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“But it’s not my lunch break yet... and we still have hours to go.” I have no idea what to do.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it. Let’s go. You should be with her.”
I let out a big breath of relief. “Okay. Thank you, for everything.”
He says gruffly, “It’s nothing. I’ll meet you in that parking lot by my car in five minutes.” Then he hangs up the phone.
The drive there is nice but silent. We are both lost in thought.
When he gets to the hospital he says, “You go in and be with her for as long as you want or as long as they let you.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be waiting for you to let me know when you are ready to leave. Okay?”
“Thank you so much. I feel all I do lately is thanking you, I owe you so much.”
“You owe me nothing.” He leans forward and kisses me on the lips. A fleeting but very charged kiss that leaves me wanting more. “Now go, and text me when you are ready to leave, okay?”
“Okay, I promise. Thanks, Maverick.”
“Anytime.”
I get out of the car and run inside to the nurses station to find out which room is Abbie’s.
After being told, I go to her. As I get to the door, she looks so frail. I feel like crying all over again.
“Hey,” I say and hesitantly get inside the room.
“She opens her arms to me and I run to hug her.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was so mean to you and all you wanted to do was help. Thank you.”
“It’s okay. You’re okay now. Or you will be soon.”
“No, it isn’t. I really wanted to die. I’d probably succeeded if it weren’t for you. You saved my life.”
I stare at Abbie, sadness tugging within me. She looks almost unrecognizable to me. Her shoulders are slumped against the bed and there’s a dullness in her eyes. Her hair is in a blue cap and she’s wearing a matching hospital paper gown.
“Abbie,” I whisper.
“I know. I know what you’re going to say. I know I didn’t deserve to put myself through any of that. It’s just...”
“What?”
Exhaling aloud, she closes her eyes briefly. When she opens them, they’re pooling with tears. “I hate myself so much, ‘Elle. So, so much.”
“Hey.” I scoot closer to the bed and lay my hand on hers. “This isn’t your fault, Abbie. It’s not.”
“It is.” She sniffs. “Ever since that day at the gym, ever since what happened, I... I’ve never felt the same.”
“Everyone gets a nasty stomach bug from eating crappy food, Abs. I keep telling you all the time. This isn’t something you should always beat yourself over.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “No, ‘Elle, it wasn’t... it wasn’t the cafeteria food that caused all this. It was something else.”
Tilting my head, I sit up in my chair. Craning my body closer, I blink. “What are you talking about, Abbie?”
She goes silent, concentrating her attention elsewhere as she picks at something on the bed sheets.
