“Going. I’m no longer limping, which is great. I can’t run properly yet, but I don’t need to.” I shrug my shoulders. “Other than that, all my internal organs are back where they belong.”
She scowls. “Not at the table, please.”
“How you’re so squeamish is so funny to me.”
The astonishment across her face has me chuckling.
“You aren’t allowed to give me shit. You’re quite literally an ICU nurse, and Dad was an ED doctor. That career just wasn’t for me, it’s why I went into tech. I’m building us a better future and you’re keeping our present alive.” She grins. “Plus, I’d prefer to dissect a computer and read coding over a body,any day.”
I grab my glass of orange juice and take a sip, giving her that ‘whatever’look we both have mastered.
After she finishes scooping up the remnants of her plate, she pushes it aside and grabs mine. All she does is pick at the bananas that’re drenched in the sugary substance, leaving the one and a half waffles I just can’t stomach to eat, be.
“Tell me.” She adjusts herself back against the bench chair, just as the waitress strides by and grabs her plate. “How’s Michael?” There’s no hiding the disgust in her tone for my ex.
I hesitate, thinking about his response to my text last night when I let him know I made it and was in the hotel room. It was as expected:
Michael
Good. You said you’re staying with your sister, right?
Yes. Just Alysa and I.
Glad to hear it. Get some rest, talk to you in the morning.
I’m grateful I haven’t spoken with him since then. He’ll give me some excuse why he hasn’t called, like work got out of hand, and he had to stay late. He’s a police officer, just like his father, and works the shit-shift, or graveyard shift. Normally he is off at eight in the morning, which is when he would’ve reached out to me.
Again, I wasn’t holding my breath, and am still not.
“Alright.”
“He is still your ex, right?” she asks, tilting her head. I can hear her inner thoughts basically screaming that he fucking better be.
Nodding, I put my cup back down onto the table. “Yeah… or how he coins it, we’re on abreak.”
“Wait. You told me three months ago you two were broken up. You got back together? What is abreakif not a breakup?”
I truly don’t want to have this conversation. “I’m just struggling with how my life turned so abruptly. Michael has been?—”
“A goddamn asshole, Ayden. You should’ve broken it off so fucking long ago! The car accident never would’ve happened.” Now, whenever I think about that, I’ll think of my dad instead of myself. Maybe it’s life’s way of telling me I could have had it so much worse. It could’ve killed me, instead of just ruining my life further. “Please make this a permanent split. You deserve so much better.”
Bringing my hand up to the back of my neck, I rub at the nape and soon drag my fingers through my hair. “I know… It’s just, his dad got the charges dropped. If it weren’t for him, I likely would’ve spent time in jail. I’m lucky all I got slapped with was a suspended license for twenty-four months.”
“And what does that have to do with this not being a permanent split? Him helping you doesn’t mean he can?—”
“Do we really have to do this…” My insides twist. The last thing I want is to think about him while I’m here.
She narrows her eyes and shakes her head. “Fine, but we’re here for a week, and wewilltalk about it.”
After adjusting her dress, she crosses her legs and folds her hands into her lap. I equally lean back and relax.
Alysa and I never had that phase where we disliked each other. From the moment we came out the sunroof, until now, we’ve had a great relationship.
I call her lefty because she’s my better half, the one that has my heart. I’m her righty, because I had to give her my right kidney.
She was born with congenital nephrotic syndrome, and at ten, one of them failed while the other barely functioned. We were lucky I was a perfect match, considering it was a fifty-fifty shot, since we are fraternal.
She’s healthy as a horse now, and I think all we’ve gone through has made us stronger.
