-HIATUS- ᴏɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇᴍ - ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴀᴡᴛʜᴏʀɴᴇ ʟᴇɢᴀᴄʏ (ꜱᴇQᴜᴇʟ ᴛᴏ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ɢʀᴀᴍʙꜱ?) -HIATUS-

Chapter 21

"Amber inside now!" Alisa barks as I finish up my conversation with everyone else.

"Yes ma'am." I bark back and step inside. I wave at Avery who still looks angry at me and I follow Alisa through the cabin. 

"You'll be in Tobias Hawthorne's old room unless you want a different room?"

"Is Toby's still available?"

"Yes, it is. Right, this way. It is on the far side of this hallway."

"Thank you" I followed Alisa who guided me to Toby's old room. She opened it up and it was in good condition. The cleaners had been in here often.

"Sit" I nod and sit down on the bed she sits beside me. "I understand you weren't able to attend the charity gala- there have been questions asked on news sites and pictures taken while you were in Connecticut... People know you went there. How long before they find out the truth?"

"I-I don't know"

"I'll get a medic in think about it. Once you get back you have a session with Landon."

"Ok. Why a medic?" Alisa gestures for my wrists. "Oh, those."

"And whatever you have on your face. I'll call them in" I nod in agreement as she gets up and walks out of the room. 

I hear a slight knocking on the wall. Where was it coming from? Not the door. That was open. The bookshelf?

"Who is there?" I ask calmly.

"Me" Jameson was there.

"Who is me?"

"Just open it. Pull on Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey."

"Ok, fine"

I got up from the bed and walked towards the bookshelf. How many bookshelves were there? How many books did Tobias Hawthorne own? I searched for Northanger abbey and pulled it. There was a click and the bookshelf opened to reveal a messy-haired-pink-eared-sunglass-and-jacket-wearing Jameson.

"Need something? Alisa is coming in with the medic any moment now." I say quickly.

"The medic? W-Why?" He looked down at my wrists and he noticed the burns. I quickly crossed my arms in an attempt to hide them. "Mystery-"

"No-"

"Yes," he reached out his hands to touch my arms. His touch was warm and gentle against my skin. He strokes my left arm lightly and pulled it out. One hand holding my forearm and the other holding my hand he stared at my burnt wrist. I looked down and away from him as he took my other arm as well.

The medic walked into the room and stopped at the door.

"Am I interrupting something?" the medic asked.

"No, you're not. Just looking at it." Jameson said releasing my hands and stepping back. The medic set me down on my bed and took Jameson's place of holding my hands. 

"Mild burn. How did you get this?" The doctor says looking me in the eyes.

"My hands were tied with rope," I say and the medic sighs at me. He pulls out a gauze bandage and a cream. He opens the cream revealing a smooth layer of it. He dips his finger in and approaches my wrist with his creamed hand. "This might hurt a bit" I nod of course it would. There is a hand on my shoulder now. I crane my neck and find Jameson right behind me. Kneeling on the bed. I feel a stinging in my wrist and wincing in pain I jump backward. "Don't move"

"But it stings"

"Hold her still"

"What?"

"Got it," Jameson says from behind me. He grabs onto my shoulders a knee behind my back. The doctor applied the cream to the other wrist. I wince again and try to go away but Jameson has me trapped. I'm getting revenge. The medic carefully bandages my wrists with the gauze he pulled out earlier and attaches it with some medical tape.

"All done?" I ask him but I know he isn't.

"Not yet. I need to apply a proper gauze bandage to your cuts."

"Fine"

He gently peeled off the bandage on my face and Jameson pulled away to stand next to the medic. He wanted to see it. I knew that for sure. I rolled my eyes and looked at the floor as the doctor cleansed the cut and placed another bandage. He looked at my neck and just cleaned it. No bandage.

"The boot can come off now"

"It can?"

"If you've been wearing it properly"

"Yes I have"

The doctor removed my boot and the bandage around my foot. Jameson looks like he is about to say that I haven't so I put a hand to his mouth.

"Now you're done"

"Thanks, doc" I salute and he packs his bag and walks out of the room. Silence. That I need to break. "Seriously Jameson?"

"I did what I was told. Myst-"

"Look I know you hear the story and everything but I'm fine. I finally got over the guilt of leaving all those people there. They're back with their families now. I didn't even include everything"

"What did you skip out?" I turned my head away from him.

"I have a brand on my back. Barely visible but it is there. Liam was the one that did it." I looked at Jameson's hands. They were clenched into a fist. I looked back up at his face. I couldn't see his eyes. I don't know what he felt. I looked at the bookshelf and shook my head. "Hawthornes and their secrets," I mutter.

"You know you can tell me right?"

"Whatever, what are you doing here?"

"We found something when we went to talk to Sheffield"

"You did? It didn't go well did it... Is Grayson okay?"

"No it didn't go well, my brother is trying to not let it matter."

"So what did you find?"

"Sheffield seems to believe that Toby started the fire all those years ago."

"Why does he think that?"

"He purchased a lot of accelerants"

"Oh"

"Gray isn't okay. The bastard made it clear he wanted nothing to do with him" I felt anger bubbling inside me. Sheffield had a son, he knew he did and he wanted nothing to do with him. What was Grayson feeling? Alisa walked into the room.

"Alisa?"

"Your ankle is healed so you know what that means?"

"No, I don't know what it means."

"It means you can hit the slopes," Alisa says cheerfully.

"Why?"

"I was promised candid shots by your sister."

"Okay, but... I don't know how to ski."

"I'll teach you," A voice says from behind Alisa. Male. Smooth. He stepped to the side revealing himself. Grayson. Grayson had no emotion present on his face. He was making sure he didn't let his meeting with his father matter. Jameson was staring at him. Still wearing sunglasses I didn't know what he was thinking. How he felt. I stared at Grayson as well and nodded.

(1078 words)