Nice Shot (John Luke Robertson Book 2)

Chapter 2

"What?" I shriek at my brother, who only smiles.
"Well, I'm nineteen. It's about time, right?" Hunter asks, and I sigh. My brother just informed that he bought an apartment. A small one, old one, and one in Louisiana, not Tennessee. He's graduated, now. It's June 3rd, and John Luke and I will be seniors next year. Reed is headed to college in August, and Hunter is, too. Cole and Sadie will be juniors. Where has the time gone? John Luke and I have been dating officially for six months. It's been six months since he was shot. Six months since I've seen James. And I have dropped Hailey's case for a while. Kason is still in treatment, but we visit him in Texas every two weeks.
"Well let's go see it," I say, and he shakes his head.
"I have to get it all settled with my stuff, first. Mom let me have some of her furniture, so she sent her boyfriend to haul it to me. He's arriving in about twenty minutes with some of my stuff and the furniture. I'm going to set it up, and I'll call you, okay? Dad has the day off, so he is going to come by later. He went by the store, though. Bye," he wraps his arms around me quickly and I embrace him back before he walks out. My vine lets out a shrill ring, and I grab it from the kitchen counter.
"Hello?" I answer.
"Hey, baby. Sadie is coming over to give you some clothes, so I tagged along. I figured I'd let you know ahead of time. We will be there in about five minutes," John Luke's warm voice fills my ears. A smile stretches across my face.
You almost got him killed...
I force the thoughts away.
"Okay. Love you, bye."
*****
"We're here!" Sadie screams in a sing song vice.
"I know. I opened the door for you," I remark sarcastically earning a glare from her. I laugh lightly before my eyes land on John Luke, standing behind Sadie. "Hi," I breathe, still blown away by the sight of him.
"Hey," he leans down to press a soft kiss to my lips. My eyes flutter closed as I wrap my arms around his neck.
Careful..remember that he died because of you?
A shudder racks my body as I immediately snap my hands back, holding them to my sides. John Luke raises an eyebrow at me.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna go upstairs with Sadie," I almost stutter but hastily recover and force my legs to scurry up the steps. Sadie is ready in my room, pulling clothes out of shopping bags and laying them down on my bed. Shaking off the stupid voices in my head, I stand by the door and wait for Sadie to adknoedge me. She pulls the last article of clothing from a Gap bag and gathers the paper good-holders into a wad, shoving them into one big Aero bag. She rests her hands on her hips before turning and jumping out of her skin.
"Jees! Warn me next time, Kaysie!" She shouts and I guffaw, falling to the floor in a fit if laughter. I can feel her glare which only makes me laugh more until my face is red and tears stream down my cheeks. She yanks me back up and shoves some clothes at me. "Change." I wipe my tears and stifle my laughter as I change into the solid pink tank top and the yellow, pink, and orange skirt that reaches my knees. It's soft and flowy, the print is summery like flowers. She hands me a pair of yellow and pink floral skimmer flats and a goofy white floppy hat with a bright pink bow on the front. I roll my eyes as she slips a fake pearl necklace over my head. "Vintage girl!"
"Old girl. Give me something else," I take off the clothes and grab the next thing: A pale blue and off-white floral dress with a tight top and loose bottom. I slip into some off-white, silk flats and face Sadie, who gives a thumbs up.
"This ones a keeper," she tells me. "Next." I change into a comfy pair of black yoga pants and a baggy light pink sweater with a black capital K on the front and black, cursive print on the back that reads: Tennessee Girl. I smile. It's bringing some home back to me.
After several more outfits, seven yes and four no, Sadie and I clean up and collapse on my bed.
"That's tiring," I sigh. Sadie giggles.
"Welcome to being a girl," she pauses for a moment. "Are you going to see Hunter?"
"Yeah he said he'd call me when he's ready," I tell her, hearing her nod. "Let's go back downstairs-" The sound of the front door opening stops me. What's up with that? Is Dad home?
"Kaysie?" A familiar voice shouts, bringing tears to my eyes.
"Kason?" I call out.
"Kaysie!" He yells back. It's not a dream or my imagination. My little brother is downstairs. Eh is he back? I lose my teak of thought as I barrel down the stairs, grabbing my brother. He looks paler, weaker, yet strong. His hair is short but growing back after the treatments.
"What are you doing here?" I cry, holding onto my little brother.
"Mama and Daddy brought me," he tells me, holding tightly to my neck. I freeze.
"Mom and Dad?" I look around my little brother to see my parents awkwardly standing. Bags are visible under their eyes, their hair is messy, and their skin is pulled and wrinkled.
"They released him for a week until he has to go back," Mom tells me. I put my either down on his feet and hug my mother. She begins to sob into my neck. "It's his birthday on Wednesday."
"I know," I whisper to her as she shakes. A hand falls on my back and I break away. My dad nods for me to scoot, so I do. I back away and my Dad wraps his ex wife in a hug, pulling her into his bedroom and shutting the door. The sobs are now muffled and I turn back to my little brother. "What do you want to do, buddy?"
"Sleep," one word wrenches my heart as he says in. He sounds tired and weeks. My heart cries out for him.
"Okay. Let's go up to my room okay?" I take his hand and lead him to my room. Sadie and John Luke watch from the living room as I ascend up the stairs with Kason. Halfway up, Kason's knees almost hit the floor. I gasp, pulling him into my arms. "Kason," I breathe, scared. He snores softly and I sigh in relief. He's still alive. Taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I carry my brother up to my room. I tuck him in and pull up a chair to sit with him. I don't want to leave his side, frightened by what will happen. I lean back in the chair and close my eyes, the exhaustion hitting me.
**************
"Hailey," I embrace my sister, or try to. I end up falling through with a sigh. My sister laughs.
"I'll hug you again one day, Kaysie," she says. I nod before a squealing interrupts. A laugh follows and I look past Hailey to see Jason hopping over glittering gold pebbles. "What are you doing here?"
"I saw Jesus," my little brother giggles. The thudding in my chest stops completely and my eyes widen.
"No no no. No you didn't, Kason. Go back. Stop!"
"Kaysie."
"Stay alive, Kason!"
"Kaysie!"
*******************
I jolt awake, my hands gripping tight to the metal chair armrests. My heart thuds rapidly as I look at my little brother, his chest rising and falling. Beside me, John Luke has a look of panic with his hands on my shoulders. He takes deep breaths, pulling me into his arms. I cry into his chest. Kason's okay. He's not leaving me.
"You're okay, baby," John Luke mutters softly, smoothing my hair.
John Luke almost died because of you, and now Kason is heading in the same direction on your watch...killer.