Her chest rose up and down from the burst of exertion. “Did you know Anita was coming tonight? Did she say something in your appointment today?”
He’d been so quiet and brooding since he came home, she was worried now about what they’d talked about.
Brandon’s eyes sharpened. “No,” he growled. “What the hell? No…”
He began shaking his head, and her heart broke for him. He knew all too well what an unannounced trip from Anita meant.
“Why is she doing this?” Brandon shouted.
Skylar strode to him, took his shoulders, though he shrugged her off.
“Brandon,” she pleaded, her stomach twisting in knots. “Look at me. It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure out what’s happening and sort it out. Do you want to stay here?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want!” he erupted. “It’s never mattered what I. Want!”
“Bran, I have to know. I want you to have a place here. I want to help you, I—”
“What did I say? I said stop trying to help me! It’s a waste of time!”
“You are not a waste of time.”
Frustrated, Brandon wasn’t even listening anymore. Skylar whirled around and hurried back down the steps. Anita’s headlights were pulling around to the front porch. She pushed out the door as Travis strode from his truck across the gravel. Anita didn’t even shut off the engine, a horrible sign, as she pushed out the driver door.
Anita, her hair deceivingly innocent, a dome sprayed into place, her glasses linked with a faux-jeweled glasses chain, and a perpetually haggard expression on her face, walked around the SUV.
“Hi, Dr. Rivers. I’m here to collect Brandon Bridges. We’ve got a placement lined up for him. Your check for the month will be prorated—”
“I don’t care about the check, Anita.”
Travis stood silently beside her, his whole presence coiled, tense, defensive. Anita hadn’t even said hello. Skylar’s hand meshed with Travis’s, his grip hard. This succeeded in drawing Anita’s attention to him.
“Can we talk about this?” Skylar asked. “I don’t think Brandon wants to leave.”
“You don’t think?” Anita said. “We don’t know what he wants because he won’t say anything.”
“This is cruel,” Skylar nearly snarled.
“He’ll be perfectly safe. He’s not going back to that group home.”
“This isn’t about him just being safe, it’s about him being happy.”
Anita sighed wearily and rubbed beneath her glasses in the glow of her headlights. “I’m sorry, Skylar, this decision was out of my hands. I’m just the messenger. My supervisor is still going over the accident details and made this call. It doesn’t mean it’s a permanent decision, just a decision for now.”
“What does that mean?” Travis interjected. “Why throw him up in the air like this if you don’t have to?”
“And you are?” Anita asked, an edge of frustration to her voice, like a hardened charge nurse who didn’t take any guff.
“Travis Dixon. I’m the surgeon over at V-Tech who treated Brandon’s dislocated shoulder. You removing him is only going to throw his follow-up care out of sync, which, as my patient, raises concerns. I don’t see how that’s in his best interest.”
Anita took another deep breath, looking back and forth between them. “What’s your relationship here?”
“He’s my—”
“Dr. Rivers is my girlfriend,” Travis interjected.
Skylar’s heart raced. Her eyes flitted sidelong to Travis’s, but he held that firm, hard look at Anita that he was so good at. Chest broad, hand holding hers, clenching so tightly, Skylar had to wiggle her fingers this time to prompt him to loosen his protective hold.
“Live-in boyfriend?” Anita said, brows drawing tight.