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“Is she…”
Liv’s eyes fluttered open, and she made small whimpering sounds.
She looked at her arm where a needle was buried in her skin.
“No!” she cried out, trying to fight it.
“It’s okay, Liv, it’s Colter’s blood. We’re saving you,” Rory said. “Look.”
Liv’s eyes followed the tubes to my arm before her eyes locked on mine.
“Colter?” she asked.
“I’ve got you, Liv,” I said. “I’ve got you.”
29
LIV
“It will be fine,” I said, holding Colter’s hand. “Come what may, we’ll figure this out.”
Colter nodded and looked at Rory, who wore latex gloves and blue scrubs under her white doctor’s coat. We’d traveled to the clinic while she was on her shift so that she could be the one to conduct the test and keep it under wraps and personal.
Colter’s dad had had a blood disorder. We’d talked for hours the night after getting back, and he’d bared his soul to me, explaining how it had all gone down. If Colter’s stepmother hadn’t killed him, then who knew how the disease would have affected Colter’s father?
Apparently, Colter’s grandfather had died of it, long before Colter had been born.
Now, Colter had it, too. It was more than just an illness; it was the fact that he’d inherited it from a man he’d despised.
Despite understanding where he came from, I’d been the one to urge him to get tested so that we knew what we were dealing with. It was important to know at what stage he was, so that we could know how much time we had left to make this right.
“Slight pinch,” Rory said when she pushed a needle into Colter’s skin and drew blood. “There.”
Colter let out a shuddering breath. I could feel his panic, his stress. It was like we were connected to each other, and I knew he was going through a hard time.
I took his hand and squeezed it.
“Let’s go home and wait for the call,” I said.
“I think I’m going to lose my mind.”
“We’ll find a way to distract you.” I winked at Colter, and he chuckled.
Rory rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, too.
We left the examination room and walked through the clinic. As far as we went, the people who saw us bowed their heads in respect or reverie. I’d never seen Colter out and about among his people, and the reaction was something to behold.
“They’re all very serious about you,” I said.
“That’s not for me,” Colter said, squeezing my hand. “They know who I am; they’re paying their respects to you.”
“What?”
Colter had made it official that we were together and made it clear that if anyone were to touch me, they would end up like Lazlo and Jerry had. He’d made an example of them, and word had spread through the city like wildfire. Now, people treated me differently. I’d only really mixed with those at work, but I’d always been invisible or in the way, never important no matter how much I gave.
Since I’d been with Colter, everything changed. I was around people a lot more, but despite being nervous, they would like me or accept me, I was seen as a queen.
His queen.
