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He gives me a head start, and then says “Okay, I’m coming!”
Chapter Thirty-Two
ALEX
It’sbeenalmostamonth since the Big Teddy incident, and I’d like to say things are getting back to normal, but that’s not the case. Liv has me worried because she’d been throwing up most mornings for the last several weeks.
She has been having nightmares since the incident with Big Teddy and it’s tearing me apart. Thankfully, she started talking to a therapist right after it happened, and there have been noticeable improvements in her anxiety.
She thinks she’s been throwing up from the stress of everything that happened, and I believed her, but now I’m beginning to suspect it’s something else.
She runs away from the bed, but I don’t move an inch. It’s the end of the week and it’s just another day of Liv’s little game of ‘Where will she puke now?’
This time, it’s the bathroom floor, easy enough to clean, but still frustrating enough for her to yell a resounding “Fuck!” and wake me up for good.
“What happened?” I ask, knowing exactly what’s happening.
“Couldn’t make it in time and barfed on the bathroom tiles…” she says, still recovering.
“There’s a dirty towel in the hamper, the maid is doing laundry today,” I tell her, and then embrace one of her pillows.
“Ugh!” Liv groans, and I smile in pity.
I give us both some peace while she rinses her mouth, but when she starts brushing her hair and waltzes buck naked through the bedroom looking for clothes to wear, I decide to address the elephant in the room.
“Liv?”
“Yes?”
“How long have you been feeling sick now?” I ask it as if I don’t already know the answer.
“Um,” I open my eyes, to see her modeling the back of her hair, and searching for panties in my underwear drawer. “I dunno. Two weeks, off and on?”
I place my hands behind my head and take on a pleasant, deep sigh. “Try almost a month,” I say, and she seems shocked. “Christmas is in two days, instead of an Advent Calendar, we’re having a Hurling Calendar.”
“What do you mean by that, Alex?” she drops the brush and puts on a pair of comfortable pink cotton panties. “That I’m sick? I know that, I’m taking nausea pills… If it insists beyond Christmas, I’m seeing a doctor, but I’ve just been stressed! After what happened with Big Teddy, it literally made me sick.”
I shake my head while grimacing, which only messes with her temper. “What, Alex?” she cries, hapless.
“I don’t think you’re sick,” I say, “and I don’t think it’s because of stress. You are safe now and you know it. Also, I don’t think you need a doctor to know what is going on...”
Liv puts on a matching bra and picks up a button-down blouse from the dresser. “Why, Alex?!” she’s exasperated and I’m trying hard not to enjoy it too much.
I sit up, and bring a finger to my lips, mimicking Harlan’s stance from the other night. “Secret!” I say.
And she tosses her blouse at me.
“Hey!” I exclaim, catching the piece with my hands.
“Don’t leave me hanging like this! It’s nerve-wracking!” she pleads, her voice loud but her heart hanging low.
“Alright…” I tent my hands over my lap and look away from Liv for a second. “How long since you had your last period?”
Liv looks away from the buttons of her blouse to me, with an eyebrow raise and her mouth contorted in horror. “My pills don’t let me have periods, why?”
“Oh…” I whistle, “Then you wouldn’t know.”
“Know what?” she leans down to take a pair of jeans off her duffel bag.
