Page 141 of False God

“Okay.” He weaves our fingers together for a few tantalizing seconds, squeezing twice. I stare at the gold signet ring on his pinky. It’s stamped with what I assume is his family crest. But I don’t know for sure—I never asked. “Take care, Elizabeth Kensington.”

I swallow. “You too, Charles Marlborough.”

He nods, stands, then … leaves. Again.

I turn my head to the right, facing the solitary window, letting the cotton pillowcase catch my tears.

The door opens again a minute later.

I don’t look. I just sent away the one person I want it to be, so it doesn’t really matter. I’m too drained to care who else is seeing me like this.

“Oh, Lili.” Bridget’s voice is tender as she takes the spot Charlie just vacated.

I say nothing.

She exhales. “The doctor’s wondering about your stitches.”

I swipe at my cheeks. “Send him in.”

The sooner I get stitches, the sooner I can get out of here.

“He’s still in the hallway.”

We’re not talking about the doctor anymore, I know.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“What are you doing, Lili?” she asks softly.

I’m running. Because it feels like if I stay in this place, I’ll shatter.

34

When I walk out of Lili’s hospital room, everyone’s staring at me.

Her parents. Her brothers. Her uncle. Her grandfather. Her godfather.

Her friends, at least, know who I am. Have some sense of our relationship.

But Lili’s family members all look significantly less friendly than they did the previous times I met them. They’re all worried about Lili, and none of them have any clue why I’m here.

I couldn’tnotcome. I overheard a couple at the gala say that there had been a car accident involving Elizabeth Kensington, and I arrived outside right as the ambulance was pulling away from the curb. Cal told me which hospital they were taking her to. Even offered me a ride, but I’d rented a car at the airport when I arrived this morning that I drove here.

She asked for me, same as she had the last time she got injured. This time, it wasn’t for my medical opinion.

And I … froze. Everything I came here to tell her—apologies about how I’d left France, explanations about why I’m so consumed by my family and my role—got sidetracked duringher chilly greeting. It felt like the return of the Elizabeth who purposefully pretended not to know me on multiple occasions. Like the past few weeks had been wiped away and we were back in the same place where we’d started.

In her hospital room just now, she was different. Softer. But still withdrawn. And clearly shaken from the accident that had ended with her in the hospital … again.

Maybe it’s fate—that, as an aspiring doctor, I’d end up with the most accident-prone woman on the planet.

Except I’mnota doctor. I gave up that dream to deal with all the problems plaguing me. Problems I was planning to share with Lili. Problems that sound like excuses now.

And I’m notwithher. I lost any chance with her. Bungled this from the beginning because I was so arrogantly certain that I’d never fall. That emotional distance was one way in which my father and Iaresimilar.

Tripp, surprisingly, is the first person who approaches me. “Good to see you, man,” he tells me, clasping my hand and giving me a hard pound on the back.

Cal does the same gesture.

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