“I completely understand,” she replies softly. “So, how about you tell me something else? Something good that has nothing to do with why you’re here?”
I smile, appreciating the change in subject. But that smile dies quickly when I realize that I have nothing good to tell her. I can’t think of a single decent thing that’s happened to me over the last eighteen years.
It’s just been survival. One day after the other.
Lucky for me, the door opens, and a man wearing a white coat strolls in, a wide smile on his face. “How are you feeling?” he questions.
“When can I leave?”
His smile widens. “Right to the point, I like it.” He scans the tablet in his hands, then looks back up at me. “I think you can be out of here this afternoon as long as that injury to your thigh looks all right.”
“Really?”
He nods.
“Do you know where you’re going to go when you leave here, sweetie?” Linda questions.
“I have a place.” It’s not the truth—but it’s not a lie either.
“Where you’ll be safe? Zane seemed worried about what happened to put you in here.”
“I was mugged in another state. They won’t be coming back for me. I’m fine.” Once again, it’s not entirely the truth, though I don’t know enough to say it’s a lie, either.
Linda doesn’t seem too convinced, but she purses her lips in a tight smile and stands. “I’ll be just outside, okay? Call out if you need me.” When she passes the doctor, she reaches out and pats him gently. “How is your wife, Alex?”
“Doing good,” he replies. “She’s more than ready for the baby to come.”
Linda laughs. “I bet. Let her know we’re praying for her. I’ll be bringing some cookies by tomorrow afternoon.”
“She will love that. Thanks, Linda.”
“Anytime.”
With one final smile at me, Zane’s mom leaves the room. Alex. I know that—“Alex Jones?” I ask.
He smiles at me. “The one and only.”
Alex was a complete loner when we were in high school. He kept to himself, skipped class, and genuinely didn’t seem to care about anything or anyone. How in the world did he become a doctor, but Zane didn’t?
“I was wondering if you recognized me; I didn’t want to say anything just in case. I know your identity has been kept on the down low.”
Down low. I grin at his choice of words. Sure, it’s a common phrase, but no one adds quite the same inflection as Alex. “It’s good to see you. You’re married now?”
“With three kids and a baby on the way,” he replies. “Melissa Lark. Do you remember her?”
“Oh yeah. No one could forget Lissa,” I reply with a laugh. She’d been so bubbly we could sense her coming from a mile away. “She’s your wife?”
He laughs. “Going on seven years,” he replies. “Not a pairing I would have imagined, either, but she’s my entire world. We dated while we were in college and got married shortly after med school.”
“That’s great, Alex. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” He crosses over and sets the tablet down, then washes his hands. Seconds later, the door opens, and one of the nurses from my earlier freak-out comes in. She washes her hands and slips on gloves, then pulls some medical supplies from the cabinet. “I’m actually surprised that you and Zane never tied the knot. Is that why you left town?”
It's a punch straight to my gut.
A dagger to my heart.
“Something like that.” I clear my throat. “So, you said I could get out of here?”
