The side of my face was frozen.
My eyes fluttered in protest as I tried to open them. I lay still for a moment, finally realizing I was on Bella’s couch, staring at her ceiling, with something extremely cold pressed to my face.
I reached up and grabbed a massive freezer bag full of ice. The plastic stuck to my skin and stung when I pulled it free.
“Are you okay?” Jackson asked.
His voice startled me because it was so close. I turned to the side and he was right next to my face, kneeling on the floor. His eyes were wide, rimmed with red.
“I’m okay,” I mumbled.
“You don’t look okay,” he said. “Your face is all messed up.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“You have?”
I shifted on the couch and pain shot through my jaw and up into my temple. I bit my lip.
“I was kidding, Jax,” I said. “But I’m okay.”
His tiny hands held onto the sleeve of my T-shirt. “They’re always mean to Mommy.”
“Who?”
“The boys who hurt you.”
“She see them a lot?”
He nodded. “They always come here.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. She says I’m not allowed to ask.”
“Are they mean to you?”
He thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Not really. But they never wanna play Legos.”
“Jackson,” Bella said from somewhere I couldn’t see. “You were supposed to come get me when he woke up.”
“He just did.”
“I just did,” I said.
She appeared next to her son, dropping to her knees, too, on the side of the couch. “Okay. How are you?”
“Great.”
“Yeah. You look great.”
“Figured.”
She nudged Jackson. “Hey, buddy. Can you give me a minute with Noah?”
“Why?”
“Because I’d like to talk to him for just a minute.”
“I won’t listen,” Jackson said.
She smiled and ran a hand through his hair. “I know you won’t. But just give me a minute. Maybe go grab a couple of your stuffed animals and bring them out here to keep Noah company?”
His eyes lit up and he jumped to his feet. “Okay! I’ll be back.”
He sprinted out of the room.
Bella took the bag of ice from my hand and pressed it gently against my face. “You need this. Trust me.”
The cold bag stung my face.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?”
She put her elbow on the sofa next to me. “For showing up. Even though I was a complete bitch yesterday.”
“I was going to get a sandwich,” I said.
She smiled. “But you stopped. For me. For Jackson.”
My entire head throbbed and my eyes ached. I closed them.
“You should go to the hospital,” she said. “You probably have a concussion.”
I grunted my disapproval. There was nothing they could do for a concussion and going to a hospital would mean showing up in a computer somewhere.
“Sorta thought you’d say that,” she said. “I won’t argue. Right now, anyway. Are you thirsty?”
I managed to move my head enough to indicate that I was not.
“Rest then,” she said. “When you feel better, I’ll tell you. What’s going on. You at least deserve that.”
“Here, here!” Jackson said.
I opened my eyes to half-mast.
He set a small, brown monkey in the crook of my arm and a bright green cat on my stomach.
“Bert and Ernie,” he said.
“Wow,” Bella said, raising her eyes. “Your two favorites. That is big time.”
Jackson nodded enthusiastically.
I reached for the green cat-Ernie, apparently-and tucked him into my other arm. “Thanks, Jax. They help.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, holding onto my sleeve again. “I named them from those guys on TV. Those puppet people.”
I tried to nod but couldn’t. My eyes were heavy and I shut them again.
“Rest,” Bella said. “We’ll be here when you wake up.”
Her lips brushed my forehead as I drifted off.