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I rolled my eyes. “Bye, y’all.”
Val swung her doctor’s jacket on and said, “Why didn’t you ask me what I was doing today?”
I groaned. “Because I know exactly what you’re doing, sister. Going to work, working, or coming home from work.”
Val grinned wickedly as we exited Crimson’s place.
I headed to the stairs to go up, meanwhile Keene headed down.
“See you later,” I called out as I hurried off of Crimson’s floor.
My hope was to avoid the elevator and all common areas forever, that way I could avoid seeing Nash.
I was successful today, entering my apartment with a tiredness that overwhelmed me.
I was on the way to the bedroom when Folsom called.
“Yo,” I said as I headed for my bed.
“So you remember how you told me to look into ‘he who shall not be named?’” Folsom asked without pleasantries.
“Yes,” I answered. “Why?”
I’d asked her, of course, before he’d yelled at me and made me feel like I was two feet tall. But if she was calling me, then what I was about to hear would be juicy.
Maybe he had back taxes and he was going to jail…
“I was letting the program run in the background,” she said. “And a couple of hits popped up.”
“What kind of hits?” I questioned.
“The kind that are medical,” she disclosed. “And I contemplated not telling you, but I felt like maybe you’d really want to know.”
I wasn’t sure that anything to do with that man was something I wanted to know anymore…
“Okay,” I hesitated. “Is it something that is going to hurt if I ignore it?”
“Probably,” she admitted.
“Okay,” I sighed. “Hit me.”
I wasn’t ready.
She could’ve said just about anything.
He had a girlfriend.
He was a felon.
He was quitting NASCAR.
I just wasn’t prepared for the words that came out of her mouth.
“He has cancer.”
Three words had enough power to take me to my knees beside the bed.
“What?” I gasped.
“Cancer,” Folsom repeated.
Folsom, our favorite computer guru, did everything for me when it came to technology.
She was literally the one person in the world who I didn’t think had an equal. She was that good.
Even her husband, Kobe, who’d taught her the computer stuff, didn’t have what she had.
“When?” I asked. “How?”
“When he was in the hospital for his concussion, they did a complete work up on him. They found some abnormalities. He went to visit his brother, the cancer doc, and found out that he has to have his testicles removed, as well as some lymph nodes in his groin.”
“Oh my God,” I gasped.
“That’s next week. The surgery,” she added. “I’m sending you all the information I could find about times and places.”
I leaned forward and let my head rest against the bed.
My heart was racing, and my stomach felt like I was about to expel every single bit of the homemade pop tart I’d devoured.
“Thanks, Folsom,” I whispered. “I appreciate you telling me.”
“No problem,” she expressed. “Love ya.”
Then she was gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
The only problem was my thoughts were telling me to go to him.
But I knew if I did, he’d just shut me down like he did last night in the car.
I’d be there for his surgery, though.
He could kiss my ass if he thought I’d let him do it on his own.
CHAPTER 9
I didn’t know he was planning to breathe so loud when he asked me to be his girlfriend.
-Zip to Tyson
NASH
I was nervous as hell.
I walked into the hospital with my hands in my pockets.
I was well on my way onto the floor that I would be having surgery on when I felt someone beside me.
I looked over, but the person standing there had their hood up, clearly not wanting to be disturbed.
Kind of feeling the same way, I looked away and watched the numbers for the floors pass by.
I was out of the elevator the moment the doors open, panic starting to really set in.
I was doing this.
I was having my testicles removed.
I had cancer.
All these thoughts kept running through my head like a constant looping movie, and I was so entirely focused on the bad shit that was about to happen that I didn’t notice the hooded person had followed me.
I was checking in, and being directed to a room, when my brother met me in the hallway.
He looked rather chipper for a man that had to perform surgery on his own brother.
“Yo,” he said. “Where’s Zip?”
I had opened my mouth, ready to tell him that we’d had a falling out—which we had, I’d said some mean stuff to her—when a tired sounding voice said from behind me, “Right here.”
“Ahh,” Hoyt nodded. “Glad you came. This one is going to need you.”
I whipped around, finding Zip directly behind me, noticing the hoodie was still practically engulfing her head and face.
“What are you…” I trailed off, not wanting to expose anything more.
