He pressed his hand against Jasper’s lower back in silent support. “How long have you been here?” he asked.
Amber’s frown deepened. “Since the day before yesterday.”
“Alone?”
She waved her hand and reached up to pull her ponytail free. “Terrance brings me food and stays in the evenings after work,” she said as she combed her hair with her fingers and put it back up. “Now that you’re here, I’m going home to shower.”
“Fuck that.” Jasper pressed harder into Vincent’s hand. “I’m not staying that long.”
“Stop being so selfish,” she snapped.
“That’s enough,” Vincent said, sliding his hand to Jasper’s hip and squeezing.
She cut a glare at him. “You can stay out of it. This doesn’t concern you.”
Vincent raised an eyebrow, tightening his grip on Jasper’s hip when he shifted as if he was going to lunge, and stared her down as he mentally counted to ten. “I’m going to assume that’s sleep deprivation and stress talking.”
Amber pressed her lips into a thin line, but when she didn’t say anything else, he sighed. “We’ll stay an hour,” he said. Beside him Jasper tensed, but that was the least they could do after coming all this way. Even an hour felt too short, though considering the rough start, he expected Jasper to try to leave after a few minutes.
When she started to protest, Vincent cut her off. “One hour. Go shower and rest. And maybe send someone to take our place.”
“There is no one else,” she replied tightly as she grabbed her purse. “Jas and Noah are his only family.” She leveled an expectant look on Jasper. “Call Noah and—”
“Shut up,” Jasper said, hands clenched at his sides. “He has even less reason to be here than me. He’s not coming, and we’re not staying.” He leaned into Vincent’s side, where the fainttremors going through him ricocheted through both of them. “One hour.”
Before she could respond, coughing interrupted them.
When Vincent turned to the bed, Jasper’s father was awake and didn’t seem particularly happy to see them. “Did you bring beer?” he rasped, hunching on his side as another coughing fit wracked him.
“Of course they didn’t bring beer,” Amber huffed.
The man collapsed back to the bed with labored breathing. “Worthless as usual,” he muttered.
Jasper wrapped his arms over his stomach and leaned into Vincent hard enough he’d likely fall over if Vincent moved an inch. Vincent bristled and pulled him even closer. Before he could find an acceptable response, Amber stepped closer to the bed, her fists curled into fists.
“Are you shitting me? You’re not even supposed to be drinking!” Vincent had to force his jaw to unclench when that turned out to be her only issue. “Whatever,” she snapped. “Do what you want. I need to go home and shower and eat something that isn’t half grease. Jasper will be here if you need anything.”
“Don’t bother,” the man sneered. “I told you I don’t need anyone here.”
“Sure. We’ll just leave you to the American healthcare system then, shall we?” Amber replied dryly. “I’m sure they won’t screw up your meds while there’s no witness.”
He muttered under his breath, low enough Vincent couldn’t catch anything but the scathing tone. Part of him had hoped this would at least be a civil visit, but now he wasn’t sure he was willing to stay even a few more minutes, much less an hour.
“If you don’t need us here, we’ll go ahead and leave, then,” Jasper said.
“Don’t you dare,” Amber hissed.
“Why not? You’re the only one who gives a shit.”
