AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’ve got to keep things professional, right?” I grin.
“Okay. You win. But please, get in the shower now, okay?”
“I will. But … Evan … will you stay with me tonight?”
He looks at me, not understanding what I mean.
“Umm … do you want me to sleep on the couch?”
“I just … don’t want you to leave, that’s all. Can you stay with me?”
“Absolutely.”
Chapter Seven
Evan
Buzz. Buzz.
I reach for my vibrating phone as quickly as I can. I don’t know if Emmy can hear my alarm going off, but I don’t want to wake her up.
I sit up on the couch in her bedroom and look over at her, relieved to see that she’s still sleeping peacefully in her bed.
I watch her face for a few moments, in awe of how beautiful she is, even like this—fast asleep and wearing no makeup. I wish I could kiss her, but I know she doesn’t want me to … even though she was the one who asked me to stay over last night.
Of course, nothing happened.
As usual, we ended up watching a few episodes of her favorite shows and then she fell asleep, exhausted, next to me. I wasn’t expecting anything else since she’s made it perfectly clear that she doesn’t want to change our relationship, or honor our marriage pact.
But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping that somehow, by me staying the night here, she would finally see what we could be…
I leave a note for her scribbled on one of the pizza boxes from last night, and leave her apartment, locking the door behind me with the spare key she lets me keep.
At the hospital, things are as hectic as ever. After the silence and peace of Emmy’s apartment, the fluorescent-lit hallways almost burn my eyes.
“Good morning, Dr. Davis! We have a pair of children in the emergency room, they look to be about ten or eleven. One of them fell off his bike and hurt his elbow. It doesn’t look like anything serious, but—”
“Alright. Order a set of x-rays so we can make sure nothing’s broken and tell the parents—”
“They didn’t come in with any parents. They’re on their own.”
“Why’s that? Is something wrong?”
“Not that we know of. I think they were just at the park around the corner, got scared when one of them fell, and rushed over here. They didn’t get a chance to call their parents,” she explains.
“Alright. Call their parents, then, and tell them to come to the hospital and collect their children. I’ll be in the emergency room in a moment.”
“Will do. Thank you,” she says before disappearing down the hallway.
I’ve barely been here for five minutes, and I’m already in the thick of it. Which is something that I’m very much accustomed to.
Except that today, Emmy is on my mind more than ever.
The image of her sleeping this morning, her body curled up under the blankets, her porcelain skin … is haunting my imagination.
I can barely focus. But I have to.
“Good morning! How are we doing?” I ask the children as I enter the emergency room. The boy and girl are sitting closely together as if they’re Hansel and Gretel trying to protect each other from the bad witch in the forest.
