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They both laughed. Through tears of anger, sadness, despair, pity, and sorrow, they laughed.
"Oh Micky," Megan said, leaning closer to her.
"Shh," Micky comforted her, and then turned to me. "Give us a minute?"
I looked at the nurse again. "I'm here the entire time," she assured me.
Amanda
"Did you have a pet Kangaroo?" I asked Jake. We were sitting on a bench just outside the building. We didn't know how long they'd be so we walked to get a coffee and some food.
He turned to face me with a slight scowl on his face. "You're shitting me right?"
I shrugged. I was. But Micky told me once that he hated getting stupid questions about Australia and his accent. "I'll take that as a no."
A few moments later, I asked, "How big is Australia? Is it the same size as Texas?"
Jake shook his head slowly, eyeing me like I was stupid.
I tried to contain my laugh.
"It's like the same size as America," he said slowly.
"Oh," I pretended to sound surprised. Then, "Did you guys have bowling?"
"Bowling?" he repeated.
"Yeah, like ten pin bowling."
"Oh my God," he laughed out, "It's not all red dirt country, of course there's fucking ten pin bowling."
"Oh," I said again, "Do they let you bring your pet Kangaroos bowling?"
He looked at me like I was crazy.
Then I threw my head back in laughter.
"Oh, you're fucking with me!" He finally got it, and laughed with me.
Then Logan's voice boomed from the doorway. "Hey asshole, you better not be hitting on my girl."
"Where's Kayla?" Jake asked, all humor left his voice.
"She's in there—it's fine," Logan raised his hand, "she's safe."
"What are you doing out here?" I came to a stand and moved in front of him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
He did the same. "They just need a minute." His face came close to mine, rubbing his nose along jaw. He laid his forehead on my shoulder. I saw Jake watch us, and then he walked away, giving us some privacy.
"How is she?" I asked him.
He blew out a long slow breath. "Bad. But I don't want to talk about it right now."
"Okay."
"You know what I want to do, though?"
"What's that?"
He rubbed his nose against mine, and then kissed me long, and slow. I hadn't even realized that he was holding me up by the time he pulled away. "I just want to appreciate you. Everything about you. All of it."
Logan
"She's ready for you." Micky came out a while later, wiping tears from her face. She walked straight into Jake's waiting arms. He hadn't said a word since we got here. Not about Megan anyway.
I kissed Amanda and walked into the building, palms sweaty, heart racing, blood pumping. I didn't know what to expect when I went in, but she just sat at the table, looking calm and ready.
"Hey." Her smile was genuine this time. She looked at the nurse, and then to me. "I'm sorry about my outburst earlier. It's a lot for me to take on. I mean, you being here is enough—but Mikayla—it just—it was too much."
I nodded and took a seat opposite her. "She wanted to be here," I said.
"Yeah." She blinked tightly a few times. "She told me."
Then it was silent for a few moments until she finally sighed, "So..."
"So..." I repeated.
"Lucky we never slept together."
I choked on air.
She laughed.
Then it was silent again.
"He talked about you."
My eyes darted to hers, surprised. "Who?"
"Our dad," she answered.
"Not my dad."
She rolled her eyes. "I get it," she nodded, and then continued, "When I was younger, like really young, maybe up until I was six or something...he used to talk about you."
I laughed once. I didn't even know what to say. "He wasn't specific or anything, he just said that you existed. I knew your name. That was it. And then he stopped coming around. I wasn't sure why, but he was gone a few years. Anyway, my councilor at my old rehab sad I should try to find you—maybe it might help motivate me to get better." She paused to take a breath.
I leaned my elbows on the cold metal table and waited. What ever the fuck she was saying, there had to be a point to it all.
"Anyway, I think it must have been around the same time you got adopted out or something—when he stopped coming around."
"Maybe," I shrugged.
"Did he hurt you, Logan?" Her voice was still harsh, but underneath it, was a layer of sympathy.
"Why?" I asked her. "Did he hurt you?"
"No." She shook her head. "My mom, though. I saw it a few times. But not me—not when I was a kid at least."
"What does that mean?"
"What?"
"Not when you were a kid. Has he hurt you recently?" My eyebrows drew in.
Her eyes welled with tears but she looked down to the floor. "He's just not good people, Logan. You need to stay away."
"No shit. What the fuck did he do to you?" My jaw clenched and my fists tightened. She reached over to cover them but I pulled away. It was too soon for her to be touching or comforting me. I didn't need that shit. And even though I had to feel something for her—I wasn't ready to feel that.
