“No, Mia. You don’t seem agitated to me anymore. Let’s keep it that way, okay?”
Slowly, I turned. A ballet dancer twirling in her enclosure. I felt stiff enough for the image to fit.
The doctor patted the bed, his leather satchel at his feet. “Please. We need to check for a concussion or any complications."
Where was my phone? I scanned the room, just in case, but as expected, it wasn’t anywhere in sight. They’d probably taken it.
The doctor watched me closely. He was middle-aged, gray peppering his hair. A thick mustache sat under his broad nose.
What on earth would compelhimto be involved in this? Money? A favor called in?
His body was rigid, like he wasn’t completely at ease.
That was something. He was likely my best chance at getting out.
Tempering the rising urge to throw the Hippocratic oath in his face, I moved to the bed. The mattress made a soft whine as I took a seat. "Is my dad here?"
"I don’t believe so.” He placed the stethoscope gently on my chest.
“Who let you in?"
"Your stepmother.”
The blood inside my veins froze over.
Not just my dad. They were both in on it.
It had all been pointless. The nights I'd spent taking care of Aris. The year I'd given to help Dad win the election. The dreams I'd let slip away. The ways I'd abandoned myself.
None of it had mattered.Ididn’t matter. Not to them.
“The explosion in Manhattan,” I rasped. “Do you know if anyone died?”
The doctor hesitated. "I heard there was one casualty."
The room tilted. I wanted to throw up.
“Who?” The word barely made it past my throat.
"I don’t know. Please turn so I can check the laceration on your head.”
I shouldn’t have let Rom walk out of that hotel room. I should have run after him and justfucking told himI loved him.
Now I might never get the chance.
A strangled moan, low and raw, tore from somewhere deep inside of me.
When I first met Rom, I thought we were opposites. He was rough where I was gentle. Abrasive where I was soft. Disillusioned where I was optimistic.
But we were the same. Both of us were starved for the love we'd never received.
The only difference was I’d kept searching for it.
He’d stopped.
“Please,” I begged. “Just tell me who it was.”
"I don’t know,” he said emphatically as he pulled at the bandage. “Are you experiencing any visual disturbances?”
