When Family Became a Place I Couldn’t Return To novel Chapter 82

Nelly pressed her lips together, looking every bit like a kid caught doing something wrong. “I just woke you up in the middle of the night. And it’s just a fever, nothing serious…”

“What are you even talking about? You were burning up and didn’t even know where you were. Do you always try to tough it out when you’re sick?” Jonah frowned, clearly at a loss for words.

“I…,” Nelly started, but nothing else came out. The truth was, she’d always been this way. It made her pretty resilient, and she rarely got sick.

“Don’t do that again. I was really worried about you.” Jonah draped a jacket over her shoulders and went to grab the meds the doctor had given her.

“Take these first.” Nelly didn’t ask any questions. She just took the pills and washed them down with water.

After she finished, her nose started to sting and her eyes felt hot. She kept her head down, worried she might cry if she looked up.

But Jonah noticed right away. “Did someone do something to you?”

Nelly shook her head. “No.”

“Was it that friend of yours? Or… was it Brody again?”

Jonah’s frown deepened as Nelly struggled to answer. He turned to leave, probably to go confront someone on her behalf.

“Jonah.” Nelly quickly grabbed his hand. “No one’s hurting me… I’m just… really touched.”

“I’m just surprised someone would care about me like this.” She’d gotten used to being alone. Being independent, being strong, doing everything herself—that was just her normal. She never thought much about it, and it never hurt to be ignored. But the moment someone actually asked if she was okay, it suddenly felt like her whole world was coming apart.

Jonah’s heart twisted at her words. He gritted his teeth, but all he did was pat her gently on the shoulder.

By lunchtime, Nelly was feeling almost normal again. She wanted to go to the office, but Jonah insisted she needed more rest. He even parked himself outside, making sure she stayed in bed and took her medicine. She knew better than to argue.

It worked. After a day of dozing, she felt better in every way.

That night, she ordered soup from a place nearby and had dinner with Jonah. She ate with real appetite, but Jonah barely touched his food, just stirred his spoon around.

Thinking he might not like soup, Nelly had also ordered some healthy sides, but he didn’t touch those either.

“I need to tell you something,” Jonah said, just as Nelly was about to ask what was wrong. His serious tone made her stop and put down her spoon.

A week later, Sheila was released from the hospital and went home to recover. To welcome her back, Selina went out shopping and cooked up a huge meal.

Brody had been swamped at work the past few days and barely stopped by to see Sheila. So today, Sheila invited Tina and Carrie over first, then called Brody and asked him to come eat with them. With his daughter asking, Brody couldn’t say no.

Sitting together at the table, they almost looked like a real family. Selina and Sheila kept Tina laughing and smiling until Tina sighed, “Sheila, if you hadn’t gone abroad back then, we’d all be a real family right now.”

Brody shot Tina a cold look. Tina seemed to remember something and quickly pressed her lips together.

Sheila suddenly raised her glass. “I love Carrie, and I care about you. We already are like family.” Tina clinked her glass right away, grinning wide.

Carrie didn’t pick up her cup until Sheila reached over and handed it to her. Only then did she put her fork down and tap her cup against Sheila’s.

Sheila couldn’t help but notice that since she got out of the hospital, Carrie didn’t seem as close to her anymore. But with Brody there, there was no chance to talk about it.

Just then, Selina’s phone buzzed with a message, and her smile froze.