AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Thanks to my dad, I’m set financially. Thanks to the days, months, and years he spent driving thousands of miles to provide for us. I wonder how he’d feel about me spending it to help the woman who abandoned us.
The doctor sighs, caving to my determination. “All right. I’ll transfer you back to the front desk. They’ll get you set up with an appointment. I understand the situation with your mother is…complicated but I wouldstronglyadvise speaking with her before going through with the testing.”
“Okay.” I won’t, and the doctor’s sigh suggests he realizes that.
I have to wait on hold for another ten minutes before I reach the front desk.
“We had a cancellation this afternoon, if you’re available at three thirty,” the woman tells me. “Otherwise, our next appointment is in two weeks.”
I eye the clock. If I speed, I can probably make it. And I would really rather get this over with.
“Okay. I’ll be there.”
I’m sitting on the bleachers, staring into space, when Cassia calls me. I stare at her smiling face on the screen, debating on whether to answer. When I left Richmond, I didn’t consider what I would say to her about this trip. I told Henry I was going to the gym and Robby wasn’t home.
I could drive back to campus now instead of spending the night here. It’s after dinner. I left the hospital and stopped for a pizza before coming here.
The drive back to campus would be dark and long, but I’d make it before midnight.
Motivating myself to move is more the problem. Now that I’ve gotten tested, it’s a waiting game to get the results. Dr. Meyers expected it to take two weeks because Walker-Moore’s lab is backed up and they’re sending it somewhere else. I’meager to know the answer and also want to put it off as long as possible. If I am a match, it’ll be a harder decision than choosing to get tested in the first place.
And this is always the place where I’ve come to think. I’d rather worry here than in my bedroom off-campus.
My phone’s screen goes dark, then lights up again.
I answer this time, concerned something is wrong.
Relieved when her tone is cheerful. “Hey! Nova and I are getting ice cream. Do you want me to bring you anything? Or come? I haven’t seen you since you got here.”
Guilt twists in my gut. “I’m okay, thanks. I just ate a whole pizza.”
“Is everything okay?” The cheerfulness has faded, replaced by concern.
“Yeah. Everything is fine.” I pick at the Band-Aid stuck to my arm. The crease of my elbow stings in the spot where they took two vials of blood earlier. “I’m just…not on campus. I’m back home.”
“Home as in—you’re in Pembrooke?” All I can hear in her voice is surprise.
“Yeah, I realized I forgot a few things. And Catherine wanted help with a couple of projects around the condo.”
The lie is out before I’ve thought it through—before I’ve thought at all.
I want to tell her about my mom, but I also don’t want to discuss it. And I won’t know the results of the testing for a little while. If I’m not a match, if I can’t do anything, I’m not sure there’s anything worth telling Cassia. It’ll be something I bury, along with all the other problems in my family I couldn’t fix.
“I feel bad that I wasn’t around to help this summer, after everything she’s done for me and Sydney.” More bullshit spills out of my mouth. “I’m just spending one night, then I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Okay. Say hi to Syd from me.”
“Yeah, I will.”
Sydney is one of the reasons I came here after leaving the hospital. I’m not ready to face her yet.
She’s the other person I can’t decide on whether to say anything about my mom to or not. Part of me thinks she deserves to know.
The rest of me wants to protect her. I couldn’t shelter her from our mom leaving or our dad dying, but I could shield her from this. Pretend I never saw our mom in that hallway. Chances are she’ll never find out about this on her own. In Sydney’s mind, our mom has been dead for a long time.
But if I’m not a match…Sydney might be.
I’m torn about whether she deserves to make the same decision I did.
