Chapter 258 of The Signature
Sam was mid–story, hands flying like he was narrating some action movie instead of his own stupidity.
“I’m telling you, I had the whole thing planned,” he said. “Perfect playlist, perfect lighting, I even cleaned my room, which you know is a once-in-a-decade event. I was gonna do this smooth little backflip off the dorm bed, land, bow, impress the hell out of her…”
He paused for effect, eyes wide. “Except I forgot the ceiling fan existed. So instead of landing like a ninja, I smashed my head into a spinning blade, screamed, and then bled all over my ‘smooth’ white shirt.”
David actually snorted, Anne pressed her fingers over her mouth like she was trying not to laugh, and something in my chest finally cracked. A surprised little laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it, and Sam’s face lit up like he’d just won something.
Sam’s hands were up again, recreating the arc of his doomed backflip, when a little flicker of movement over his shoulder caught my eye. I glanced past him and saw Riley slip back into the room, the door clicking shut soft behind her. She didn’t say anything, just went straight for the chair by the window and sank into it like she’d never left.
It took me a second to notice the way her mouth was doing this barely-contained smile thing. I watched her for a second, that weird little almost-smile still stuck on her face. “Hey,” I said finally. “I’m… sorry I snapped at you. About my mom. I’m just really hurt that she couldn’t be bothered to stay, and that it took you paying for her ticket to even get her here in the first place.”
Riley’s eyes flicked up to mine and she shook her head fast. “Hey, no, it’s fine,” she said. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. I just needed some air, that’s all.” The smile tugged a little wider, like there was a secret sitting just behind it.
Riley’s eyes flicked back down to her hands, but that little almost-smile didn’t go anywhere. “It’s really okay,” she said. “I promise. We’re good.”
I let it go, but I couldn’t stop watching her. She’d left the room tight and brittle, like she was carrying my hurt on top of her own. Now there was this quiet, glowy thing about her, like she was trying very hard not to bounce in her chair.
“I’m really okay,” she said again, a little too quickly. That almost-smile was still there.
“Will came in while you were gone,” I said, picking at the edge of my blanket. “He said he changed my antibiotic. Apparently that first one and my dreams weren’t friends.” I tried to keep it light, but even saying it out loud made my chest loosen a little, like I’d been waiting for someone to officially fix it. “Oh and I got to eat while you were gone. It was chicken broth and pudding but food is food at this point.”
Riley’s face softened. “Good. Maybe you’ll actually sleep tonight if you’re not running on fumes. I’m really glad you ate.”
Anne made a little pleased sound from the chair. “I’m glad too, honey.”
Before I could answer, David’s phone buzzed loud in the quiet room. He frowned at the screen. “That’s my lawyer, I need to take this,” he said, already standing. “I’ll be right back.”
He slipped out into the hallway, door falling almost shut behind him. Anne watched it swing, then pushed herself up with a small sigh.
“I’m gonna run down and grab some coffee before it gets cold in the pot,” she said, smoothing my hair back. “You need anything while I’m out?”
“I’m okay,” I said. “Thanks.”
“Text me if you change your mind.” She gave Jamie’s shoulder a squeeze on the way past and followed David out. This time the door clicked all the way closed.
Suddenly it was just me, Jamie, Riley, and Sam. The room felt different without his parents in it, like the volume had dialed down one notch.
Riley had gone a little too quiet…
Not the worn‑out kind of quiet she’d had earlier, when she was running on no sleep and hospital coffee. This was different. Ever since she’d come back in from disappearing into the hallway, there was this charged little hum under her skin, like she was stuck between bursting into giggles and pretending everything was normal. Her eyes kept doing this quick flick between me and Jamie, then dropping to her hands like she was afraid I’d catch her doing something.
If I hadn’t known her this long, I probably would’ve missed it. But this was Riley’s I‑have‑a‑secret face.
“Okay,” I said, because my brain would not let it go, “what happened when you left? Because you are not the same Riley who walked out of here.”
Her head snapped up like I’d physically poked her. “What? Nothing, I just…needed air.”
“Liar,” I said, but it came out soft, almost amused. Even talking made my abdomen tug, but it was worth it. “You’ve been weird since you came back in. Spill.”
Jamie’s mouth did this tiny, knowing curve at the corner, and even Sam looked over from whatever he was scrolling on his phone, suddenly interested.
Riley groaned, dropping her head back against the chair. “I hate you,” she muttered at me, which was how I knew I was right. She lasted maybe two seconds before it all burst out in one breath. “Okay, fine, I met a doctor in the hallway and he was stupid hot and I sort of maybe have his number.”
Sam choked. Jamie’s eyebrows shot up.
I blinked at her. “I’m sorry, you what?”
Riley flushed, already talking faster. “I went outside just to get some fresh air, okay? And there was this doctor off to the side smoking, and the cigarette smelled really good, so I asked if I could bum one, and then we just…started talking, and I told him I have this guy who’s been ghosting me and he finally reached out, and then he asked if I wanted to make him jealous, so he took this picture with his arm around me, and I haven’t even sent it to Alex yet, and I’m freaking out, should I send it to Alex, what do I do?” By the time she ran out of words, she was practically out of breath.
I stared at her. My brain was still stuck back on stupid hot doctor. “Wow,” I said finally. “Okay, first of all, let me see the picture.”
Riley made a strangled noise and clutched her phone to her chest like I’d asked for a kidney. “It’s not— it’s probably not even that good, I look like I’ve been up for three days in a hospital, because I have, and he’s just—” She broke off, squeezing her eyes shut for a second, then huffed and unlocked her phone anyway. “Fine. But if you make fun of my face I’m unplugging something important.”
She scooted her chair closer so she could hold the screen where I could see without me having to sit up.
The picture was…yeah. He had his arm around her shoulders, pulled in just close enough that it read more than friendly, his scrub top a little wrinkled, dark hair a mess like he’d been running his hands through it between patients. He was looking at the camera with this easy, crooked half‑smile that said he knew exactly what he was doing. Riley was tucked against him in her hoodie, eyes a little wide but laughing, like she’d been caught mid‑protest.
“Oh my God,” I said, because there was really only one reaction. “You have to send this to Alex. He is fucking hot.”
Jamie made a fake‑offended noise beside me, and I turned my head toward him. “No offense, I still love you and I think you’re gorgeous,” I added, because priorities, “but he is fucking hot, Riley.
Oh my God, you have to send this to Alex. Make him see what he’s missing!”
Jamie did an exaggerated gasp. Before he could say anything, Sam leaned forward, squinting at us. “Okay, I’m sorry, what is actually going on right now? Last I checked we were talking about hospital Jell‑O and now there’s, like, a hot doctor and revenge selfies?”
Jamie snorted. “It’s complicated and it’s girl talk, Sam. We’ll explain later.”
“Sam,” I said, because fine, fair question. “Riley met this dude named Alex when we were in Illinois for court with Austin. They shared a very…passionate night, and he made it seem like he wanted to keep in touch and maybe do something long‑distance. As soon as Riley was back home in L.A., he never messaged her again. Until this morning.”
“Okay, but what did his text even say to start with?” I asked, looking back at Riley. “Because that kind of decides how dramatic we’re allowed to be here.”
Riley huffed out a breath. “Literally just, ‘Hey, how have you been?’ Like he didn’t fall off the face of the earth for weeks.”
“Great. Perfect,” I said. “You’re absolutely sending this picture and replying, ‘Pretty good.’”
Before Riley could protest, I reached out and snagged her phone. “Aria!” she yelped, scrambling for it as I thumbed open the text thread. She managed to grab at my wrist, so I only got as far as attaching the photo and typing, Pretty good—
—and then Jamie’s hand came in from the side, annoyingly fast, plucking the phone right out of my fingers. “Whoops,” he said, way too cheerful as his thumb moved. “Looks like it sent.”
Riley’s jaw dropped. “You did not just—Aria, give it back, oh my God, no, absolutely not,” she sputtered, reaching for Jamie’s hand now instead since he was the one holding it hostage.
Before either of us could cave, her eyes flicked down to the screen and froze. “Oh my God,” she whispered, all the color draining out of her face. She turned the phone so I could see the little typing bubbles pulsing at the bottom of the thread.
