“Bunny,” I said, a little firmer. “Look at me, please.”
She stopped, then she looked up.
“I’m alive,” I held her gaze. “I’m okay. You aren’t the reason for this. So please stop avoiding me.”
She stared at me.
Then her eyes dropped to the sling, then the bandage underneath, then back to my face.
“I know you said you’re okay,” she started. “But that don’t mean you are.”
“I am,” I said.
“No, you’re not,” she replied, shaking her head slightly. “You got shot, Marlon. Like… actually shot. And I keep thinking about that, like what if something went different. What if you didn’t move? What if?—”
She stopped herself, pressing her lips together like she didn’t want to say it out loud.
“I wake up some nights thinking I’m about to walk into that room again,” she admitted. “Like it’s happening over and over.”
I stepped a little closer, “You don’t gotta go through that alone, Bunny.”
She laughed lightly, but there wasn’t anything funny about it.
“I kinda do,” she said. “Cause I don’t even know how to be around you right now.”
Ouch.
“I’m scared I’m gonna hurt you,” she added. “I don’t wanna touch you wrong. Don’t wanna do too much. And then on top of that, I-I keep thinking I’m the reason you even in this position.”
“You’re not,” I said immediately.
“But if I never?—”
“You’re not,” I repeated, firmer this time.
She went quiet again. I reached out with my good arm, resting my hand lightly against her side.
“I made my own decisions,” I said. “Everything that happened between me and your father… it ain’t start with you.”
She didn’t respond right away, but I saw her shoulders drop just a little.
“I’m here,” I added. “Still standing and still dealing with your stubborn ass.”
That got the smallest reaction out of her.
“And I love you. Don’t push me away when I need you the most, okay? We need each other right now. You understand?”
She nodded.
“Good,” I kissed her forehead. “Now say it back.”
“I love you too, Marlon.”
“Hm,” I stood there for a second before I looked down at the mess of files around her.
“Why you even out here digging through all this for payroll, anyway?”
She wiped her hands on her pants lightly, glancing back at the open cabinet.
