Sun Damage (The Sunshine Series) Read Online Free Page A

but somehow he has enough energy to crack a small smile for me. “Hey, Sunshine.” His voice is rough, barely above a whisper.
    Some of his blond hair falls in his face and I’m overco me with a need to brush it away but when I try to move my hands, I can’t get much more of a response besides a faint twitching of my fingers.
    A few seconds later, I can roll my head to the side but I keep my eyes closed in order to avoid looking at Myles. This is hard enough.
    It’s now that I think of Stevie and the door. How he pushed me through it. How he left me to drown and come back here.
    Did I want to stay with him? Did I want to die?
    Opening my eyes again to see Jade looking down at me, holding onto my hand and smiling, I kn ow the answer is no.
    “ You’re doing good,” Jade says to me, though I doubt he can tell.
    I test out my lips by giving him my own small smile; the whole time I keep my gaze trained on my brother. I concentrate everything on squeezing his hand back, and once I’ve done that and my fingers are moving, my arms are easy to bend.
    “ Do you want to try to sit up?” I hear Myles ask.
    It feels good to nod.
    My arms shake when I try to brace myself so they have to help me. Myles touching me is something I want and don’t want simultaneously. And if I think about it too long, I’m afraid I won’t be able to get back up ever again so I push the thought away as they both push me up.
    As soon as I’m in the sitting position, Myles steps aside again, but Jade keeps his palm pressed against my back just in case. It doesn’t take me long at all to bend my legs and after my body accepts that movement, it’s almost easy to inch forward by myself. It’s almost normal placing my feet on the ground.
    From behind Jade, Myles clears his throat.
    My brother doesn’t leave the bed, only inches backwards slightly, his arm still slung over my shoulders.
    Myles is holding something out to Jade, and even though he isn’t more than a foot away, he’s out of focus again.
    “Oh,” Jade says.
    I steady myself with both of my arms and Jade’s hand leaves me. Though they blur a few more times, I can still tell they are both studying me, waiting to see what I’ll do next. Then there’s a plain white mug in Jade’s hands.
    “ Here,” he says, gesturing for me to take it.
    My fingers are a little shaky, but I grasp onto the mug well enough. I was hoping it would be water. My throat is so dry. But the ceramic is warm when my hands are cupped around it.
    “ What is this?” I have to whisper because I don’t think I have it in me to talk.
    “ It’ll make you feel better,” Jade says, though he sounds unsure and glances back at Myles for confirmation.
    Myles nods. I can see him now. He doesn’t look at me, just Jade.
    I take a second to sniff it, too afraid that I already know what it is, and looking into the bottom of the mug would only confirm it. I guess that whole heightened sense of smell thing doesn’t waste any time kicking in; it smells like raw meat heated up in a microwave.
    I hand it right back to Jade. “I don’t want this.”
    Jade looks startled, but he takes the mug away. Myles steps in front of him so he’s only inches away from my face. “You need it,” he says.
    My stomach lurches. “I’m hungry.” I haven’t eaten in so long. I can’t even remember how long it’s been. “I don’t want that,” I insist. I find it incredibly hard to not stare at him, how his skin has somehow become even paler, how his eyes look like polished blue glass. He takes the mug from Jade, holding it in front of him and glancing down at the liquid inside. “It’ll make everything less disorienting for you,” he explains, finally looking back at me. “You have to.”
    “ Are you going to make me?” I ask. My mind is slowly snapping things into place. He can control me now, can’t he? Even if I don’t want to drink it, would it even matter?
    Myles shakes his head, a pained expression crossing his face.