Page 152 of The Twisted Beats

“Hi, Cash.” Mr. Hemings gazes down the staircase. “Where’s Brendan?”

“He’s in his room.” Livianna bypasses her pops and strolls over to her ma. “Callum wants you to tell me what this is.”

Her ma’s brows come together. “What am I assessing?”

Livianna works her arm out of her sweater. It creeps up over her shoulder, showing her bra.

Fucking hell. Now it’s obvious I had her shirt off. She can’t just say I noticed it while we were cuddling and watching TV.

I slide my hands in my pockets and peek over at her pops. Surprisingly, he doesn’t appear mad. If anything, his eyes are dialed in on Livianna’s arm.

Her ma takes Livianna’s wrist and brings her face closer to the spot. “I don’t know. Maybe a bug bite.”

Her ma pushes on it.

Livianna winces and flinches her arm away. “Why do you guys keep touching it?”

Her dad hurries to her. “Show me.”

She does and his face turns white as a ghost. The hairs on my skin stand at attention.

He grabs her wrist and shoves her arm into her ma’s view. “Lorna, this is a blood clot.”

“Greg, I don’t…” She studies it closer. “It did feel hot when I placed my finger on it.”

“My mother had one just like this and she died because of it.” Mr. Hemings drops Livianna’s arm and grabs his keys off the counter. “Livianna, get in the car.”

“Why? Where are we going?” Her fear-filled eyes dart around us.

“I’m taking you to the hospital. If this isn’t taken care of, you could die.” He guides her out of the kitchen with his hands on her shoulders.

A wave of dizziness hits me and I start to sweat. “Can I go with you?”

“Yes. Just hurry.” Mrs. Hemings grabs her purse.

We race out the door and to the hospital. They take Livianna somewhere to run a bunch of tests while Mr.Hemings and I wait for them in the waiting room. I rest on a chair, bent over with my elbow digging into my knees.

He paces back and forth. “Thank God you saw that.”

“Are they dangerous?” I roll my eyes at myself. “Of course they are if your ma died from one. I’m sorry I asked a dumb question.”

“It’s okay, Cash. You wouldn’t have known.” He rubs his neck. “Livianna’s built just like her. If you saw a picture of my mom, you’d swear it was Liv. They have the same genes.”

“Is she gonna be okay?”

“Thanks to you, yes. She should be.” He faces me and seriousness washes through his eyes. “If you hadn’t noticed while you two were... We might’ve missed it. Thank you.”

I swallow and pull inward. “Mr. Hemings, it’s really hard?—”

“No. I mean it. There’s no way she would’ve told anyone about it. It would’ve gotten worse and she could’ve—” He chokes on his words. “She’s self-destructive. Especially when it comes to her health.”

“Why?” I shift in my chair. “I know she hurts herself, but I don’t understand it.”

“Her doctor says it’s a way for her to release her stress or overwhelming anxiety. Whenever they’ve assessed her, they always conclude she makes superficial cuts, but what if one day… Honestly, it scares the hell out of me.”

My pops comes to mind. An icy shiver runs through me.

“Mr. Hemings?”