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I glare at Lani. “Thanks a lot, bestie.”
Smiling nervously, Lani nods, then darts out of the little emergency room, shoving the thin curtain to one side, exposing us to the prying eyes of Apollo.
“There you are!” Rushing to us, he moves around the nurse who tries to get in his way.
Scooped into his arms, he holds us both, and Aurora begins to cry. “Daddy, it was so scary.”
“I know, little birdie.” Letting us go, he looks back and forth at us then at the nurse who stands behind him with her jaw hanging open. “Are they okay?”
“You…” the nurse stammers. “You are…”
“Yes, I am. And are my girls okay? Can they leave now?” he asks the star-struck young nurse.
Nodding, she gulps. “Yes. They’re okay. Miss Bennet only has a tiny laceration at the top of her nose. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize them from the pictures with you.”
“The people who took those pictures are why we’re here,” I let Apollo know. “They pinned me in, Apollo. Four cars of the assholes pinned us and caused the wreck.”
“We’ll press charges,” Apollo says as he tugs at my hand to get me down from the examination table. “Come on, let’s get you two home.”
“I called Lani to take us home. I just don’t know if getting in a car with you is the safest choice right now.”
He drops his hands to his sides.
I’ve never seen this look on his face, so helpless. “Lucy, I swear that I would never let anyone hurt you two.”
“I know you want to. And I know you’ll try. But truth is this is not something you can control. I’m sorry, but I just think that if we give it some time apart, the interest in us will die down and eventually, we can live a normal life again.”
The hurt in his eyes almost kills me.
“I’m really sorry, Apollo, but I can’t have our daughter in danger like that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find Lani before she leaves.”
“I can take you home,” he insists. “She asked me, and I told her I would.”
Aurora bursts into tears and clings to her father. “I wanna go with Daddy!”
I take out my phone and call Lani.
“Lucy?”
“Just come back and get us, Lani.”
“What about Apollo? He should take you guys home. I can hear Aurora crying. She needs her daddy.”
“You know why we are here. How are we safer with him when he is the celebrity in the first place? Just… please come.”
She sighs. “On my way.”
I hang up and tell my daughter, “It’s going to be okay, honey. Aunt Lani is going to drive us home.”
“Can I come over?” Apollo asks as he strokes Aurora’s head to soothe her.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. Maybe some other time. I’ll let you know.” I try to pry Aurora’s hands off her father. “Come on, sweetie, we need to meet Aunt Lani in front of the hospital. We need to get home.”
“Lucy, please,” he says softly.
“I’m sorry. We just went through the scariest thing I can imagine. And I never want it to happen again. The only way I can make sure it never happens again is this. I’m sorry, but our daughter’s safety needs to come first.”
“I know.”
