She rolled her eyes. “No. My doctor mixed my labs up with another girl’s that came in at the same time as me. She’s pregnant, not me. I, on the other hand, still have anemia.”
I looked up at the ceiling. “This isn’t a good idea.”
She was getting just as impatient with me as I was with her.
“You no longer get to have a say in my life,” she said. “I can’t believe you lied to me. I also can’t believe that you left me like that. I had to go to your funeral, Justin.”
“Creed,” I automatically corrected her. “You can’t call me that here. You have to call me Creed.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s going to take some time, okay?”
A slow smile lifted up the corner of my lips. “Just be careful, Bernice. I’m serious.”
She sobered. “I would never put you in danger.”
“I know you wouldn’t mean to,” I pointed out. “But we have to be oh, so careful here. That’s part of why I didn’t tell you. You’re not just a normal person anymore. You’ve attacked every single law enforcement branch in the country. You’re extremely popular among certain circles. If you come here, you’re going to have to be quiet and calm. You can’t bring them to our doorstep.”
Bernice leaned forward in her chair, putting her elbows on her knees. “I think you’re trying to get rid of me.”
I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyeballs and wiggled them.
“I’m nervous, okay?” I said. “I’m scared that you’re going to leave. I’m scared that you’re going to stay. I’m scared that if you stay, we’re going to be found out. And I’m scared that if you leave, I’ll never see you again.”
She got up and walked toward me.
I heard her bare feet bouncing lightly on the wood floors as she wrapped her arms around my head.
“We’ll figure this out, okay?” she said. “In the meantime, let’s talk about that girl you’ve been trying not to talk about since yesterday.”
I had been avoiding all topics of discussion that pertained to Birdee.
“I’m not ready to go there,” I admitted.
“Well, you might not be, but I am,” she said. “I want you to sit back and think about something for a moment.”
I pulled away from her and stared up at her frowning face.
“What?”
“Does she have a good family life?”
I grimaced. “No.”
And that was the fuckin’ truth, too.
Vito was good to Cody and Mable, but I had yet to see him with all three girls.
“And, if she doesn’t have that, and she sees someone that could have that, do you think she’s really going to sit back and not say something?” she pushed, her frown of disapproval hitting me in the solar plexus. “I met that girl less than a week ago, and I could see the determination on her face to make your life better. She didn’t know me at all outside of you. Why do you think she made that decision, Creed?”
I refused to examine why.
Mostly because I was a coward. And if I admitted that she was special, and had done this out of the goodness of her heart, then I’d have to admit that I overreacted and I was wrong.
And I tried not to do that very often.
“Want to go out to eat?” I changed the subject.
She studied me for so long that I nearly started to squirm. “Sure.”
