Voices – Page 31
They were quiet again for a few minutes, and then Brian said, “I’m not worried about being even. I’m just glad you’re safe. Him too, I guess, but I don’t know him.”
John stirred, and when he spoke, his voice was tired but not without humor. “I’ll take you out to dinner or something. We can learn all about each other. No open-mouth kissing, though. I’m not that kind of guy.”
Brian rolled his eyes. Jen laughed. “How you feeling, John?” she asked.
“Feel like I got stabbed in the arm,” he said. “Otherwise, not bad. Can I have more medicine yet, Jen, do you know?”
Jen glanced at the clock. “Not for another half hour, John. The nurse said four hours minimum.”
John grimaced. “I need me a morphine drip. One of those patient-controlled ones,” he said.
Jen smiled at him. “Poor baby. If it makes you feel better, my butt’s all scraped up and my leg’s killing me.”
“Jen, are you okay?” John asked. “I mean, you know… not physically, but…”
“I’m all right, John. We can talk about it later.”
“That a promise?”
“Yes.”
John nodded, ran a hand through his hair, looked over at Brian. “You look pretty normal when you’re not uh… you know.”
“A giant talking werewolf?”
“Yeah. Listen, thanks for saving us. Seriously. Sorry if I was being a jerk. I just barely got to Jen in time before some ugly shit happened, then I got stabbed, and then you scared the hell out of me.”
“It’s okay. I understand. I’m glad you got to Jen before they could do anything to her. You saved her before I saved you.”
John shook his head. “No, I saved those guys. Jen wasn’t in danger. Not the way you think she was.”
Brian looked at him, then at Jen, confused. Jen sighed.
“It’s tough to explain,” she said.
“Tougher than growing fur and fangs?” Brian asked.
“Maybe not.”
John sat up a little. “You could show him, Jen.”
“What, you want me to go nuts right here?”
“No. I don’t think you have to. I’ve been doing some experimenting, Jen, and you might be surprised how quickly you can gain control of the skills you have. You saw me send that guy running, right?”
Jen nodded.
“No way I would’ve been able to do that a week ago.”
“What do you want me to do?” Jen asked.
John indicated toward the bottle of water on the nightstand. “Bump that. Don’t wreck it, just bump it. I bet you can.”
“If I can’t stop, are you strong enough to help me?”
“Yes, if I have to, but I won’t have to. You can control it, Jen.”
Brian looked completely lost. “What the hell are you guys talking about?”
“Sshhh,” Jen said. “Watch.”
She stared at the bottle, breathing. For a moment, there was nothing. Then, with the sound of a fist rapping once on a hard wooden door, the face of the table seemed almost to buckle momentarily. The bottle shot up in the air, twisting end over end, spraying John with water.
“Oh, holy shit…” Brian said.
“I did it!” Jen cried.
John wiped water from his face and smiled. “Little bit more than a bump, I’d say, but close enough. Congrats Jen. That’s a big step.”
“Jen, that’s incredible,” Brian said.
Jen shrugged. “That’s nothing,” she said. “Wait until John tells you what your favorite color is and what you had for breakfast yesterday.”
John grinned, and glanced at Brian. “Green, and a box of donuts he lifted from a convenience store.”
Brian sat in his chair, looking back and forth between Jen and John.
“This is… something.” he said at last. “I don’t know what this is, but it’s something, and it’s important.”
