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“Go back to sleep. I’ll talk to you later.” I hang up and go back to the kitchen. Olivia is washing out her coffee cup.
“You’re hired,” I say.
“Where?”
“Eltech. I talked to Zane. You have a job again and insurance. The paperwork will be sent here from HR today. Once you fill it out, I’ll drop it off first thing Monday. You’ll also work when you can. Zane wants to put you back into a supervisory position when you’re well.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say, yes. We have to get you well.”
She falls in my arms. I hug her gently because she feels so fragile. I have to keep in mind that this is the same Olivia that I fell in love with and who I want by my side.
We spend the day at Lexi and JC’s apartment. Matty comes over in between showing properties for R. Bowman Jones, one of the high-end luxury brokers in Manhattan. At some point, Olivia proudly tells everyone that she’ll be starting at Eltech on Monday. Later, Lexi gets me alone in the kitchen while we prep drinks for everyone.
“She can’t work until she’s healthy,” she says pointedly.
“I know. I already talked to Zane because she needs insurance and income. With Eltech, she has it. He wants to put her in a supervisory position once she’s better. It will all work out.”
“So, you set this up?”
“Yeah, it’s not a problem. I’ll pay for her salary until we have room in the budget.”
“Does she know that?”
“No, and I don’t want her to know. I just want her to get well, and if that means I have to pay out of pocket for it, then I’m good.”
“Lucian, are you hoping to get back together?”
“I do hope, but I told her that I’d wait until she’s ready.”
“Suppose she never is? I think Joshua broke her.”
“But she can be made whole again.”
“I’m not sure. She’s had several failed relationships, each one worse than the next.”
“Are you saying our relationship was a failure?”
“Your relationship never got started.”
“It would have if that asshole didn’t come into the picture. I made a mistake running out on her.”
“She knows that, but I also know something she isn’t saying. She might be so damaged that she can’t open up to anyone. Olivia told me just a few days ago that she’s better off alone. It’s less complicated.”
It’s not what I want to hear, but I know I can’t pressure her into a relationship. She needs to make up her mind. I just hope that when she gets better, her views on things will change. I want to make her see that not all men are out to hurt her.
“I think it’s too early to think about a relationship anyway,” I say diplomatically. “The priority is seeing what her prognosis is.”
Lexi hugs me. “Thank you for taking care of her. Jordan told me what you did. Did you break Joshua’s nose?”
“Yes. He was complaining like a little girl. If the security guys weren’t there, I still would have beaten his ass even with his two friends or brothers or whoever they were there. He didn’t even care that Olivia was sick. How can someone be that way with a person they say they love? I just don’t understand it.”
Olivia comes into the kitchen and asks if we need help, but Lexi tells her no as we follow her back out with everyone’s drinks. When I sit down on the couch, Olivia snuggles up against me. I know it’s friendship and not love, but I want to comfort her. She deserves to be treated properly.
Sunday, we spent the day relaxing. Olivia worried me because she slept a lot, but come Monday morning; we’re both busy. While I take her paperwork to Eltech, she contacts her doctor in Chicago. He needed her to send a records request form so he could forward her medical records to Sloan. With a recommendation from her old primary care doctor in New York, Olivia finds another doctor to help her. Once contact was made, all she had to do was send the records to him.
After arriving home from Eltech, we set up a login for her to get her temporary insurance cards. With it, she can make an appointment with Dr. Bryce Carlyle, an Oncologist at Sloan, for Wednesday morning. I plan to be with her every step of the way.
