“We have to ask about Tam, Dad.” Jennet kept her voice low, though it didn’t seem like anyone else in the ER waiting room was remotely interested. The pain in her hands was a distant, fuzzy thing, numbed by the plas-skin Dad had slathered on and the pills he’d made her swallow.
“Not until we get your hands looked at.”
She knew better than to push it, though hope and worry knocked through her with every breath. At least she was in the same hospital as Tam.
It didn’t take long for the med techs to get to her. They peeled off the plas-skin, making worried, interested noises.
“How’d this happen?” one of the techs asked.
“I, um, touched something hot.” She couldn’t meet Dad’s eyes. It was true, just not in any way he could understand.
“More than touched it, I’d say.” The tech shook his he
