The house was elated when they received a call three weeks later that Esten had awoken.
This happened to be the very same day that Konner had moved in, and he stayed back to set up his things in Janae's room while everyone else went to visit Esten. This didn't make much of a difference, as Esten and Konner hadn't officially met yet.
Luke saw this as the perfect opportunity to persuade Janae to be with him. This also would be his last opportunity for quite a while. So, after everyone greeted Esten and they'd chatted amongst themselves for some time until Luke took Janae aside.
His plans were foiled when his body took over and he grabbed Janae at her hips and shoved her face into his.
She pushed him away with a loud grunt. "What the fuck?" The room fell quiet and tears stung at Janae's eyes. "I have a boyfriend who I love very much, and you just made me cheat on him. Stay away from me, Luke." She turned on her heel and ran out of the room and called her boyfriend to drive her home.
She was a mess the whole drive back, and Konner was infuriated. It took everything in him not to turn the car around and punch Luke square in the face. Janae convinced him otherwise, telling him that she just wanted to go home, and that if he punched Luke in a hospital he'd get arrested.
Konner figured her point was quite reasonable and they stayed mostly the rest of the way home, excluding Janae's sobs and the radio playing music softly.
The rest of the house arrived home late that night, but Konner told everyone to meet him in the kitchen—especially Luke.
"He's nowhere close to getting out of the hospital." Michael was the first to speak, and everyone was silent after that. The tension grew, if even possible, until Kirsten spoke.
"Lucky fuck. Free food, people constantly fluffing your pillows and giving you morphine. God damn, I want to get hit by a truck."
The group laughed quietly, and finally Konner stood. He approached Luke, sitting in a small chair and shivering more than a leaf in fall, and bent down to make eye contact with him. He waited a moment before snatching Luke by the collar of his shirt and lifting him, then punching him with all his might. Luke fell back into the chair, breathing hard, and Konner leaned in close once again, staring him dead in the eyes. "You ever do anything like that ever again, I'll be introducing you, my friend, to my knife collection."
He then stood and turned, heading back to his and Janae's room. Janae followed him, and the group could see her jump on him so he would carry her down the hall. Everyone then dispersed silently, Luke not leaving the kitchen. Louise didn't even stay for him, and instead went to sit with Kirsten and Sadie in the basement and discuss the previous events.
Luke stayed in the kitchen for the remainder of the night, feeling so much pain and bleeding out of his nose so much that he felt he would die if he moved. He then promised to himself that the next time he did something like that to Janae, he'd be sure that the little bitch stayed quiet.
