Page 57 of Robert

“I’m too tired to argue with you.” Bending, he kissed her on the cheek. “Get some sleep. What time is your shift tomorrow?”

“Late afternoon.”

“Good. I’ll cook you breakfast.”

“Robert?” Her sleepy voice stopped him at the door.

“Yes?”

“I am happy you found someone.”

“So am I.”

Turning out the light, he closed the door behind him.

He found her in bed, wearing a black lace negligee trimmed with red piping. Just seeing her there propped up on the mounds of pillows, waiting for him made him want to dance with glee. Love poured through him like molten lava and left him shaken. So much so that he could not move.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” Forcing his feet to move forward, he walked swiftly into the room and took off his clothes.

“How is she?”

“Sleeping.” Not bothering to put anything on, he climbed in next to her and pulled her into his arms. “Thanks for helping out.”

“Will she be all right?” She breathed in his masculine scent and felt her senses spinning. The way he handled his sister and her situation had left her shaken with confused feelings coursing through her.

“I think so.” He rubbed his hand up and down her arm absently. “She blames herself.”

“Which is ridiculous.”

“I told her that.” He shifted so that he could see her face. “You knew exactly what to do.”

“When I was in college, a friend of mine swallowed a bottle of pills.”

“I’m so sorry.”

She nodded. “her home situation was far from ideal. Her dad was a doctor, a plastic surgeon and very popular, because he was one of the best. Her mother was a neurosurgeon, one of the top ones in her field. Lisa was supposed to follow in their footsteps of course.

But no matter how hard she tried; she couldn’t measure up. She studied, started taking drugs so that she could stay up all night to get that desired grade and it was still not enough.’ She shook her head sadly. “We were sharing the same apartment and one night I came home from a stint at a nursing home to find her already dead.”

“Jesus!” His arms tightened around her as if trying to absorb her loss. “What did you do?”

“She was lying there so peaceful that at first, I thought she was sleeping. I even made a joke about her finally turning off that brain of hers. When she did not respond, because she was always a light sleeper, I went further into the room and that’s when I saw the empty bottle of pills.

I just stood there in shock and afterwards, I tried to administer CPR, but it was too late. I called nine-one-one and they said she had been dead for two hours. I kept asking myself what more I could have done.”

Gripping her chin, he tilted her face up.

“There was nothing you could have done. She had already made up her mind.”

She nodded, “her parents – they were so damn cool about the entire thing. They came to see me and questioned me about herstate of mind. Wanting to know what they did to deserve such a weak child. I wanted to slap them hard. I was so mad that I told them off and said that they were to be blamed.

They had pushed her into ending her life and they should be damned ashamed of themselves.” She blew out a breath and felt the pain of that period shimmering through her body. She had never spoken to anyone about what she went through except the grief counsellor.

But to her surprise, she found that she could talk to Robert about anything.

“What happened to them?”

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