“So what else is new with you? Semester end okay?”
“Yeah, it did. I told you about the new lab work I was doing. I think my finals were good, but you never know with advanced chem.”
“Advanced chem. The bane of my existence.”
I laughed. “Yeah, mine too.” I paused and glanced toward the back room where I thought I heard a grunt. Probably Lincoln impressing the cute PT girl. “Did you know that Lincoln’s home?”
“I sure did.”
“What’s with that?”
He paused for a second. “Well, you heard about his accident. He needed a place to recover, you know, away from the bullshit. So I said he could come stay here.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Away from all the bullshit? So naturally you started filming everything.”
He grinned sheepishly. “What can I say, sweetie. When I see an opportunity, I seize it.”
I leaned up against the island and sighed. “How long is he here for?”
“However long it takes to heal, I guess. Why, is the crew bothering you?”
“No, it’s not that. I mean, yeah, a little bit.”
“What are they doing? I can talk to Jess, if you want.”
“No, no, really, don’t do that. I’m just not used to having cameras all over place.”
“I get it. Why not get involved with the shoot?”
“I don’t know. Doesn’t seem like my kind of thing.”
“You’re my daughter, of course it’s your kind of thing.”
“But Lincoln’s whole ‘Based’ thing isn’t really my style.”
“Maybe not. But you guys are siblings now. Might be good for you to spend some time with him.”
“Conveniently for you, that means I’ll have to be in the documentary.”
He laughed. “Really, if you don’t want to be in it, I’ll make sure Jess cuts you out of everything. I just think it’ll be good for both of you.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said, unsure.
He walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. “Listen, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. But Lincoln is going to be around for good from now on. It might be a good idea to get used to him.”
I cocked my head. “Wait, what? He’s going to be around for good?”
“Sure. He’s not going back to Europe.”
That was news to me. Lincoln hadn’t mentioned anything about not going back. I had assumed that his time at home was only a temporary thing until he was back on his feet.
“Why not?”
Dad moved his hand and screwed up his face. “You don’t know.”
“Don’t know what?”
He sighed. “I’m not sure he wants people knowing this, but you’re family. The doctors told him that he can never jump again. They said the impact would likely destroy his legs again.”
I gaped at him. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. I was there when he got the news.”
“But isn’t jumping his whole life?”
“Yeah, sweetie. It was.”
“What about all that physical therapy?”
“That’s mostly to make sure he can walk without too much pain for the rest of his life. He took a really, really bad fall, Brie.”
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Lincoln’s entire world must have been shattered to pieces; not just his legs, but his future and his career were completely gone. Not to mention the only thing he seemed to really give a shit about was snatched away. And yet he was still working his ass off to get better. No wonder he seemed a little angry.
“Okay, I’m going to go unpack. Keep what I just said between us, yeah? Don’t want to upset the poor guy.”
“Yeah, okay. Sure, Dad.”
He smiled again. “It’s good seeing you, sweetie.”
“You too.”
He turned and walked off, heading upstairs.
I can’t even fathom what he’s going through,
I thought. All that time spent jumping off buildings, risking his life for something I never understood, but something that mattered to him more than anything, was gone. It was all gone in a single instant. I knew he was lucky to be alive, but I couldn’t help but wonder how he felt about that.
I was seeing him in an entirely new light. He was cocky and gorgeous and my stepbrother, but he was also broken. Actually broken. And we had no way of knowing if he could ever put the pieces back together.
Numbly, I walked toward the steps, wanting to take a shower and get changed. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Lincoln, the tattoos that ran up his arms, the way his muscles flexed when he moved, the way he pretended not to be in pain when he sat down next to me.
And whatever it was that drove him to keep pushing on despite everything holding him back.