Page 83 of Under Their Protection

“Let’s go to dinner and I’ll tell you guys,” I say.

We all go to the restaurant and sit down. I have Theo to my right and Max to my left. I suspect that Max knows but Rowen doesn’t because he is sitting across from me and not staring at me as opposed to how Max and Theo are staring me down. Mia and Emma are beside Rowan. Annie and Andrew are to the other side of Rowan on the opposite side of the table from Theo.

“Are you and Annie okay?” I ask Theo quietly.

“We are friends if that’s what you’re wondering,” he says. I sigh and look back to my glass of water. “Anika.”

“Yes,” I say.

“It’s not your fault,” he whispers to me before pulling me close and kissing my temple.

“I feel like I just showed up and wrecked your marriage,” I say quietly.

“You didn’t. I suspected this would happen when she started spending more time with him before you ever even came into the picture. People grow apart sometimes,” he smiles. “All that you need to know is that I love you and Annie is your friend. Okay?”

“Okay,” I force a smile.

“So, what is it that you hid from everyone?” Rowan asks with a touch of an attitude in his voice. I am suddenly reluctant to say anything. If he’s upset now, just wait until he finds out I dropped the restraining order so I can go see her. Theo knows everything besides that she got a kidney today.

“So?”

“Rowan, don’t be a dick,” Theo says.

“What he said,” Max agrees as he eats a fried pickle. Rowan sighs heavily and looks at Mia.

“Don’t look at me. If she didn’t tell me then she probably had a good reason to hide it. I suspect Theo found out by accident,” she says.

“Go on,” Theo nudges me. I look up from my glass and sigh.

“He’s going to be angry,” I say quietly.

“I’ll handle it,” Theo says with a smile. “Go on.”

“I advocated for Harper to get back on the transplant list,” I say cautiously. Rowan looks like he is about to get mad when Mia glares at him.

“Why?” she asks.

“Well… After Isaac shot me, I had a lot of time to reflect on things. Our parents made her that way. It’s not her fault that the only thing she knew was how to be spoiled. They never gave her a chance to live beyond that. She shouldn’t die because of them so more than I should have…. So, I advocated for her to get on the list,” I explain.

“What else?” Theo asks.

“I dropped the restraining order on her. She was placed into hospice care last week and I wanted to see her before she died,” I say and look at Emma.

“You knew this?” Mia asks Emma.

“I helped her drop the restraining order,” she says. “Tell them.”

“She’s in surgery right now for a kidney transplant,” I say. “I plan on going to see her.”

“So she’s going to be okay?” Mia asks.

“As long as it doesn’t reject… I guess so,” I shrug. “The only thing I had planned for was just giving her a chance at surviving.”

“What do you hope happens?” Theo asks me. He is clearly asking me as a psychiatrist, not my husband.

“I hope she takes this chance and does good with it. She’s never been given a chance to be anything other than what they made her to be. You guys gave me a chance at a life away from my parents, so I want to give her a chance to have a life away from them also,” I say. “By no means is this me saying that I want a relationship with her, but I’m not saying that she doesn’t have the ability to be good. I think that she is redeemable.”

“When are you planning to see her?” Rowan asks me.

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