“She’s talking to some man,” Simon said.
“Captain Brandt,” Kate added.
“You kids okay?” Jack said, smiling. “Getting homework done? Helping Mom?”
“I don’t like homework,” Simon said.
“When are you coming home?” Kate asked.
“Soon. Just need my leg to get better.”
“Mom said you had an accident.”
Kate. Eyes locked on. Face impassive.
My daughter isn’t buying any of this, Jack thought.
“Yeah. Took a bad fall out on patrol.”
He waited for Kate to say something more. Like: Are you sure it wasn’t some of those people? The ones the other kids talk about.
The people who eat people.
But whether it was seeing Jack in the bed or the fact that Simon was here, Kate didn’t go any further.
“Can I see it?”
Jack looked down to Simon, his arm on the bed and chin resting on a hand, studying Jack as if he were a museum display.
“See what, Simon?”
“Your leg. Where you hurt it.”
Jack laughed. “I’m afraid they have it wrapped up in a lot of bandages. Nothing to see.”
“They feed you here?” Simon asked.
“That’s a dumb question,” Kate shot out.
Jack gave her a look; she could be so quick to dump on Simon. Normal for a brother and sister, he guessed. Still, it always sounded harsh to him.
“Yes. Hospital food. Nothing you’d like.”