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I nodded, letting out a sigh and glancing down at my phone. “It has been hours, hasn’t it?”
“And I feel better now that I’ve thrown up like a kazillion times.” Iris’s eyes brightened.
“But you’re also really dehydrated,” my mom chimed in, giving us both a knowing look. “She needs to be here until her fluid levels are where they should be. You heard Dr. Preston.”
“I know.” My eyes drifted back to my phone, wondering why in the hell Gunner hadn’t gotten back to me. Don’t get me wrong, I knew that he might be busy—and it hadn’t beenthatlong.
I’m just overthinking.
I swallowed hard, locking the screen and looking back over to my mom, who was watching me carefully. “What?”
“You’ve been staring at thing all day.”
“Yeah, so? Isn’t the whole world addicted to their phone?”
“I’ve never seen you watch it that much.”
“It’s because she’s into that guy,” Iris quipped, giving us both a little mischievous smile. “She spends like five hours staring at herself in the mirror before he comes over.”
“Oh?” Mom raised her brow. “And I can only imaginewhothis is.” The tone of her voice caused me to cringe a little. She had always liked Gunner, but I wasn’t sure if she was fond of thenewGunner.
“I don’t know if it’ll amount to anything.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“Well, youdoknow that there’s onebigthing that you need to think about.” The knowing look on her face caused Iris to look at me with confusion, but not me. I knew what she was talking about. She knew who Iris’s dad was.
“I know, but that’s not a discussion for today.”
“Why?” Iris asked, narrowing her eyes at me. “I like him. I don’t want him to go away. He was actually interested in all my stuff.”
I hesitated, exchanging a glance with my mom. “You’re just not feeling well today, and I think that we should focus on that.”
“I agree with your mom.” My mom gave her a pat on her hand. “You’ve had a long day. Stomach bugs can be a bigger deal than some let on.”
There was a knock on the door, and I sat up a little straighter as Linley walked into the room, her eyes bright as she looked at Iris. “How’re you feeling?”
“Better, I guess.” Iris shrugged, and I had to bite back my laughter. She was always so tough, and never willing to admit that she was anything less than fine—unless she was really sick, apparently.
“Good, so I’m thinking that it’s about time to get you out of here.” Linley glanced down at the chart in her hands before over to me. “I think that she was just a little dehydrated, and that’s what caused the severe cramping. That happens more often than people think.”
“Well, I’m just happy that it wasn’t appendicitis,” my mom chimed in. “That was so rough on poor Hal.”
“Yeah, it can be rough for sure,” Linley said, giving me a curious smile.
“I need to go to the bathroom. I’ve had alotof water,” Iris said, letting out a sigh.
“I’ll take you,” Mom perked up, standing up from the chair.
“She can go ahead and get dressed as well,” Linley said to them as Iris slid off the bed. “Her IV was unhooked, so she’s good.”
“Finally.” Iris let out a loud sigh of relief as she grabbed her clothes and followed my mom out of the hospital room. That left Linley and I there, both of us just staring at each other. We hadn’t been alone the entire time—and I braced for what was to come.
“So… Iris is nine?” Linley glanced down at the chart in her hands.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Um, yeah.”
She nodded. “I noticed there’s no father listed—do you want one added as an emergency contact?”
