EIGHT LETTERS || Liam Dunbar [2]

THIRTY ONE

It had been two days since Melissa had convinced Doctor Geyer to remove the poisoned piece of bone from her Dad's chest.

Katherine had spent most of her free time at the hospital with her Dad and Stiles, since both of them had been excused from school until he was allowed to go home, and in that time she hadn't answered her phone once. She just wanted to spend time with her immediate family after it had come so close to falling apart without her being able to do anything about it.

She'd had Melissa check her head out, after getting knocked out by Noah, and was now left with a fading sore bump on the back of her head. But otherwise, she was in the clear. Her previous mild concussion was almost fully healed, and she was feeling relatively okay in every other aspect aside from a few sore muscles. After that, the only people she'd spent any time with was her Dad and her brother.

Right up until she'd bumped into Doctor Geyer on her way back from the food court with her backpack stuffed with jello cups she'd smuggled from behind the cafeteria counter the second day in a row. The moment she made eye contact with him, she almost turned back around to avoid being caught, but he assured her that, while the hospital staff was fully aware she was the one stealing all the jello cups, that wasn't what he wanted to talk to her about.

"Someone wants to talk to you," he explained knowingly, hiding a tiny smile as she squinted up at him but allowed him to lead her down to the ambulance loading bay.

So, exhausted and hungry, Katherine grabbed a red jello cup from her bag and opened it, then scooped some out with a plastic spoon. "What," she mumbled through her mouthful, avoiding the small laugh Doctor Geyer was clearly trying to hide. "I didn't get breakfast or lunch; this is my dinner."

In all the time she'd spent at the Dunbar's house, she had gotten to know both of his parents; David Geyer was the type of Dad you could easily become friends with, and she had. His mother, Jenna, often made the joke that because Katherine seemed to bring out the inner child in everyone, it was like she had three kids instead of one.

She always smiled at the fact that Liam's family thought she was one of them.

It had been a long time since she'd last had a sit-down dinner with them, but that was because of the Chimera's.

"Is the food here really that bad, Kid?" David laughed, and Katherine shot him a look that clearly said yeah no shit.

Then she choked on her jello.

Because Liam was standing on the sidewalk outside, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket while he scuffed the toe of his shoe on the ground, pacing.

"He was too nervous to come and talk to you himself," he explained. "You haven't been answering your phone, and said something happened that he might've messed up, so now he thinks you're mad at him."

"But I'm not..."

"So go tell him that."

After removing the jello from her windpipe, Katherine carefully ate the rest and pushed her glasses up further on her nose before throwing her cup away, and squared her shoulders. "I...don't know when I'll be back," she mumbled hesitantly, turning back to face him.

David just smiled. "I'll let your Dad and brother know."

"Thank you."

Biting her lip nervously, Katherine tossed her backpack over one shoulder and walked up to the automatic doors and watched as Liam looked up when he heard them open. He blinked twice at her, then smiled awkwardly. "Um, hey."

"Hey," she nodded back. "What's up."

Liam opened his mouth, then closed it again and looked back down at his feet.