“What’s wrong?” he asks, taking several steps forward. Jahlani holds out his phone, and he removes it from her grasp, inspecting the messages. His thumb sweeps across the screen with increasing ferocity, his face contorting, his shoulders dropping.
Jahlani steps forward with her arm outstretched, but Roman takes an abrupt, almost flinching, step back before turning to face her, his eyes not quite meeting hers.
“I have to go,” he mutters, looking around the room with wide eyes. “I have to go.”
Jahlani nods, running a hand over her head. “Go.”
“My bag—my stuff,” he stutters, patting his pockets. He digs his hand into his front pocket, retrieving his keys. “My laptop?—”
Jahlani shakes her head, a sharp pressure building in the back of her throat as she watches Roman.
“Roman,go.I’ll bring it to you later. Go, quickly.”
She watches him nod absentmindedly, shuffling backward before connecting his eyes with hers, and she sees it: the guilt, the dread, the consequences, all flashing behind his eyes. Her stomach churns and she shakes her head when he hesitates at the door.
Goshe mouths softly, watching as his knuckles turn white on the handle. With a final desperate look, Roman pulls the door open and leaves.
When Jahlani hears the latch of the door close, she leans her weight against the desk, taking deep breaths. Pressing a hand to her chest, she closes her eyes as she tries to time out her breaths evenly. When she feels her pulse slow, she’s left with a single, lingering thought:
She should’ve stopped him sooner.
CHAPTER 33
VITALS
ROMAN
The creak of the door opening startles Roman from his attempt at sleeping. Wiping down his face, he clears his throat, sitting upright. The leather chair cracks in protest as he shuffles. Goosebumps arise on his arms when the A/C unit that hangs on the wall kicks in. Looking toward the cot, he sees that Lucy is still sleeping.
His exhale is long and low as he stands, rolling his neck and stretching his hands overhead.
“Knock, knock,” Audrey says, walking in with a teal clipboard decorated with smiley faces. “Just wanted to check her vitals,” she says in a hushed tone.
She’s wearing navy scrubs with anchors and multicolored fish. He blinks, trying to get his bearings as he stretches. After a few minutes noting the monitor, Audrey sets the clipboard down and turns to him, a hand on her hip.
“You okay?” she asks, a tilt to her head. Her hair hangs loose by her shoulders and sways with her as she inspects him.
Fucking terrible,he thinks as he runs a hand through his hair, blowing out a breath. “I’m good.”
She stares for a few seconds, her eyes narrowing slightly.
“Okay,” she says, sending a sheepish smile before returning to write more notes on the clipboard. They lapse into silence, Roman frowning at his phone because Jahlani Jones—the love of his fucking life—said she’d be here an hour ago, and she’s late.
She’s never late.
Audrey turns to face him again, cradling the clipboard against her hip. “Hey, are you sure you’re okay?”
He sighs, clicking his phone closed, before sliding it into his pocket. “I’m fine. How’s she doing?”
Audrey nods, running a finger down the notes she wrote on the clipboard.
“She’s good, Roman. Her temperature is going down, which is great,” she says, looking back up. “But I’m only asking about you because your shirt is inside out.”
Roman takes a moment to inspect his outfit then and realizes thatshit,she’s right.
He shakes his head, letting out a weak laugh. “I need coffee.”
He gets up, moving to pour himself a cup, except he completely misses the Styrofoam, spilling dark liquid across his hand and the counter.
