The Hornsey Bay Chapters

Chapter 10 - Playing Nurse

While Alicia fills the kettle and gets mugs from a cabinet, Jared raids the Wentworths' refrigerator, looking for something sweet to feed Ranger.

The guy is in shock, and from the looks of it, Alicia is clearly, too. Jared had already made his friend drink most of the water in a bottle he found on Alicia's bedside table, but Ranger was complaining of nausea, and he was trembling like a leaf. Underneath all his bravado, he is still human, and the pain must be excruciating. Jared would prefer to take him to the ER, but stab wounds get reported to the police, and he needs to know what Ranger got himself into before the police get involved.

Jared is pretty sure it has something to do with Ranger's father, the one subject he steadfastly refuses to discuss. They were all relieved when Ranger's mom moved to Hornsey Bay a little over a year ago, and Ranger left his father's house in the town 30 minutes away to live here with her instead. It made a massive difference in the guy's life, but he refused to talk about what caused it. The only thing Jared knows is that Ranger's father is in jail for racketeering.

Smiling, pleased by what he found, Jared grabs a couple of chocolate puddings from the refrigerator and plops them on the counter. Opening one, he takes a spoon from the teaspoon container next to the kettle and dips it into the rich, two-toned brown, yummy goo.

"Here," he says, holding the spoon to Alicia's lips, and she reflexively opens her mouth, taking the spoon from his hand, when he places the sweet load in her mouth. She is blinking at him, too surprised to say anything, her expression making him laugh.

"It might help with the shock. It's chocolate and salted caramel."

"Oh! Uhm... thanks, but it's Ranger's; he's going to be mad," she finally speaks, pulling the spoon from her mouth.

"He's not a stingy guy," Jared laughs, and Alicia makes an incredulous face, pointing at the pudding container in his hand.

′Snubs! Don't touch my pudding!′

He frowns, puzzled, when he reads the words written in black permanent marker and then laughs even harder, wondering what his friend is up to.

He holds the small tub out to Alicia, making a scoffing sound. "He can kiss my ass. Go ahead, eat it. It's really good."

She smiles awkwardly and obediently takes the pudding, and spoons it into her mouth. Though she's in much better shape than when Jared had just arrived, he can see that her fingers are still trembling slightly, her movements a little uncoordinated.

"Hey, he's going to be alright, I promise," he says, patting her shoulder. "It must've been really scary finding him like that. Do you need another hug?"

Alicia turns her brown eyes on him, and for a second, he thinks she's going to take him up on the offer, but then she's blushing, looking at her pudding again. "I'm alright, thank you."

"Let me know if you change your mind," he grins. "My hug business is open 24/7."

She giggles softly and steps aside, allowing him to hi-jack the coffee-making process while she eats her pudding. Jared is starting to get why Ranger is being such a bastard towards the girl. She must be driving him off his rocker. She is all Bambi eyes and gentle smiles, with a cheeky little nose and when he'd hugged her before, there was a second when he almost forgot that he was just trying to comfort her.

Alicia is a little bit taller than the average girl, but she is still about half a head shorter than Jared. He is not the tallest guy on the planet; his height is pretty standard. The girl's honey-brown hair reaches just past her shoulders, and at the moment, it is still a little moist from her shower.