“Yes,” he hesitated, “I’m being released in the morning.”

“Oh. Oh yeah, okay. I’ll come in the morning, then. Did you let everyone else know or should I call them?” I asked, hoping he would catch the meaning.

“I just started making the calls.”

He’d called me first. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“Nina?”

“Mmmhmm?” I said, distracted by the wire curled and arched beside my bed.

“Tell me why you’re upset. Is it Jared?” My silence was all the answer he needed. “I could kill him for doing this to you,” he growled.

“It’s not his fault, Ryan. I’ve told you, it’s complicated.”

Ryan sighed, accepting my vague reply. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Friday was easier than I thought it would be, with the six of us choreographing Ryan’s on-the-fly homecoming party. We caravanned to the hospital; balloons and shoe polish decorated our cars. The windows of Josh’s truck vibrated to the beat of “Paradise City” as Tucker wheeled Ryan out of the double doors of the hospital. We all whistled and clapped as Ryan lumbered into Josh’s passenger side.

“C’mon, Nina,” Ryan smiled, gesturing for me to accompany him. When I scooted in next to him, Ryan weakly lifted his arm to the top of the seat behind me. We giggled and joked all the way to Brown, and the seven of us made our way to Ryan’s room.

“It looks like a parade threw up in here,” Ryan said, beaming. He hobbled over to his desk chair and fell into it, visibly spent.

We sat and talked, and then Beth, Chad and Tucker left for class. Thirty minutes later, Kim and Josh had classes of their own to go to.

“What did you do to your hand?” Ryan asked, staring at my messily bandaged palm.

“I sliced it on the air vent in my room,” I shrugged.

“Ouch. Are you all caught up on your tetanus shots?”

I nodded. “I’ll come by later, okay? We have a lot of work to do.”

“You have class?” he asked, disappointed.

“I’ve had class for the last two hours, Ryan,” I grinned.

“Thanks for today. Maybe we could do this every month.”

“Okay, but I’m not volunteering to get stabbed next time. Or ever.” I hugged him and an awkward pause followed when I pulled away. “You take it easy. I’ll come over later and we can study.”

Ryan watched me with a soft expression as I walked to the door. “See you later, Nigh.”

I pulled his door closed and let out a gust of air. I couldn’t be sure if it was guilt or the look in Ryan’s eyes after I’d hugged him, but everything felt different when we were alone. I forgot about angels and demons and feeling unwanted. In Ryan’s presence, life was normal.