“Where are you going?” I asked as she brushed past me, easily side-stepping my hands when I tried to grab her.
“Follow me.”
I’d never heard Amy order me to do anything, so I reluctantly fell into step next to her. Every time I reached for her hand, she shook it away.
“I know you’re angry at me, my love and—”
We stepped out of the hospital and into the rain. It pelted down on us, instantly soaking her blouse so it stuck to her skin.
“Here.” I tried to give her my jacket, but instead of taking it, she pointed it out into the parking lot.
“Leave.”
I did a double-take. Convinced I hadn’t heard her right. “Amy?”
“I want you to leave, Alexei. You aren’t welcome here.”
“Come on, Amy.” Again, I reached for her, and this time, I caught her by the upper arm. “I know you are mad at me. I know I let you down, but I’m here now for anything you need, and I have a good excuse.”
“Is the excuse Violet?” she asked, and her voice was dripping with some emotion I didn’t understand.
Anger? Yes, there was plenty of that. But it was more than that as well. She sounded like I had let her down in the worst possible way.Like I had ripped her heart out without even a second thought, when the truth was so far from that. I had every intention of being by her side through this.
“It was an emergency.” Even to my ears, it sounded like a lame excuse.
Amy’s eyes flashed. Her lips thinned until they disappeared into her face. “No,” she spat, her voice pure venom. “My sister having a heart transplant was an emergency. And you”, her voice rose to a shout, “decided your girlfriend was more important.”
My girlfriend? My eyebrows shot up. “Lower your voice, Amy.”
“I will not. Just leave, Alexei.”
Shifting my grip, I pulled her into my arms. “Let me be here for you both, Amy. When you know why I couldn’t come straight away, you will understand why.” My hand roved up and down her back. And for a second, she relaxed against me. Her hands slipped inside my coat and clawed at my shirt. Her sharp little nails leave trails of fire even through the shirt.
I didn’t push her away. All I could do was let her cling to me and get all of that frustration and fear out.
“It’s going to be OK,” I said softly. “Alessia is fine. She and you are made of strong stuff. Violet is—” It was the wrong thing to say. She stiffened in my arms. Quickly, I tried to back-peddle. “I just meant she isn’t as strong as you are. She’s not a survivor like you, and she needed me.”
“I needed you as well,” she whispered.
“Not in the same way, Amy. You’re used to looking after yourself. It’s one of the things I like so much about you.” As gently as I could, I tilted her chin up so I could meet her eyes. Raindrops landed on her face, but she didn’t blink them away. So they gathered on her eyelashes and fell down her cheeks.
Or maybe they were tears that were falling from her eyes. It was impossible to tell.
“But Violet is fine now,” I continued. “She and the baby are safe.”
She blinked, rapidly sending more water cascading down her face, but she didn’t say a word.
“You understand why I have to look after her, don’t you? She doesn’t have anyone else, and I swore to protect her. We have been friends for most of our lives. I owe her that much. You have to understand that?”
She nodded her head, and I let out a sigh of relief. “I knew you would. You’re such a good person, Amy. I knew you would want me to look after her. After all she is—”
“Carrying your baby.”
I did a double take. “What?”
Instead of answering, she pressed her tear-soaked face against my chest and clung to me. “I understand, Alexei. I understand that in this relationship there are three people, soon to be four, and I will always come last to you.”
I gripped the tops of her arms. “You are my wife, Amy.”
