Intersect (The Parallel Duet Book 2) by Elizabeth O'Roark

Author:Elizabeth O'Roark [O'Roark, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

“Hey.” The word is raspy and uncertain. My head, resting against her hand, jolts upright. She is heavy-lidded, but there’s a weak smile on her face.

I haven’t cried since my brother died but I have to swallow hard to keep it at bay right now. My jaw clenches as I try to get a grip on this illogical twining of grief and joy. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry,” she says. “You may need to get used to it.” Her hand reaches out, brushes my cheekbone. “Is that a bruise?”

It’s been hours since the fight with Jeff. I’d almost forgotten. “I had a little scuffle with your ex.”

Her eyes open wide and she tries to sit up, but I gently push her shoulder back to the mattress. “It’s fine. Believe me, he looks a lot worse than I do. How do you feel?”

“I feel great,” she says dismissively. “Are you okay? What happened with Jeff?”

I smile. It’s so like her to regain consciousness worried about me. “I told you it was fine. You’re the one who’s in a hospital bed. Let’s focus on you.”

She looks like she wants to argue but restrains it with a frown. “Did you already do an MRI?” she asks.

God, I wish she hadn’t asked. Even her best-case scenario at this point is a shitty one, and I know she’ll see that no matter what I tell her. I stare fixedly at the bed rail, gripping her hand tighter. “Your tumor has doubled in size.”

She nods, lips pressed tight, trying to hold it together. “And what does that mean?”

It means you could be dead in a week, in a day. It means the staff will be shocked you even woke up. God, I can’t tell her any of this. “It’s close to the point where it’s going to impact things—your memory, your gross motor function,” I reply. “I’m surprised it hasn’t already.”

I watch this sink in, and then her fingers tighten around mine. “That’s not how I want you to remember me,” she whispers, “so when it happens I want you to promise you’ll stay away. I’ll go to my mom’s when it gets to that point.”

I sigh. If she thinks I’d ever consider that, she doesn’t know me at all. “I am not fucking leaving you.”

“But—”

“Ask me a thousand times and the answer will still be no.”

“Such dedication,” she begins, brushing at her eyes, trying to make light of it. “It really must be true—” She stops herself, flushing at the conversation she’s opening up. A conversation she thinks would be ridiculous this early on. Except it isn’t ridiculous at all. I’ve been dying to say it for weeks.

“Love,” I reply, completing the sentence. My eyes hold hers. “Yeah. It is.”

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