Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“I know, Tabitha.” I bite my lip. “It’s just…complicated.”
She looks at me for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then, with a sigh, she reaches out and places her hand on my arm. The gesture is so simple, yet it seems to fill me with a sense of warmth that I didn’t realize I needed. The air doesn’t seem quite so chilly now.
“Life is complicated,” she says quietly. “But we don’t have to face it alone.”
I swallow back the lump in my throat and nod. What can I even say to that? How can I tell her that maybe I brought this complication into my own life? That maybe I fell for someone who seems too good to be true?
We sit in silence for a few more minutes. The wind rustles the leaves above us.
Finally, she speaks again. “You don’t have to tell me everything.” She purses her lips. “Or anything at all, really. I get it. We all have our secrets. But if you ever need someone to listen, I’m here.”
“I appreciate that.” I manage a weak smile. It isn’t much, but it’s the best I can do right now.
She smiles back at me and gives my arm another reassuring squeeze before releasing it. “Good. I’m glad.” She rises from the bench. “I’ll be inside if you need me, okay? You shouldn’t stay out here much longer. It’s cold as a tit on a boar!”
I furrow my brow at that one. Cold as a tit on a boar?
Never heard that. It’s kind of funny, but I don’t laugh as she walks back into the hospital.
A minute later, I feel more alone than ever. The cold seems to seep into my bones, and I wrap my arms around myself for warmth. I stare blankly at the ground, as if I think it can answer my question.
Could Jason have done that to Ralph?
The wind picks up again, sending more shivers through me. I close my eyes tightly as a tear slips down my cheek.
“God, what have I gotten myself into?” I whisper into the emptiness.
Jason couldn’t have beaten Ralph. Not like that. Not to the point where he had to go to the hospital.
I could see him punching him in the jaw once or twice, but whoever attacked Ralph clearly wanted him to die.
But Ralph is the only one who knows about us. At least as far as I know. And he mentioned “my boyfriend.”
I shudder, haunted by the possibility of Jason’s guilt.
An overwhelming urge to confront him surges through me. I want to look him in the eyes and ask him outright. Did he attack Ralph? But doing so could unleash a floodgate of consequences I’m not prepared to face.
A soft crunching noise breaks through my thoughts, and I glance up. A lone figure is walking toward me across the hospital garden, his coat flapping in the chilly breeze. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust…
Jason.
It’s Jason.
“Angie?” he asks softly when he reaches me. He sits down next to me on the bench, close but not touching.
“Jason.” I force a smile onto my face. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter Fourteen
Jason
I’m wiped. So wiped.
After telling Dr. Engel my suspicions about Lindsay’s death, our time was up.
I’m seeing him again tomorrow, but my God, the wounds are open. My vital organs exposed to the world.
I look at Angie, her eyes shadowed with a sadness I can’t quite gauge. I wish I could reassure her, tell her everything is going to be okay. But the truth is, I’m not sure it will be.
“I still have an office here.” It’s not a lie. The hospital hasn’t reassigned my office, although I moved all my stuff to my new office at the medical school.
“Oh?” she says.
“Yeah. I have to pick up a few things.”
“You’re not here to see Ralph?”
“Ralph? You mean from anatomy lab? The one who—”
“Jason,” she interrupts, “you have to tell me. Did you do this to him?”
Her question hangs heavy in the air. “Do what to him? What are you talking about?”
“Ralph was attacked,” she whispers, her voice shaking. “He’s in here, in the hospital.”
“Attacked?” My mind spins. “But why would you think I had anything to do with that?”
She shrinks back from me, her face pale. “You know. I told you he’s the one who… And he tried to kiss me. Blackmail me. And he said it was you.”
Rage surges into me. “He what?”
“Well, when I asked what happened, he said, ‘ask your boyfriend.’”
“And you immediately thought of me?”
“Well, boyfriend… Yeah. You’re my… I guess… I mean, we just said we loved each other, Jason.” She bites her lip. “I don’t have any other boyfriends.”
I tighten my grip on the wooden arm of the bench. “Why? Why would I…”
Frustration bubbles inside me. How can she think I’m capable of such a thing?