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The doors open and I’m pushed out of the way as they roll Zahra out and through the Emergency Room bay. I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience as I walk through the sliding doors. I’m hit with the offensive smell of antiseptic cleaner.
I’m running on autopilot, completely missing the nurse calling for my attention.
“Are you family?” She taps on my shoulder again, pulling me from wherever the hell my mind keeps drifting to.
“What?”
“Family or friend?” Her lips purse.
“Fiancé.” I’ve seen enough TV shows to know how it works around here.
She gives me a quick scan as if she can detect my lie, but she shockingly nods.
“Fine. Follow me.” She leads me into a waiting room. The peeling linoleum tile and the flickering fluorescent light in one corner add to the tightness in my chest. There are a few people seated at different corners of the room.
My hands shake. I haven’t been to a hospital since my grandpa’s accident. And before then, my mom’s death. Hospitals and I have a bad history and a low success rate. And now, it’s a place where my present and my past have collided.
The nurse moves to leave, but I call for her.
“I want my fiancée placed in a private room,” I blurt out.
She looks down at her clipboard. “Once she’s stabilized, that’s up to her insurance policy. Is she on your plan?”
My jaw clenches down. I have no idea what kind of insurance Zahra has, let alone if they allow for private rooms.
Knowing the insurance plans your employees have, do you really expect anything more?
My selfishness has a way of coming back to bite me in the ass. And the worst part is it’s only just begun.
43
Zahra
“Ani, can you shut off the alarm?”
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Ani.”
The same incessant beeping continues. I open my eyes and come face-to-face with a heart monitor. I bolt upright in the bed, and my chest aches in protest.
I stare at the IV embedded under the skin of my left hand as I try to comb through my memories. The last thing I remember is going to Rowan’s house to watch TV in bed.
So how did I end up here?My fingers trace the clear tubing that leads right into my nose. I follow the line with my eyes, landing on an oxygen tank.
“She’s awake.” Rowan’s raspy voice has me turning my head toward the sound.
He hangs up the phone and tucks it into his pocket. The look on his face has a chill spreading across my skin. It reminds me of how he used to stare at me before everything changed between us, and I hate it.
“Don’t move.” He stands and steps toward the bed.
“What’s going on?” my voice croaks. Every word takes a ton of effort I struggle to produce.
He fills a small plastic cup and passes it to me. “You’re in the hospital.”
I take a sip of the water before speaking. “I gathered that much. But how did I end up here?”
His lips remain in a flat line. He looks ragged and tired in a way I’ve never seen him, with days’ worth of stubble and bags under his eyes. I blink at his wrinkled hospital gift shop T-shirt.
