Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“Just water. Please?” Mom asks, her voice still thin, but stronger than it was before.
“Absolutely.” Linda fetches the cup on the bedside table, helping her take small sips through a straw. “Not too much at first. We need to take it slow until we see how your stomach’s doing.” After she sets the cup back on the table, she turns to me, adding, “Give her five minutes or so. If there’s no nausea, she can have another sip or two.”
I nod. “Got it. Thank you.”
After she leaves to summon Dr. Garrett, I recapture Mom’s hand, cradling it between both of mine. “So glad you’re awake, Mom. You have no idea.”
She gives my fingers a faint squeeze as her forehead furrows. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I… I thought… But I should have told you.”
“Don’t worry, Mom. We don’t have to talk about that now,” I assure her. “There will be time to discuss all that later. For now, we just need to focus on—”
“No, I want to explain,” she cuts in. “I was trying to protect you. I didn’t want to give you false hope. I know how hard it’s been…this battle. You seemed to have finally found some peace and acceptance.” She pulls in a breath, clearly tired by the short speech. “I didn’t want to take that away. But I still…I wanted to try one more time.”
I study her face, keeping my expression neutral. “I can understand that. But I’m not a child.”
Her lips tremble into a faint smile. “Yes, you are. You’re my child. Always.”
“And you’re the most important person in the world to me,” I say, my throat tight with emotion. “Fuck peace and acceptance. I want to be in the battle with you. I want to be there for you. I need to be there for you.”
“I know,” she says, squeezing my hand again, more strength in her grip than there was before. “I realized that as soon as I saw you asleep by the bed. I’m sorry. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“Of course, Mom. I’m just so glad you’re doing better,” I say, even as my thoughts circle the thought of “forgiveness.”
I should let this go, but a sick part of me can’t. I need to know if Elaina was in on this lie, and I already know my mother won’t tell me.
Not if I ask her flat-out, anyway…
I nod, adding in a casual tone, “Elaina explained your reasons for keeping the decision from me last night. I had a hard time wrapping my head around it at first, but…” I trail off, my stomach balling into a knot as guilt creeps into her gaze.
“I’m sorry about that, too,” she says. “I shouldn’t have asked her to keep a secret from you. I just wanted someone close to you to know what was happening, just in case…” Her lips curve again. “But I’m glad she was able to explain.” She glances around the room. “Is she still here? Or did she go home to get some rest? She’s such a sweet girl.”
Bile rises in my throat.
A sweet girl…
I don’t think there’s anything “sweet” about a woman professing to love me and then keeping me in the dark about my mother’s life-threatening surgery, but Mom and I will have to agree to disagree about that one.
I have no idea how long Elaina’s known, but if she kept this from me even for a day, that was a day too many. Bare minimum, she should have come clean yesterday when we got the call to come to the hospital. But she just stood there beside me, pretending to be as shocked by Katie’s explanation as I was.
She’s a liar. A really good one.
And if she lied about this, who knows what else she’s lied about. I have no idea. All I know for sure is that I’m not interested in being deceived again.
“Yeah, she went home,” I say, forcing a smile that feels brittle on my face. “But I’ll call her as soon as we hear more from Dr. Garrett. I’m sure she’ll want to know that you’re awake and on the mend.”
And then I’ll tell her to pack her things and get the fuck out of my house, I add silently.
I’ll put her up in a hotel somewhere until I figure out the best way to remove her from the equation. I don’t want to upset Mom by ending our fake engagement so soon after her surgery, but there’s no longer any future for Elaina and myself outside of our original contract. She can continue to play the devoted fiancée once or twice a week, when we see my mother, if she wants, and we’ll peacefully end things as soon as Mom’s strong enough to handle learning that I’m single again.
A break-up is inevitable at this point. Now that she’s had this surgery, Mom might actually make a full recovery. In light of that, there’s no longer an “end date” in sight for my arrangement with Elaina, the way there was before.