Chapter 157 Chapter 157

Chapter 157 Chapter 157
By the time they got her back to the house the sky had already started to change.
Mark and Sophia helped Mia from the truck to the front door while Laura went ahead to clear a path and pull the ottoman into place in front of the living room sofa. The temporary boot on Mia’s lower leg felt heavy and awkward. Every careful hop sent a dull reminder of the sharp break that had ended the hike. Inside, the lights were warm and the house smelled faintly of the cinnamon candle Laura always lit when the weather turned.

They settled her on the sofa with pillows stacked behind her back and the injured leg stretched out along the cushions, elevated on the ottoman. Laura disappeared into the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with three mugs of hot chocolate the real kind, made on the stove with milk and actual melted chocolate, not powder from a packet. She set one in Mia’s hands, one in Sophia’s, and kept the third for herself.
“Drink that,” she said. “The doctor said rest and fluids. Hot chocolate counts.”

Mia wrapped both hands around the warm mug and let the heat sink into her fingers. The first sip was rich and sweet and exactly what her body seemed to need after the long afternoon of pain and waiting rooms and x-rays. Mark came in from the hallway carrying an old hardcover book with a faded dust jacket. He stood in front of the sofa, cleared his throat in the exaggerated way he used to when she was little, and announced:
“Alright, It’s official. This is girls’ and daddy’s time. I’m reading to my baby girls so no arguments.”
Sophia looked up from her mug, already smiling. “I have not had girls’ and daddy’s time in a long while honestly. I’m honored.”
“You’re family this week,” Mark said simply. “Family gets the good stories.”

He pulled the armchair closer to the sofa and sat down, opening the book. Mia recognized it immediately a collection of old adventure stories he had read to her on rainy weekends when she was small. The spine was cracked. The pages were soft at the edges. He started reading in the low, steady voice he had always used for this, the one that made everything sound safe.
Outside, the rain began. It started as a soft tap against the windows, then thickened into a steady curtain. The light in the room shifted to a deeper gray. Laura turned on a single lamp near the sofa and left the rest of the house in a comfortable dimness. Mia sipped her hot chocolate and listened to her father’s voice rise and fall with the story. Sophia had curled into the opposite corner of the sofa, close enough that their shoulders almost touched, her own mug balanced on her knee.
They interrupted him the way they used to with questions, with comments, with demands for better character voices.
“Do the pirate voice again,” Sophia said at one point.
Mark sighed like it was a burden and then did a ridiculous pirate voice that made both girls laugh hard enough that Mia had to steady her leg on the ottoman.
“Why did the explorer even go into the cave if everyone told him not to?” Mia asked during another pause.
“Because people in stories never listen,” Mark said. “That’s how you get a story.”
The rain grew heavier. Thunder rolled in the distance, low at first, then closer. The windows rattled softly in their frames. Laura brought a thick blanket from the hall closet and draped it over both girls. Sophia immediately shifted closer so they could share it properly. Mia lifted her arm and let her friend settle against her side, careful of the boot. The warmth of another body under the blanket felt good against the growing chill in the room.

Thunder cracked harder overhead. The lamp flickered once but held. Mark kept reading, only louder, as if he could outpace the storm with the story. Sophia’s head rested lightly against Mia’s shoulder. Mia could feel the steady rise and fall of her breathing. Their combined warmth under the blanket pushed the cold of the rain and the residual ache in her leg a little further away. After a while Mark closed the book on his finger and looked at them.
“The chapter’s done. My voice is done you two stay put. I’m going to bed before this storm decides to knock the power out.”
He stood, set the book on the table, and leaned down to kiss the top of Mia’s head the way he had done for as long as she could remember.
“Call if you need anything I mean it. Even if it’s just more hot chocolate.”
“We will,” Mia said.
He squeezed Sophia’s shoulder once, then left them with the lamp and the rain and the blanket. His footsteps faded up the stairs. A door closed. The house settled into the quieter sounds of the storm.
Sophia shifted under the blanket so she was more fully against Mia’s side. “Your dad is the best.”
“He is.”
“My dad would have told me to walk it off and stop being dramatic.”
Mia smiled in the dim light. “Mine still tries to fix everything with stories and hot chocolate. I’m okay with that.”

They listened to the thunder for a while. The rain had become a constant hard rush against the roof and windows. The temperature in the living room had dropped enough that the blanket was no longer optional.
Sophia spoke again, quieter. “The guest room is going to be freezing if the heat doesn’t kick in properly.”
“I know.”
“Your room is smaller and easier to stay warm.”
Mia looked at her. “Are you asking to share?”
“I’m saying if we both freeze in separate beds that’s just bad planning.” Sophia adjusted the blanket higher over their shoulders. “We can snuggle for survival. It’s scientific.”
Mia laughed once, soft and tired. “Fine. Survival snuggling but you’re on the side away from the boot. I don’t want you kicking my leg in your sleep.”
“Deal.”
They stayed on the sofa a little longer, neither in a rush to move. Eventually Sophia helped Mia upright and supported her through the slow hop-and-step process up the stairs. The hallway was colder. Mia’s old room felt small and familiar and, once they closed the door, almost insulated from the worst of the storm.

Sophia dragged the extra quilt from the closet and spread it over the bed. Mia sat on the edge, unlatched the boot for the night according to the doctor’s instructions, and carefully elevated the leg on a stack of pillows. Sophia climbed in on the other side and immediately claimed half the blankets.
Before she turned off the lamp Mia reached for her phone. She opened the messaging app and checked Kai’s name. The little gray circle sat there with no green dot. Offline. She stared at it for a second, then locked the screen and set the phone on the nightstand.
Sophia watched her. “He’s offline?”
“Yeah.”
“You going to leave a message?”
“Not tonight. I’ll call him in the morning he’s probably asleep.”
Sophia turned onto her side, facing her.
“Are you okay? Between the leg and everything else.”
Mia settled back against the pillows, the broken leg carefully still. “The leg hurts. The day didn’t end the way I wanted. But I’m here and you’re here. My parents are down the hall. It’s not the worst place to be stuck.”
“True.” Sophia was quiet for a moment. “You still going back tomorrow?”
“I have to. Victoria already adjusted the calendar around three days and a broken leg doesn’t erase the rest of the schedule. I’ll figure out the logistics in the morning.”
Sophia reached out under the covers and found her hand. “We’ll deal with it. Tonight we just stay warm and listen to the storm and ignore the rest of the world.”
Mia squeezed her fingers once. “Okay.”

The thunder rolled again, further away now. The rain continued its steady work on the roof. Sophia’s breathing gradually slowed. Mia lay awake a little longer, feeling the shared warmth under the blankets, the dull throb in her leg, the solid presence of her best friend beside her, and the quiet knowledge that Kai’s name still sat offline on her phone. Eventually the weight of the day pulled her under. She slept with the storm still moving across the house and Sophia’s shoulder pressed lightly against her own.