Page 19 of Cocky Counsel

Ten

Eva

Somehow, I made it through the weekend without dying, which sounded overly dramatic, but I had never been that sick before in my life. I had no idea how Kate was feeling and if she had recovered, nor did I know if anyone else had come down with it. I prayed that it was limited to our section of the floor and that since we were so secluded, no one else had caught whatever this was. Sunday mornings were my favorite because I would meet up with my two sisters for brunch after a quick morning run. I was feeling disappointed that I had to miss it this morning. Brunch—not the run. My body still felt like it had been hit by a semi-truck and I had no intention of moving from the couch now that I had finally gotten comfortable.

The apartment was filled with the smell of burnt toast as I curled up under a blanket and watched a rerun on tv. I had no idea what the show was, but it was in black and white. My hand was too heavy to try to work the remote to change the channel, so I let it be and tried to get into the shenanigans that the crazy woman on the screen kept getting into. I nibbled on the edge of the piece of toast that was the least burnt and hoped that I would be able to keep it down. Ethan had been kind enough to send over a delivery of basic groceries on Friday when I called in again, still feeling under the weather.

I felt frustrated that I had already missed three days of work in my first week there, but it wasn’t like there was anything I could do about it. Even if my stubborn ass tried to go into the office, I wouldn’t have been any help given how delirious I had been with the fever the past couple of days. Thankfully, it seemed to have broken and I crossed my fingers that this was a good sign that I was on the mend. After a few minutes, I couldn’t get past the burnt smell of the toast, so I set it down on the coffee table beside me and grabbed my cell phone as it vibrated across the wooden surface. My sister’s name displayed across the lock screen and I knew she was calling to give me shit about missing brunch.

“Hey, Gabi,” I said, pushing myself up on the couch to make sure I stayed awake and didn’t fall back asleep. “Sorry I missed brunch…” My voice trailed off before she interrupted me.

“Don’t worry about brunch,” she said dismissively. “We have bigger problems.”

My ears perked up as my attention focused on her.

“What problems? Is mom okay? Did something happen with Dad? Did he have another heart attack?” All my fears that usually stayed right below the surface suddenly bubbled up and festered around me.

“It’s Lucy.”

Lucia, or Lucy as everyone called her was my baby sister, the youngest out of the three of us girls. She was the typical baby of the family and had my dad wrapped so tightly around her finger from the day she was born that she got away with pretty much anything and everything.

“What happened?” I felt my blood pressure start to rise as I thought about her and the problems she had talked to me about in private the last time we were together. She was having trouble with her husband after she caught him cheating on her and had come to me for legal advice. “Did something happen with Lance?”

“They had another fight,” she sighed heavily, and I knew she was going to give me all of the unnecessary details. “Apparently, he’s been sleeping with his secretary at work, and from what I’ve heard—she’s a real—”

“Headline news it for me Gab,” I interrupted, saving her from the gossip that she loved to get into. “Was the fight physical?”

Lucy had been married for five years and the last four and a half of them, I’ve been convinced that her husband was abusing her. She got pregnant shortly after they got married and while she was ecstatic about it, I could tell that Lance was less than enthused. He constantly seemed on edge and antsy around our family unless he had a drink in his hand. And when there was a drink in his hand, there was an asshole that made his appearance. My young, confident sister that used to love to show off the body that she worked hard to have, suddenly became the self-conscious woman who started wearing loose-fitting clothing and long sleeves that covered the bruises she refused to explain.

“I’m not supposed to say,” Gabriella muttered into the phone, stalling.

“Gab. You’re not doing her any favors by not telling me. I can’t help her if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“She came by mom’s house this morning with Jackson, asking if they could babysit for her for a few hours. Her lip was busted and she had a black eye.”

I closed my eyes and forced out a slow, steady breath, praying that it would help calm me down. I barely had the energy to get off the couch, but this made me livid to where I was pretty confident that I could burst through a wall easier than the Kool-Aid man to get to Lance.

“Where did she go?” I asked as calmly as I could.

“She’s heading to my house. Mom called me and told me right after she left.”

“Okay, once she gets there, I want you guys to come to my apartment so we can figure this out,” I said as I forced myself to stand up. I immediately felt dizzy and reached down to hold on to the couch.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” she asked curiously. “You sound pretty sick, I don’t want to intrude…”

“Gabi, stop acting like the middle child and get your ass over here. I’ll see you guys in a little bit.”

“Okay,” she sighed.

“And one more thing,” I said quickly before she could hang up. “Grab a box of bagels and some cream cheese and I’ll give you cash when you get here.”

“Did you burn your toast again?” she laughed, and I rolled my eyes.

“Just bring the bagels,” I replied sarcastically before hanging up.

An hour later, I heard a knock on my door, feeling relief that my sisters were finally here. I opened the door and stepped back, moving slowly so I didn’t get dizzy and fall over again. Not that I had done that already this morning…

I looked at my baby sister as she kept her eyes lowered and fidgeted with the sleeves to her shirt. Her lip was swollen in the corner where a scab of dried blood had formed. There was a bruise that ran along her cheek and underneath her eye, slightly faded in spots where she had tried to hide it with makeup. It broke my heart to see her this way, knowing that I should have done something to stop this from happening in the first place. I held my arms out for her and felt her body shake as she cried while I held her. Gabi gave me a sad, sympathetic smile as she squeezed past us and carried the box of bagels to the counter behind us. I held Lucy for a few more minutes before I gently led her inside and closed the door.

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