Leigh
The day at work went by without a hitch, which was the absolute best I could hope for.
At least as far as how my coworkers and Carl treated me, anyway.
I kept kicking myself for not having the strength to give a real answer to Sonny. No wonder he’d just walked out on me. No wonder he hadn’t even turned back to look at me when he thought I could see him. I didn’t deserve such respect after hemming and hawing and saying I’d think about it.
By the time the workday ended, I needed company because the company of myself wasn’t doing me any favors. I was more likely to keep ripping myself than I was to respect and love myself. I texted Hailey and asked her where she was.
“Same place I’ve been. Hospital.”
And that may very well be the same place you wind up with Sonny if you go with him.
And yet, you know he’d protect you. You wouldn’t ever face risk with him. You know that.
But…
“I can give company if you want,” I wrote in my car, having not even left the parking lot from work. “If you want it, that is.”
Hailey merely liked the text, but that was enough to tell me to come on down. Still, it was a bit jarring to see her simply react rather than text something of substance.
Perhaps it would, again, be my future if I chose to go down that road.
* * *
When I arrived at the hospital, Hailey told me to head to the cafeteria downstairs. I headed straight there, brushing past weary nurses and long-faced friends and family, and found the two Cook sisters sitting at a table isolated even by the standards of the cafeteria. They looked exhausted, though some of the grief that had been etched on their face had faded.
I suspected, though, that had less to do with good news and more the simple fact that it took energy and effort to show concern. They’d moved past genuine sadness and into just wanting resolution.All in the span of a day or so…and as Sonny said, there’s still, what, twenty-something hours before something bad happens? Do they know that?
Should they know that?
“Hey, Leigh,” Hailey said as I approached the table.
She had some emotion to her voice, but it seemed forced. I couldn’t even imagine what she and Melissa were going through. As much as I still felt about Sonny from this morning and last night, if something happened to him, it wouldn’t be the same. Not even close.
And yet, when I did try to imagine it happening, I felt an unusual stir in my stomach, a level of grief that I could not have anticipated, a sadness that should have been reserved for people I felt more strongly about—unless I was somehow deluding myself about how I really felt about Sonny.
Which was stunningly possible.
“How’s Sunny?”
“Huh?”
“You were with Sonny last night, right?”
How did they know? Maybe he told Spawn who told Melissa, but…
“Yeah, it was good.”
Hailey and Melissa looked at each other for a second, sharing something silent between them.
“How’s—”
“We’ve dealt with Satan all day, and I need a break badly,” Hailey said. “I want some good news. What’s going on with Sonny? Like, tell us in some detail.”
Well, I did not think I was going to be the one getting advice at this visit. But such was how things were apparently going to go.
“I mean, it’s really not—”
