Returning home from dropping off his girlfriend after Olivia’s birthday party, all Matt wanted to do was hide in his room. Gail had gotten into an argument withRosieof all people, and it had never been clearer to him than that moment how different those two were. Gail likedStar Warstoo, and said she wanted to go into nursing, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t for the same reason Rosie did.
And when after the argument, Rosie told him he should be treated kindly? He’d nearly spilled his secret crush on her.
Matt was done with Gail. Now he just needed to figure out how to tell her.
An ambulance sat in his driveway, its red lights filling the yard. Matt had to park on the lawn to keep from blocking them in. All thoughts of girlfriends and women he couldn’t have fled from his mind. Whathappened?
“Mom? Dad? What’s going on?”
Rosie pushed him out of the way just as the paramedics were wheeling his dad out on a gurney. Dad looked … awful. He was so distracted he didn’t even register her hands or her curves pressing against him in the dim light.
“I’m pretty sure your dad had a heart attack, Matt.” His world came to a screeching halt. “Give me your keys. We’ll follow him to the hospital.” Matt handed them over without question. He followed her numbly out the front door and sat with his mom in the backseat of his car that hadn’t even had time to cool off.
They spent all night at the hospital, his mother clinging to his arm. She looked ten years older, frail and gray. When a guy in a lab coat finally came out and asked, “Are you all here for Sven?” his mother leaped from the chair. It was the most life she’d shown since he got back from dropping Gail off.
Had that really only been twelve hours ago?
Snatches from the years since that night followed. His mother’s increased nagging at his dad to follow the diet the doctor had prescribed. The stress it put her under when grocery shopping or cooking. Helping her look up the nutrition facts for various restaurants so she could check the sodium before they decided where to eat.She aged ten years that fateful night, and her blonde hair turned completely gray by the end of the year. And while she had given him crap about the food he ate before, afterwards she was an absolute nightmare to live with.
Matt was certain this would be his life now. Rosie was a lot younger than his mother had been. But another incident like this one could turn her old before her time. She deserved so much better.
Thoughts of how much better off she’d be without him plagued him for the rest of the day.
She worked so hard for her patients. And she had grandparents who would need help one day. He couldn’t distract her from that. She’d resent him. Or they would. Yeah, that was more likely. Rosie could never resent anyone. She was too pure, too sweet. She’d take care of him with a smile on her face and her coworkers and family would grow to hate him. But he would know. And he’d hold her back. What if her fellow nurses got sick of trading shifts for her? What if her grandparents ended up in a nursing home because she couldn’t handle both?
Fuck. What if they hadkids?What if his condition washereditary?
Her work would never end. She’d be trapped, feeling obligated to stay even when he was holding her back from living. But it was early days, yet. Their relationship was still new. It would be so much easier for her to recover if he let her gonow...
Part of him recoiled at the idea of leaving her. He’d crushed on her for years.You waited so long for this chance, and now you want to throw it away?
But the old adage said, if you love something, let it go. It might have been the heavy medications he was on, but Matt knew he had to set Rosie free. Even if it killed him.
Rosie: Okay Olivia, since you’re not answering your phone, will you PLEASE call your parents and let them know that Matt’s in the hospital? I had to take him from work last night. I don’t care how badly you hate us, he’s still your brother.
Rosie: And if she’s blocked me, can one of you pass the message on?
Mia: What, and I cannot stress this enough, the FUCK?
Rosie: I don’t know how much detail I should give you, since Matt doesn’t seem to talk about his medical history with everyone. But his coworker called me from his phone and asked me to pick him up. When I got there, he had chest pains, he was sweating, and he just looked terrible. He was so short of breath he could barely speak. I took him to ER and tried to call Olivia so she could alert his parents but she never returned my calls.
Rosie: They’re keeping him today and tonight, but he should be good to go home tomorrow.
Nadia: We’ll get her the message.
Nadia opened her door and looked down the hallway to see Jade doing the same at her end of the hall. Jade said nothing, just held up a baseball bat. Nadia shook her head.
“Get your purse. We’re going out,” Nadia called. She threw her winter coat on and grabbed her own bag. After making sure her door was locked, she marched down the hallway with the peeling wallpaper and the suspiciously stained carpet. Jade met her at the staircase, no baseball bat in sight.
“This has gone on way too long.”
“Agreed.” Nadia marched down the stairs, Jade at her side. Outside, snow was starting to drift down. An icy wind blew down the urban corridor as they made their way to Nadia’s car, but it couldn’t penetrate the heat of their fury.
They rode in silence all the way to Olivia’s new condo building. Leaving the Chevy in guest parking, the two friends slipped into the vestibule and hit the number for Olivia and Jake’s unit. It rang for what seemed like forever.
“This is all going to be pointless if she’s not home.”
Jade nodded, but then a voice answered the intercom.
