The Family by Marissa Kennerson

off with a switch.
    “Oh, hey, man. I’m Leo. I was just talking to Twig about Turrialba.” Leo stood a good two inches taller than Adam. He leaned carefully on his crutches and offered his hand. Adam looked at it but didn’t take it.
    “Son, Twig doesn’t know anything about Turrialba.”
    Twig cringed. What would Leo think of her? That she was lying? She had no way to explain. She just sat there, gagged, wishing she could say something. Adam was humiliating her.
    Avery and Doc walked up at that moment. Leo softly nodded his head toward Twig. Twig didn’t know what Leo was thinking, but he seemed to get the point that he wasn’t welcome. Twig’s stomach clenched. She so badly wanted to tell him she didn’t feel that way, and he seemed to read her thoughts.
    “Nice to meet you, Twig,” Leo winked at her sweetly.
    “You, too.” Twig’s voice was barely audible. She knew she shouldn’t say anything, but she couldn’t let him go without saying goodbye. Adam glared at her, and Twig put her head down.
    “I’m going to take off, go find my folks and Hazel.”
    Leo nodded politely at Avery and Doc. They nodded back at him.
    Twig was grateful to them for showing Leo some graciousness. She felt a mixture of fear and anger toward Adam at the moment.
    Leo pivoted around on his casted foot and hopped down the hallway in the direction Hazel had gone a few minutes before. Twig watched him go. Before he turned the corner, he looked back at her, his expression conspiratorial. Twig pressed her lips together to keep from smiling.
    Adam stared after Leo with disgust. Twig cast her eyes back down to avoid Adam’s gaze.
    “Unbelievable. This is exactly how these people are. Taking her out here. Exposing her to this sickness. We need to get her back to the room. Now.”
    Adam was glaring at Doc and Avery, as if Twig being out here in the hallway was somehow their fault. He glanced at a watch on his wrist that Twig had never seen before.
    “Damn it,” he hissed. Twig flinched. Adam never used profanity. That was a sign of infection, but wasn’t he protected from that?
    He pulled a small phone out of his pocket and held it to his ear. Telephones had never been a part of Twig’s life. Like cameras, she knew they were out there, but she had never used one. Twig wondered what else Adam had up his sleeve. Doc looked at Adam with concern but stayed quiet. Adam pressed a button and then waited a few seconds.
    “Did you make the transfer?” he barked into the phone. “Good. I will call you tomorrow, and we can discuss the rest.”
    Adam pressed a button and ended the call. He stuffed the phone back into his jeans.
    Twig thought Adam seemed tired despite his fury. His face was drawn. It was the first time she’d ever seen anything even resembling vulnerability in him. She was surprised he had let her see him talking on the phone. Was it because they were engaged?
    Engaged.
    Suddenly, the word felt like a prison. All she wanted to do in that moment was run after Leo and see his big smile, hear the warmth in his laughter again. But this was her Family. How could she feel that way? She sighed out loud without meaning to.
    “Let’s get her back to the room. She needs to sleep.” Doc misinterpreted Twig’s sigh for pain or fatigue. She felt all that, of course, but she was being kept afloat by some new feeling she had never experienced.
    “Hold on.” Adam held up his hand to Doc. “Doc, Avery, give us a minute.” Doc and Avery nodded and walked a few steps away. They both looked exhausted.
    “Listen, honey,” Adam began. “You must think I’m being a jerk.”
    Adam kneeled down and took Twig’s hand in his. He looked into her eyes and removed a piece of hair from her forehead. Twig noticed his touch felt comfortable, kind, but it didn’t move her the way Leo’s had.
    “Twig, you’ve had a big couple of days: the engagement, the fall, leaving our home for the first time. I want you to know that I understand. I get it.