<b>Chapter </b><b>34 </b>
I turned to Dr. Winters, who was still sitting at her desk looking shell–shocked after the Reynolds‘
hasty departure.
“Dr. Winters,” I said calmly, “I need to take two days off school.”
<b>42 </b>
She blinked rapidly, as if trying to process the request after everything else that had happened. “Of course, of course,” she stammered, nodding vigorously. “Take as much time as you need.”
I helped Max to his feet, noticing how he winced when he put weight on his right ankle. Jason had
kicked him pretty hard there. I wrapped my arm around his waist to support him, and we made our
slow way toward the door.
“The nurse’s office is down the hall if you need it,” Dr. Winters called after <b>us</b>, her voice thin with
stress.
I didn’t bother responding. Behind us, I could hear the school staff murmuring to each other, their
voices a blend of confusion and disbelief. In less than an hour, their understanding of me had been
I </b>Jade Morgan, the formerly obese nobody who kept to herself.
Now I was someone with direct lines to the mayor and apparently the Haxton family–whoever that
was to them.
The walk to the nurse’s office was slow. Max tried not to lean on me too heavily, but I could tell he was in pain. His face had several small cuts where Jason’s ss ring had caught him, and his right eye was starting to swell. A bruise was forming on his forehead, and I suspected he had more hidden
under his clothes.
“Stop trying to be brave,” I told him. “Let me help you.”
Max sighed and finally allowed himself to put more weight on me. “I could have handled it,” he
mumbled.
“Sure you could have,” I replied, not bothering to hide my sarcasm.
The school nurse looked up as we entered her domain. She took one look at Max’s face and immediately gestured to the exam table. “Sit,” she ordered.
I helped Max onto the table and stepped back, watching as the nurse began cleaning his cuts. None of them were deep enough to need stitches, which was good. I didn’t want to deal with a hospital visit right now.
<b>10:07 </b><b>Wed</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b>17
“Take these,” I said, handing Max two anti–inmmatory tablets from my bag. He swallowed them dry without question.
After the nurse finished bandaging the worst of Max’s cuts, she stepped out to file an incident report, leaving us alone in the small room. Max sat quietly on the edge of the bed, staring down at his hands. The bruises on his face looked even worse under the harsh fluorescent lights.
I leaned against the doorframe, studying him. “Scared?” I asked.
Max looked up, confused. “Of what?”
“Of me,” I rified. “After what I did to Jason.”
He shook his head immediately. “No. That’s not why I’m…” He trailed off, searching for words.
“Not why you’re what?<b>” </b>I prompted.
Max looked at me directly, his eyes troubled. “Jade, is this really over? I mean, with Jason and his
parents<b>?</b><b>” </b>
I smiled slightly. “I told you before, even if you blew up the entire school today, I could make it go
away.”
42
“But how?” Max asked, lowering his voice even though we were alone. “How do you know the mayor
well enough for him to drop everything and call a city councilman on your behalf?”
“He is just a good person,” I said with a dismissive shrug. “He cares about helping students in this
city.”
“So those martial arts moves,” Max said, changing the subject. “Where did you learn to fight like
that? It was like watching a professional MMA fighter.”
<b>I </b>smiled mysteriously. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Max. You’ll understand eventually.”
“Why did you ask for two days off school just now?” Max asked.
I nodded slightly. “I need to pick up some important things I left in New York.”
We <b>sat </b>infortable silence for a moment before I straightened up.
“Let me see your leg,” I said suddenly.
<b>10:07 </b>Wed<b>, </b><b>Sep </b>17
“What?” Max’s entire demeanor changed instantly. His body tensed, and he instinctively tucked his left leg behind his right.
“Your left leg. The ‘old injury.‘ I want to see it.”
Max’s face paled. “Why? It’s fine. It’s just-<b>” </b>
“Max,” I interrupted, my voice gentle but firm. “Let me see it.”
He looked at me for a long moment, conflict clear in his eyes. Finally, with trembling hands, he slowly rolled up his pant leg, revealing the withered muscle underneath.
I examined it carefully, noting the degree of atrophy. It wasn’t as severe as I’d feared. “The muscle deterioration isn’t too advanced,” I said clinically. “It can still be treated.”
Max’s head snapped up, eyes wide with shock. “Treated? But the doctors said-”
“I’m bringing something back from New York,” I cut in. “Special medication. If we start treatment soon, you should be walking normally by the end of the year.”
<b>42 </b>
“Walking… normally?” Max repeated, his voice barely above a whisper. <b>I </b>could see the war in his eyes -hope battling against the fear of disappointment. “That’s impossible.”
“Trust me,” I said simply.
Before Max could respond, we heard amotion in the hallway. Momentster, the door swung open, and Felix Huxley himself strode in, nked by two aides.
“Jade!” he eximed, his face a perfect mask of concern. “<b>I </b>came as soon as I could. Are you and your brother all right?”
Max stared in amazement as the mayor of Cloud City crossed the small room to shake my hand warmly. Felix’s behavior toward me was not that of a powerful politician meeting an ordinary high school student. It was the behavior of someone eager to please.
“We’re fine, Mr. Mayor,” I replied coolly. “As you can see, the situation has been resolved.”
“Excellent<b>, </b>excellent,” Felix said, beaming. “Anything else you need, anything at all, you just let me
know.”
<b>As </b>Felix continued his effusive offers of assistance, I noticed Max watching me with newfound
…
:
<b>42 </b>
wonder. He nced nervously at the mayor, then back to me, clearly trying to process how his sistermanded such deference from one of the most powerful men in the city.
Felix left the infirmary, but I noticed him pause just around the corner in the hallway. He immediately pulled out his phone and made a call.
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