The Siren at the Museum (The Girl Who Sang #1)

Chapter 20

The twins had spent the last three days camping out in her hospital room while Eda and Camila were back at the Noceda-Clawthorne residence. Eda had a few standing orders that she needed to get fabricated and shipped out, while Camila had been working on the upper floor to accommodate Luz's mobility needs. She had sent Luz some photos the day before; the long-familiar twists and turns of their living room furniture had been shifted around to allow for wider, straightened pathways. The girl was sad to see the changes, but she knew they could always go back to the old way of things later. King also needed some care and attention, as he wasn't allowed at the hospital when her mothers were staying overnight. Luz understood, she did, but it was still hard to watch them walk out the door.

She was strapped into the continuous motion devices yet again, her arm and legs gently stretching and moving without any effort on her part. As long as she didn't look to her left, she was... okay. She'd learned how to ignore the sounds of the machine wrapped around her arm after eight days. A dull ache had settled into the limbs on her left side; Doctor Oliver assured her that was a good sign, but now Luz was wondering if getting the feeling back was truly worth it all. The ache was growing stronger, making it difficult to sleep at night. She sighed and twisted her good wrist, the Switch controller in her hand reading the movement to steer her Mario Kart racer away from the bananas dropped in front of her. Luz looked over at the blue-haired man laying beside her and sneered, "Gonna hafta do better than that, Ed." He laughed, his golden eyes sparkling.

Edric had put the Switch tablet in the flexible arm that Luz used while video chatting with Amity, and hung it above their faces as they laid side-by-side on Luz's hospital bed. He grinned and shot back, "I dunno how you're so good at this when you never play—" his eyes tightened in suspicion, "Did you lie to me?" He gasped in fake outrage.

"Don't be jelly," Luz laughed, nailing his kart with a green-shell ricochet, "This is one of the older tracks, that's all." He hummed as he tried to make the next curve without losing too much speed.

Emira called out, "Don't be a poor loser," from where she sat at the table against the far wall, a stack of papers beside her laptop. Luz wasn't sure what she was working on—possibly something related to the new Trust her father and his lawyer's office had started—and didn't really feel like it was her place to ask. She was just grateful for their company.

They both crossed the finish line and the post-race results screen started tallying their scores. She turned her head to look at Edric, and he looked her way with one eyebrow raised. "You don't have to do this, you know—I appreciate it," Luz confided, "—but, y'know."

He nodded and looked back up at the screen. He selected a new course and the next race began. "I broke my leg when I was younger," he replied, his voice pitched low to not disturb his sister. "Had to lay in bed for weeks. It sucked." They jockeyed for positions over the next two laps, trading shells and sabotaging the computer-controlled racers.

She grinned and elbowed him gently, "Well, you're makin' this not suck." She laughed when his next shell missed and she pulled ahead, speeding for the finish line.

He gasped and then pulled a wicked grin, "What are in-laws for?" She jerked to face him, stunned, her face turning a fierce, bright red, and he laughed and laughed as she careened into the wall. He and five other racers zipped across the checkered line before she could recover.

"You cheeky little— ass— Emira!" Luz called, catching the pink-haired girl's eye. She nodded toward the mechanical snake wrestling her other arm, "Can this thing give him the finger?"

Emira chuckled and turned back to her work, "I'll have to check the manual."

"Asshole," Luz muttered, her cheeks still burning.