When Family Became a Place I Couldn’t Return To novel Chapter 183

Jonah slipped on a jacket borrowed from one of his guys. The black suit hung loose across his shoulders, open at the front, showing off a hint of his chest. Damp hair fell over his face, and under the harsh hospital lights, he looked unfairly good—like someone who’d just stepped out of a high-end magazine shoot.

But there was something different about him, a depth. He wasn’t just surface-level pretty.

Jessie had always thought she was immune to this kind of charm. She liked to believe she was above being swayed by a handsome face. Yet, when she saw Jonah, she couldn’t help but stare. When their eyes met, she felt her cheeks heat up and quickly looked away.

“Is the guy outside your friend?” Jessie asked as she walked back into the exam room. Nelly had changed her clothes and was towel-drying her hair.

Nelly and Jessie were about the same size, though Nelly was a touch slimmer, so Jessie’s casual clothes fit her perfectly. Normally, Nelly dressed sharp and put-together. Jessie’s style was more soft and cozy. The pink, off-the-shoulder sweatshirt and pale gray sweatpants made Nelly look almost like a sweet, innocent high school student.

Nelly hesitated, not sure what to say, and finally just nodded. “Yeah.”

“Your friend’s pretty good-looking. He seems reliable, too,” Jessie said, half teasing.

Nelly smiled, something flickering in her eyes. “He is. And he’s single, by the way. Want to know more, Dr. Morton?”

Jessie hurried to wave it off. “No, no, that’s not what I meant. I just… I just appreciate how quickly he jumped in to help.” She shifted the topic, handing Nelly the prescription she’d written.

“Your throat’s a bit inflamed. Take these when you get home. If you feel any worse, come back right away, okay? Inhaling water can be serious.”

Nelly nodded, taking the medicine and the advice. She glanced at her phone. It had finally charged, and now the screen was lighting up again with another call from Brody.

Jessie noticed. “Wow, Mr. Garland’s calling again? Didn’t you tell him what happened?”

Nelly let out a tired sigh. “We don’t have anything to do with each other. He doesn’t get to tell me what to do.” She pressed decline on the call.

Even with the medicine, her whole body still felt cold, like she was on the edge of coming down with something. The night had been exhausting, and she just didn’t have the energy to deal with Brody. He probably wasn’t really worried anyway. He was just looking for something to complain about.

But Brody didn’t give up. As soon as she hung up, he called again.

This time, Nelly just switched her phone to airplane mode.

“Did you get in touch with April’s mom?” she asked, thinking of Victoria. For someone as young as April to have such dark thoughts, there had to be something going on at home. Last time, Nelly let it go for April’s sake, but now she wondered if she should have pushed harder, maybe even called the police.

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