“I missed another doctor’s appointment.”
I froze. “What? Why?”
“We were in bed, and I just… I wanted to pretend.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Pretend what, Russia?”
“That it was real.” She leaned up, her chin on my chest, her eyes filling with tears as they gazed into mine. “Just for a few hours I wanted to pretend that outside didn’t exist. That it was just you and me. I’ll never forget you… I want you to know that. You give me moments, moments where I don’t remember I’m sick, moments where only we exist. They’re like tiny presents sprinkled throughout my life.”
“I wish it worked that way, Andi…” God above, I wished it worked that way. Where if we willed something enough to happen, it inevitably would. “…but you can’t miss any more appointments, alright? I’ll never forgive myself if something happened to you all because I wanted to keep you in bed a little bit longer, kiss you a little bit harder, make love to you deeper.”
She leaned up and kissed my mouth softly. “Then we should probably go in sometime today.”
I nodded.
She frowned.
“What is it?”
She shook her head as tears filled her eyes. “I’ll miss you.”
“Andi, you aren’t going anywhere.”
At least not for now.
Because we both knew that the odds were she was going somewhere. And I was staying.
Damn. I would do anything in my power — to follow.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Sergio
MY NERVES WERE SHOT. THEY WERE able to fit us into the doctor the following day. It was the same hospital doing my lab work, so I inevitably asked if I could get the test done at the same time.
The plan was to have Andi go to her appointment with the girls so she could be cheered up, while I went and pretended to do something for Nixon.
Unfortunately, Nixon actually did need me for something; the listening device had picked up bits and pieces, but the words were fuzzy, which was really strange, considering I’d done a hell of a job actually making sure it worked in the first place. We argued over when I was going to stop by his house, but I ended up going to my appointment first, just in case I needed some extra hours to hide out and crash so Andi wouldn’t be suspicious.
With a sigh, I walked briskly down the hall.
I hated hospitals.
I’d only gone to med school to do exactly what I’d told Andi — learn how to take life, efficiently, effectively. Did that make me a monster? Maybe, but at least I embraced that part of me — the dark side that knew without a doubt I could reign hell on my enemies and be the only one to come out on the other side.
In the beginning, it had meant I could protect myself, protect my brother, Ax.
Now? It just meant I could protect those I loved. Andi. Did I love her? My chest ached whenever I even thought her name, let alone spent time with her. I couldn’t focus when she was gone, and I couldn’t focus when she was right in front of me. Every time I tried to breathe, it felt like I was suffocating.
If this was love?
I wanted out.
Because it officially wrecked me.
I glanced at my watch. Right on time.
“You sure about this?” Tex said from the end of the hall, arms crossed, his expression unreadable.
“Yeah.” I licked my dry lips. “Besides, if I go the other route, Andi will get suspicious.”
He nodded. “I already talked with Nixon. We’re going to double the security at your house, but I don’t see you being out for longer than a few hours.”
We walked into outpatient surgery together.
I needed him to have my back, just in case. We didn’t want to take any chances that someone would knife me while I was under the knife, pun intended.
“Sergio Smith?” the nurse called.
“Aw, you took her fake last name,” Tex whispered under his breath. “How cute.”
I rolled my eyes and held out my hand as the nurse approached. “That’s me.”
“Alright.” She shook my hand and took one long glance at Tex, her face paling by the second. The guy sweated intimidation. While I at least tried to appear normal, Tex didn’t. Mainly because he didn’t give a shit. I had to respect that about him, even if half the time I wanted to strangle him.
“So…” She looked away from him, swallowing hard. “…it looks like you’ve got a bone-marrow harvest today.”
“Yes.”
“Great.” She nodded toward the door. “If you and your partner will just follow me…”
Tex choked while I barked out a laugh.
“No.” Tex held up his hands and managed a smile. “We’re…” He shared a look with me. “…we’re family…” His eyes were serious. “…basically brothers.”
“Oh.” She shrugged. “Sorry. I just assumed.”
“No problem,” I said quickly then under my breath to Tex murmured, “I think that makes me the bitch in this scenario.”
He laughed loudly. “How do you figure?”
“You’re taller.” I nodded. “I dress better.”
“You do have a nice shoe collection.”
“Was that a compliment?” I didn’t hide the surprise from my voice.
He shrugged. “Maybe. Look, I know this isn’t easy for you… I may hate you most the time, I have trouble forgiving and forgetting, but what you’re doing for Andi…” We stopped at one of the surgery prep rooms. “…it’s commendable.”