Page 100 of Love Overdose: St. Louis

His arms tightened around me as he returned a deep, slow, warm caress against my mouth. I slipped my fingers behind his neck and drew him closer. His mouth moved over mine, patient until my lips parted. Heat filled my stomach when his tongue touched mine.

He lifted his head before I forgot we weren’t alone.

“I should go.”

I kept my arms around him. “You don’t have to.”

His eyes searched mine.

“I don’t mean…” I glanced toward the hallway. “You don’t have to spend the night. Just stay a little longer.”

His hand moved along my back.

“All right.”

We carried our drinks into the living room and sat together on the sofa. I curled into his side, my legs stretched across the cushions while his arm rested around me.

The house remained quiet with only the hum of the refrigerator and the occasional movement from Malik’s room. Elijah’s fingers caressed my arms, and I closed my eyes, resting in his touch.

For once, I didn’t need an itinerary of what to do next. I only needed the man beside me to still be there when whatever next would be.

13

elijah

5:42 P.M.

Friday

The scan on the monitor showed blood gathering where it shouldn’t.

I enlarged the image and studied the darkening area along the patient’s frontal lobe. Mr. Hargrove had arrived alert enough to answer questions. Twenty minutes later, his speech had begun to slur. His latest scan confirmed what the change in his condition had already told us.

We were running out of time.

Dr. Patel stood beside me. “The OR is ready.”

“Has his wife signed the consent forms?”

“She’s signing them now.”

I checked the clock on the wall.

Frankie’s celebration started in an hour.

For the past two months, she had been developing a series of low-impact workout videos for women who wanted to exercise but couldn’t keep up with the pace of her regular Zumba classes. She had filmed the final session that afternoon. Tonight was supposed to be dinner at her house with Naomi, Journey, Amelia, and the small team that helped her produce the videos.

Frankie hadn’t asked me to attend. She assumed the hospital would keep me away, but I told her to set a place for me anyway. Now a man was bleeding into his brain while his wife stood outside the surgical unit, trying to understand how an ordinary Friday had become the worst night of her life.

I removed my phone from my coat pocket. Frankie answered after the second ring.

“Hey.”

Music and overlapping voices filled the background. I could hear Journey laughing above everyone else.

“You started without me.”

“We were hungry.”