Merry didn't know the details of why Addy and Iestyn had been in hospital, but she thought she could read between the lines a bit, enough that she'd kind of sketched a picture of assumptions in her mind. Addy had said they weren't sick, something real shit happened, so they must have been in an accident. And it must have been a real bad one, because they were in there for weeks and Addy had been on morphine and she'd only just stopped needing a walker to get around. So obviously they were still healing.
Merry had googled common car accident injuries, just to get an idea, and the list had run from spinal injuries and broken bones, through to burns, facial injuries and loss of limbs. It was awful to imagine what they might have gone through, but she thought walking up to that door she was a little bit prepared.
But she hadn't pictured anything quite like the two terribly emaciated figures who answered the door, and though Addy was beaming, the scars that ringed her mouth still came as a shock, enough to make Merry's own smile falter.
And, out of reflex, she did what she always did when she was nervous or unsure about somebody: she looked for the other thing. The thing only Merry and her family could see. And she found at once the warm glimmer of Nice around the twins, and with it she found certainty.
"Hi! Oh my gosh, it's so great to finally meet you guys! I hope you're hungry, cuz I brought so many cronuts."