“Sure. I’m sorry, Josh.”
“Yeah . . . me too, Reid. Thanks.” I ended the call when the landline started ringing. I lay back on the couch and covered my face with my hands. How pissed off would God be if I decided to pray right now? The most important person in my life was in trouble and she wouldn’t let me help her.
The machine beeped before a woman’s voice boomed from the speaker.
“Hi, Ms. Morgan. This is Cami from Dr. Bergman’s office. She wanted me to follow up about your treatment options and the number for counseling. Please give the office a call in the morning.”
A brick dropped into my stomach as I stayed glued to the fuzzy fabric of the couch.
Brianna was sick? She needed treatment options? Bile rose in the back of my throat as I pieced it all together, a parade of awful possibilities running through my head. Why did she need treatmentandcounseling? How bad was it? Goose bumps prickled my skin as my blood ran cold. Did she really think I’d let her go if she was sick? I wasn’t letting her go—period. There was no way in hell she was pushing me away.
She stood by me then; I was standing by her now. Whether she liked it or not.
I grabbed my jacket and took the same swift path as Brianna out our front door. I wasn’t sure what the hell I was going to do, but I wasn’t coming back home without her.
Brianna
“I WISH Iknew the right thing to say.” Amanda slid next to me on her couch and passed me a fresh box of tissues.
A sad chuckle fell from my lips as I plucked one and dabbed at my eyes. Not that tissues made a difference. The tears hadn’t had a chance to dry since my doctor’s appointment this afternoon.
“There isn’t one. But thank you for wanting to try.” I squeezed her hand before bringing my knees to my chest. I’d gone from hysterical to catatonic. I wasn’t proud of the basket case I’d become over the last few hours, but I was too blindsided to prepare to be anything else.
“I’m sure someone else wants to try.” Her eyebrows shot up. “Someone whose heart is probably breaking right now because he thinks you left him.”
My lip quivered as I waved her away. There was no probably about it. Josh’s heart was broken, even though I was sure he didn’t believe me. My love for him was something I could never hide, the exact reason I bolted out of my apartment like a crazy person. In my haste, I packed the most ridiculous things. I had bathing suits but no underwear and dressy heels but no sneakers. Maybe if I had some recovery time before I saw Josh, I would have had a different initial reaction. But still letting the news seep in and coming face-to-face with him so soon after, I panicked and couldn’t rush out fast enough.
How would he ever in a million years believe I wanted to leave? The past few months were the happiest of my life because I had everything I ever yearned for. Even when I found out about Victoria, I fell in love with her just as hard. Thinking of her made me choke on another sob. I didn’t want her hurt by this either; the poor thing had been through enough.
The ding of Amanda’s wimpy doorbell drifted into the living room followed by pounding. My head fell back on her couch cushions as my breathing quickened. I didn’t have to guess who was on the other side.
“Look, Bri. I’m not going to tell you what to do or how to act, but you can’t fool Josh much longer. I’m actually surprised it took him this long to come here.” She dropped her hand on my shoulder and lowered her eyes to mine. “But making yourself go through this alone is dumb. You owe him the truth.” Amanda patted my back before traipsing toward the door.
“She’s still here, right?” Josh clipped as his heavy footsteps came closer.
“In the living room,” Amanda replied from behind him. “I’m going into my bedroom to give you guys some privacy.” She strode past the couch, giving me a quick side glance before heading down her hallway.
I inhaled a long breath as I lifted my eyes to Josh’s. With his reddened and glassy eyes, he looked as distraught as I was. I’d only left him a few hours ago, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
“Hey,” he breathed out as he stuffed his hands into his jean pockets. The devastation drifting over his face was too much to bear. When I left, he was angry—that I could handle. Sort of. I loathed upsetting him at all. In all the years I’d known him, I’d never seen him this broken.
He sat on the couch beside me and took my hand in both of his. His lips on my wrist burned my skin. I couldn’t handle his kisses yet. And, after today, I didn’t deserve them.
His elbows rested on his knees as he leaned his forehead on our joined hands. It ached to look at him, but I didn’t turn away, even when I saw the tear escape the corner of his eye.
“Where is it?” he whispered, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible.
My brows pinched together as I sat back. “Where is what?”
He sniffed as he scooted closer to me. “Brian at the shop, remember him? His wife had stage three breast cancer and they went to Sloan-Kettering and some cancer center in Arizona, and she’s fine now. I can take you there, too.”
Cancer center? What was he talking about?I pushed toward the edge of the cushion and squinted my eyes.
“Josh, what are you—”
“I mean it. I’ll call Uncle Billy and take a leave from the shop.”
“Josh!” I yelled, pulling my hand from his. “What are you talking about?”
