Fractured Read Free Page B

little.
    â€œHe seems kind of out of it,” I said. “I think he needs to go to the ER.”
    â€œLook who’s talking,” Gabe said. “Mr. Medical Precaution himself.”
    â€œNo!” Jeremy wailed. “I’ve got to get to Marisa. She was attacked!”
    â€œDid she call the police?” I asked.
    â€œShe doesn’t trust them,” Jeremy said.
    â€œBrilliant,” I muttered, though I’d had my own problems with the cops back home.
    I glanced at Gabe and shook my head. She shrugged.
    â—†
    The dorm-room door opened on a petite dark-haired girl in a yellow sweater. The fragile bruised skin around her right eye was already beginning to swell.
    Propped up between us, Jeremy sagged on one leg, the blood dripping down his face in a steady stream. I held his high-tech contraption of a leg in my free hand. It was surprisingly light. We helped him onto the bed and I set the leg down on the floor. It stood erect on its own like a monument.
    â€œI’m not drunk, if that’s what you think,” Jeremy mumbled. “Because that’s usually what everyone thinks.”
    â€œHe was with us,” Gabe said helpfully to the girl, “at the club where we performed. He fell trying to hail a cab to see you. We wanted to take him to the hospital, but he insisted on coming here.”
    The girl sat primly on the bed beside Jeremy and pushed the blood-soaked hair away from his eyes. “Poor baby,” she cooed. “I missed you so much. Never a dull moment when you’re around.”
    He looked up at her with a worried gaze. “What happened to you, Marisa? I should have been with you. I should have been there.”
    My dead eye twitched and I had to wonder if it was just nerves or if it was registering something the other eye was missing. I glanced at Gabe. She looked as uncomfortable as I felt.
    My gaze shifted to Marisa. Physically, she looked fine other than the black eye and the torn sweater. A navy coat with silver buttons was thrown over her desk chair. Loose threads dangled where one of the buttons had fallen off. From the ultra-neat room, it was obvious that her messy state wasn’t normal.
    Marisa smiled back at Jeremy. I felt like a peeper. “I’m okay,” she whispered. “Really. Nothing happened. The guy tried to grab me, but I got away.” Somehow, I knew she wasn’t being completely honest with him, but who was I to butt in?
    Gabe cleared her throat. “Um, maybe we should get you both to the ER? Or at least the campus infirmary. Just to be safe?”
    I studied the room. My fingers itched to touch something, but my reaction to that ring had been so intense. This city was too much for me. I balled my hands into fists and stuffed them in my jacket pockets.
    The girl glared at us, one dark eye flashing, the other hidden behind the purpling folds of flesh. “We’re fine. Thanks for helping Jeremy. Can you please leave us now? He needs to rest.”
    Jeremy Glass murmured incoherently, his gaze fixed on Marisa, as if he’d forgotten we were even there. I took Gabe by the arm and spoke under my breath. “If they’re too stubborn to help themselves, it’s really not our business.”
    Gabe sighed and with false brightness said, “Okay, then. We’ll be close by if you need us. Our campus apartment is only a few blocks away. I’ll just jot down my number for you.” She scribbled on a scrap of paper and left it under a pen on Marisa’s tidy desk.
    Too focused on each other, neither Jeremy Glass nor his girlfriend noticed as we slipped out the door into the hallway.
    â€œNo good deed goes unpunished,” I grumbled.
    Gabe cocked an eyebrow and laughed. “I hate to say it—but you sound exactly like your dad.”

4
    Jeremy
    Saturday: 12:25 AM
    W hen the room finally stopped spinning, I sat up. Marisa stared back at me, her eye nearly swollen shut in a purple