“Hey,” Silver said for the third time, gently now. “Jolene… you alright?”
She blinked and he watched her focus on him.
“Zeke?”
He paused at that, unsure how to proceed, decided to follow her lead and not force anything. “Uh – yeah. It’s me.” He took a step closer, watching her face to see if she showed any sign of fear, her body to see if she shrank back. “You OK?”
“I – I –” She gulped, looked down at herself. “I don’t know.”
“OK.” Silver kept his tone level and calm, even though he was already starting to feel anger at what had almost certainly happened up here: her swollen lip told him that in no uncertain terms. He gestured at the sofa next to her. “You want to sit down?”
“No.” She shook her head more vigorously than strictly necessary, her hair flying and falling away and the lig
