“Heard a precious pixie got hurt while spreading pixie dust,” Hurst said, still dressed in the suit he wore when he had meetings. His being the mayor of Piersville was still a weird concept, but I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t one of the best things to happen to the town. “We thought we’d bring you some stuff to help you during your recovery.”
Linda Townsend was like the ultimate parent in my eyes, and as she walked up to Shanti’s bed, her emotions clear on her face as she took her in, I thought about my grandma for a moment. I really needed to call her. For the last almost three years, I’d kept her and my aunt updated on Naomi and Shanti. They’d be fucking elated with the change in our relationship, and I didn’t doubt they’d want to spoil Shanti after her accident, too.
“I’m sorry you hurt your arm and needed an operation, love bug. I heard from Heidi that Naomi said you’d been braver than she was, though. How’d you manage that?”
“Shi-Shinola happens,” Shanti said quietly, her eyes moving over the people in the room like she couldn’t believe they were all here for her.
Hearing her response, everyone burst out laughing.
“Shanti!” Naomi hissed, her face bright red. “What did we say about you saying that?”
“That it’s better than saying adult words that’d get me arrested?”
Laughing even harder, Linda sat down on the edge of the bed. “Shinola definitely happens. Now, Bond ruined my street cred with y’all when he found that store with the bandages online. I used to have the best selection of Band-Aids, now I’m like a poor relative.”
“You snooze, you lose,” Bond shrugged. “What character you wanting, Shanti?”
I scowled at him as he unknowingly stole my thunder, the ass clap.
“Deadpool.”
Any irritation fled at her response, and I asked, “Have you seen that?”
“Kinda,” Shanti mumbled around a yawn. “Uncle Bond and Uncle Canon were watching it one time, and me and Nemi saw some of it while they had a nap.”
All eyes turned to the two honorary uncles who looked like they were trying to merge themselves with the wall.
“Oh, my God,” Naomi breathed. “My four-year-old watched Deadpool.”
“I’m not sure they do bandages with him on them. Who else would you pick?” I asked, hoping to navigate the conversation away from something that’d push Naomi over the edge. It’d been a stressful day, and who knew how much more she could take before she had a nervous breakdown.
“Um, The Rock?”
When I was her age, I’d have chosen a cartoon character or something from a kid’s movie. Did kids grow up quicker these days? Did they go straight from an embryo to an adult, bypassing all of the interim years that we’d gone through?
“What about a cartoon character?” Linda pressed, glancing nervously at Naomi, who was now rubbing her temples.
Shanti’s nose wrinkled. “Nah. What ‘bout your favorite movie, Car-ta?” The change in her pronunciation of my name gave away how tired she was, but the doctor or nurse would be in soon to check her over, so maybe keeping her awake was kinder?
None of the movies I could think of were age-appropriate either. What the hell did kids watch these days?
“It’s Thanksgiving in a week,” Linda pointed out while I just sat there, stumped by the question. “After that, it’s Christmas. What about getting some festive bandages? You could change it for each holiday.”
Again, though, this suggestion wasn’t what Shanti wanted.
“We’ll give you some time to think about it,” Heidi said, stepping forward. “The store isn’t going anywhere, so you think about what you’d like.”
“I want what Car-ta likes.”
Melt my heart. No, it was already slush.
In the last twenty-four hours, I’d seen how much trust both Kelly females had in me. It might not seem like much to some, but to me, it was everything, and I’d do anything I could to help them out, regardless of what the situation was. So, if she wanted me to think up something to have put on a bandage for her arm, I’d think so hard on it I’d get an A+ if I was still in school.
I was also going to help Naomi with the situation with Jeremy. She had the file on him from the lawyer, but I didn’t trust it to have all the details on him in it. For all we knew, it could be bogus or dodgy shit like an arrest record had been left out of it to make him look better.
I was going to start by getting Alex and DB to help me do a check on him, and I’d also be looking into getting Naomi a bigger support system than just me. I wasn’t removing myself from the situation, I was looking for her to get more perspectives to help her get through it from people who’d been in similar shoes to hers.