“It’ll heal,” she says to me.
“You have to be in pain,” she says, brushing a few strands of hair away from my forehead with a featherlight touch.
“They gave me the good stuff.” I give her a lopsided smile. “I’m feeling nothing right now.”
Her lips flatten. “How can you be cracking jokes at a time like this?”
“Ma.”
“Lulu.”
“Ma, come on. I’m okay. A few weeks of healing and I’ll look like me again.”
Her eyes shimmer with unshed tears. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if something…”
“I’m okay,” I tell her to stop those tears from making their way down her face. “If you cry, I’ll cry.”
She brushes the backs of her knuckles across the corner of her eye. “It’s okay to cry, tough girl.”
“I know, but it’ll hurt like a bitch.”
She groans, still not liking my attitude. But what else is new. I’ve tested my mother my entire life, and so has my sister, for that matter. “Always difficult.”
“I’m your baby. Of course I am.”
“Can she go home?” Ma asks Oliver.
“Yeah.”
“I’m going tomyhome,” I tell her, already knowing where she’s going to lead the conversation before she has a chance to say it.
“I can take care of you,” she says as my father slides his hand onto her shoulder, and she lifts her hand and places it on top of his.
“I’m going to go to my place. Zoey can take care of me.”
“No,” Oliver says, making my head turn up to meet his gaze. “I’ll take care of you at your place, sweetheart. You’re doing nothing until you’re well again.”
“Well, I…” I’m not about to argue with that. I like the sound of it, honestly, but I’m not sure how long I’ll let them treat me like I’m an invalid before I lose my mind.
“Is that what you want?” Mom asks me.
“I want Oliver to stay with me,” I tell her, but I keep my eyes on him. “He’ll make sure I’m okay.”
“Baby, let him take care of our girl.”
“My girl,” Oliver corrects them, and Dad doesn’t even flinch, which is shocking as hell.
Ma rises to her feet and moves around the bed until she’s in front of Oliver. “Thank you,” she says to him, placing her hand on the middle of his chest. “You saved her, and for that, I’ll forever be in your debt.”
“You owe me nothing, Mrs. Gallo,” Oliver says so sweetly that tears start to form in my eyes.
Damn it.
“Where is she?” my grandma says, rushing into the room with Zoey next to her. “Oh my God. My baby.” Grandma pushes my dad aside like he weighs nothing and gapes at me. “Dear Lord.”
“I’m okay,” I say for what feels like the hundredth time today.
“Lulu,” Zoey whispers, covering her mouth with her hand.
