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Michael reappears with my soda. “Here you go.” He hands me the cold can and kisses my temple, hovering next to the bed I’m sitting on.
“Thanks.” I muster a weak smile.
Alex watches our interaction closely. Uncomfortably so. There are other things I want to ask him, and I’m both grateful and resentful Michael’s reappearance prevents me from doing so.
Finally, he bends back over my hand and finishes wrapping the gauze over the cut. He stands and yanks his gloves off with asnap. “The stitches will dissolve on their own. Change the dressing once a day and avoid getting your hand wet too often. Any swelling or discoloration, come back in. Otherwise, you should be good to go.”
Michael holds out a hand. “Thank you so much, Doctor.”
Alex hesitates before shaking it. Michael doesn’t seem to notice.
“Take care of yourself, Lyla.”
Then, he’s gone. I’m left staring at a gray striped curtain as it flutters shut.
My hand no longer hurts, but my heart twinges like it sustained an injury.
CHAPTERTHREE
LYLA
When I wake up, my eyes feel like grit was poured inside of them while I was sleeping. I’m not sure I slept at all actually. I tossed and turned all night after Michael brought me back to my apartment. He offered to stay with me, but his face had a greenish hue when we walked into the kitchen. It did look like a crime scene.
I pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and started scrubbing as soon as he left, then went to bed and stared at the ceiling all night.
It’s a random coincidence Alex Ivanov became a doctor. That he works at the nearest hospital and happened to be on call last night. I stopped believing in destiny or fate a long time ago. I’ve endured plenty that I never want to think I wasmeantto.
Curiosity is a constant aggravation though.
It prickles my skin and interrupts each thought.
I never got any closure with Nick. I made peace with that fact a long time ago—because I had no other choice. He left without a word, and his best friend disappeared right alongside him. He unenrolled in the middle of the semester and just…vanished.
There was no one to ask questions to.
Until now.
Nick and Alex were close. They often acted more like brothers than friends. I have no doubt Alex knows why Nick left, and I’m betting he has some way to contact him now. That’s more of a possibility than I’ve ever had before.
My mind spins in answerless circles as I bustle around the tiny apartment, cleaning and running a load of laundry, until there’s a knock on the door. I peek through the peephole, then swing the door open.
“Hey, Lyla.”
“Hi, June,” I reply, smiling at the woman I consider my best friend before leaning down to hug Leo. “Hey, sweetheart.”
“Hi, Mom.” My son grins before humoring me with a brief embrace. “Can I show AJ the Lego set I got with my allowance?”
“Yeah, sure.”
The two boys are gone in a flash, down the hall toward Leo’s tiny bedroom.
“Come on in,” I tell June, shutting the door after she steps inside. “Coffee?” I ask.
“That would be great,” she says, pulling off her winter coat and folding it over one arm as she follows me into the kitchen.
I pour some hot coffee in a mug and hand it to her. “Milk? Sugar?”
“A splash of milk, if you have it.”
