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She turns in his arms. “I wasn’t sure. I just had a feeling, and it was none of my business.”
“You’re gonna pay for that later, baby.” Declan tightens his grip on Belle, who squirms in his lap.
“Promise?” she asks with a saucy wink.
Then Nixon cries out over the baby monitor.
“Damn it, he must have thrown his pacifier out of the crib again.” Belles stands from Declan’s lap and hugs me. “Be careful, Cooper. I don’t know what’s going on between you guys, but you have the power to destroy this family. If this goes bad, and you can’t be in a room together, you’re going to split us right down the middle. The longer you wait to tell everyone, the harder it’s going to be.” She kisses my cheek. “Be safe driving home.”
Declan watches his wife walk back up the steps, and then he turns on me. “You and Carys?”
I nod, not sure what to say.
“How long?” There’s a hard edge to Declan’s voice.
“Since this past spring. But I’ve been gone most of the time. We just want to get time together before we bring everyone else into it. We deserve that.” I try to defend myself, but my words sound like a childish excuse now.
Declan stands, and I follow him into the kitchen where he pours two shots of tequila. “Do you love her?” He downs the first shot.
“Yes,” I answer without hesitation, then push my shot his way too.
I’ve got a five-hour drive home tonight. Tequila won’t help.
“Fuck, Cooper,” he draws my name out, and I cringe. “You’ve got to be careful. Belles is right. If this goes badly, it could really fuck up the family. But if you love her, you need to figure your shit out. Put her first and show everyone that you’re both in this for the long haul. I think they’ll come around.” He throws back the second shot. “Eventually. But the longer you take to tell them, the harder it’s gonna be.”
Tell me something I don’t know.
Why aredoctor’s offices so damn cold?
A December day in California is different from one back home in Kroydon Hills. Today, I’m wearing a hoodie I stole from Cooper’s closet a few weeks ago, paired with black leggings, and I’m fine. Or I would be if this office wasn’t set to a temperature equivalent to an arctic freeze.
I don’t have much time to focus on it, though, because luckily Dr. Cruz doesn’t keep me waiting long. She strolls through the door to her office in a beautiful cream silk suit. Her dark hair is styled to perfection, and her crisp white coat, with her name embroidered in it in blue, looks like it’s been perfectly pressed.
This woman looks badass.
My fingers are crossed that she can help me.
“Hello, Miss Murphy. How are you feeling today?” She takes a seat behind a large oak desk and opens a file before looking back up at me.
Oops. Guess she’s waiting for an answer. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Cruz. I’m good. How are you?”
My primary out here referred me to Dr. Cruz when she ran out of options last month, and Jessie may have called in a few favors at the hospital to get me to the front of her very long waitlist.
“Good?” she asks, clearly not believing me as she skims through my file.
“Sorry.” I blush. “Force of habit. Generally, people don’t want to hear that you’re twenty years old with a constant headache and bone-deep exhaustion. I feel a little like I’m going crazy.”
Her warm smile calms my nerves—slightly.
“Well, I do. I want to hear every single detail. Don’t leave anything out.”
“I go through bursts of feeling fine, then feeling like I have the flu. The bad symptoms—like the headaches, body aches, fever, and vomiting—can last for a few days and sometimes up to a week. But I feel the lingering effects for a few weeks at a time. I used to be a runner. I’ve run marathons, but now I barely have the energy to walk to class half the time.”
By the time I’ve regurgitated everything from the last six months of my life, I realize I must sound like a hypochondriac. I stuff my hands inside the pockets of the warm hoodie and sit back. Suddenly tired.
Dr. Cruz lays down the tablet she’s been using to take notes and takes out a form. She fills it out quickly and checks more boxes than one person should ever need. But when she’s done with that one, she grabs two more forms and fills them out as well.
“You’re not going crazy, Miss Murphy. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.” She hands me the papers. “I’d like you to have these scans and labs run here at the hospital, so I can get access to the results faster. Do you think you could get them scheduled for some time this week?”
