Scottie laughed, then flinched “Ouch,” he said reflexively bringing his hand to his lip.
“Oh jeez,” Hannah said, walking up to Scottie. Reaching out, she held his chin and turned his head slightly to get a better look.
“Gentle!” Scottie said.
“Quiet, you baby,” she said, smirking. “Mom would never let me hear the end of it if I bruised her favorite boy.”
“Shut up.” Scottie laughed as he pushed her away.
“You know it’s true,” she said. “Okay. Let’s put some ice on it before it starts to swell anymore.”
Minutes later, Scottie was leaning against the fridge holding a frozen bag of peas to his face. Hannah sat on the counter beside him, leaning forward. The collar of her shirt gaped, revealing the flesh of her soft globes. It was like they were calling to him, begging for Scottie to just sneak a peek, but he wouldn’t.
“You’re making it really hard to be brotherly here. You practicing getting out of a speeding ticket?” Scottie said.
“What?” Hannah replied raising an eyebrow.
Scottie gestured to her shirt.
“Oh! Thanks,” she said, pulling up the collar, then peering down beneath her own shirt. “It’s not like you can see anything.”
“I can see that you’re not wearing a bra.”
“Well, that’s true,” she said. “Had to change from earlier.”
“Yeah, about that…” Scottie said, setting the peas on the counter. “… How you doing? You looked real shook up.”
Hannah took a deep breath. “Better… I think.”
“That’s good,” Scottie said. “You feel like talking about it?”
She shrugged, then hopped off the counter. “Not sure what I can talk about. Still don’t really know what happened.”
“Hannah,” he said, “You disappeared.”
“… What?”
Scottie ran his hand through his hair. “Like, I don’t really know how to explain it… It’s like one moment you were here. And the next, you were gone. You just… fizzled out.”
He searched her face, his showing only concern.
“You don’t remember any of this?” Scottie asked.
She looked him in the eyes and shook her head.
“No,” she said, “I can’t remember anything.”
Scottie suddenly felt a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out his phone.
“It’s Mom,” he said to Hannah. “Just a sec.”
He answered the call. “Hey,” he said.
“Hi Baby,” replied the filtered voice of his mother. “We just got a call from the contractor at Westbrooke. They think there is an infestation of some kind…”
“Oh dang,” Scottie said. Hannah tilted her head. He mouthed to her, “Sorry!”
“… Your father’s heading over there now. But just in case, do you think you can move the boxes to the storage center on Chambers Boulevard?”
“Yeah, of course,” Scottie said, peering into the living room to see the daunting pile of labor ahead of them.
“Thank you, Sweetie,” she said. “I know it’s a lot of work, but I will make it up to you, I promise. Maybe you can ask your sister to help?”
“Maybe,” Scottie said making eye contact with Hannah. “Not sure if I can persuade her, but I will try.”
Hannah just rolled her eyes as she leaned against the countertop.
Angela laughed. “I wish you luck. If she gives you any lip, you call me.”