Me.
I consider Vinnie and Raven my family, but I’m hardly a Bellamy.Hawk and I have slept together once.We’re not even in a relationship, really.
So why am I here, exactly?
I came to be here for Hawk, but clearly he doesn’t want my presence.
So now I’m eating ice cream with his family in the freaking hospital cafeteria.
I hold my dish under the machine, watch the ice cream coil into it.Then I take a bit of every topping.Every single one.Screw it.Life is short.My father’s rules for my eating have been drummed in my head for so long, and I’m going to fight against him.
The Pink Cadillac ice cream I ate the other day was the first step.
This is the second step.
Rainbow sprinkles.Cookie crumbles.Peanuts.Chocolate sauce.Caramel sauce.Banana slices.Strawberries.Pretzel pieces.Mini M&Ms.Gummy bears.
Every one of them, even the ones I’m not crazy about like bacon bits.Why are there bacon bits at an ice cream bar?I’m a chef in training, and I get the salty-sweet contrast, but this seems to go too far.
The others are all sitting down together, hovering over Star.Her eyes and nose are pink and puffy.No surprise there.Her child is fighting for his life.And her husband is still here as well.
Raven rises and walks to me as I turn away from the machine.
“Hungry?”she asks, looking at my ice cream.
And I realize—funny thing—that I’m not even slightly hungry.
“Not really.”
She forces out a choking laugh.“I hope you get hungry.That looks delicious.”
“Are you doing okay?”I ask.
She sighs.“We’re all hanging in there.He’s strong.If anyone can get through this, it’s Eagle.”
I simply nod.
“Areyouokay?”she asks.
For a moment I don’t reply.Why is anyone concerned aboutmeright now?
“Fine,” I finally reply.
“Is my brother treating you right?”
I widen my eyes slightly.“Raven, you have so much else on your mind.Please don’t worry about me.”
“Idoworry about you, Dani.You’re like family now.”
“I appreciate you saying that.I consider you and Vinnie family as well.Right now, though, we should be focusing on Eagle.”
“To be honest,” she says, “it would help if I had something else to focus on.God knows I’m sick to death of hospitals and what they mean.”She leans in.“So tell me.About you and Hawk.”
I glance toward the table.None of them are paying any attention to us.Of course they’re not.Eagle is fighting for his life.
So I answer.
“Yes, he’s treating me very well.”
