Page 63 of Burning Obsession

"What did he say?"

I swallow, my heart racing as the room starts to spin. I need to sit down before I fall flat onto the floor.

My feet start moving without me thinking. One step in front of the other until I’m back at the reclining chair of agony.

“Victor, what did he say?”

"He's here."

Her eyes widen.

"Here? Like in this city here? Or here in the hospital?"

"City."

I stare at the message again, almost expecting the words to change but they don’t.

"He wants to talk."

"Oh, now he wants to talk?" Her voice rises instantly. And her protective sister instincts kick in. She looks down at the baby in her arms, instantly lowering her voice.

I can't help the tiny laugh that escapes me. She’s going to be doing that a lot. My sister is brash and loud, and now she has tiny ears to think about.

"Yeah," I say quietly. "He said he’s ready to listen. He wants to know why I did it."

My sister's jaw tightens. "He should've listened to you that day, instead of being an asshole."

"Nellie, stop." I implore.

"What? He could've easily listened to you. It's not like you hurt him."

"I know you want to look out for me, but I did hurt him. I get it, and I understand why he’s so upset. I should've told him," I admit not just to her but to myself. I was in the wrong. "It wasn't fair. I knew him when we met, and I pretended I didn't. Even after hearing about how he felt about the gifts I was sending, I didn’t come clean. The lie I was living wasn’t something I could hide forever."

"Whatever." She looks down at the baby, her expression softening. "What are you going to do?"

I stare at the phone in my hand.

"I don't know." The words come out barely above a whisper. I love him so much but I don’t know if I can face him only to be rejected again. It’s too painful. "I love him, Nellie."

My throat tightens, and a pressure builds in my chest. I love him so fucking much that I can’t breathe.

“I know you do, Victor. When you were with him, you were so happy. I heard a lightness in your voice that I haven't heard in a long time.”

"I've been barely surviving these last few days. It takes everything in me just to get out of bed and put a smile on my face."

"Then say yes. Go see him and spill your heart to him. Tell him everything he needs to hear. But tell him how you feel too. Explain why you started sending those gifts. Why you kept doing it for all those months. Why you didn’t tell him. Make him believe in you again. Most importantly, believe in yourself.” She pauses, her eyes drifting down to the sleeping bundle in her arms. “But if he rejects you again, then you walk away first. And be done with him. If he reaches out to you again, don’t respond.”

I don't say anything.

“I don’t know if I can.”

"You have to. You move on. But at least this time, you'll know you told him the truth. The two of you can’t keep going down this path. Either the love the two of you have is enough to move past the mistakes of the past or it’s not.”

I nod slowly.

She's right. God, I hate that she's right.

I stare at his message.