Page 33 of Rue

She took it, turning away and hurrying with it.

No one said a word, even when Geo got out before her, dried off, and dressed. He seemed to be waiting on her as she turned off the water and peeked out. He threw a towel at her face, and she barely caught it, pulling it behind the frosted glass with her, then came out wrapped in it and dressed.

“You gon’ be good today, or we gonna have issues?” Geo asked as he gripped her upper arm and led her out front.

“Where are we going?” she asked softly.

“Does it matter, Rue?” he asked darkly, looking down at her with darkness in his features.

“No… I’ll behave.”

He snorted but led her out to the black SUV.

He got in the back with her this time, and Mig got up front to drive.

Geo immediately got on his phone, ignoring her as she curled up.

When they pulled up to a vast hospital, she was confusedwhen Mig dropped them off at the front entrance. Geo pulled her in, and she looked around hopefully, praying she saw security or a cop or something.

She saw a man right off as Geo waited behind an older man at the information desk. He was a giant Samoan man in a security uniform, sitting behind a desk and looking at his computer in front of him.

‘Look up!’ she willed at him, staring at him as she pressed into Geo so he wouldn’t see her.

Geo looked down, then followed her gaze just as the giant man looked up. Hope surged even as fear did, but confusion took over immediately. The giant grinned and jumped up, closing the distance rapidly for his size.

“Geo! Geo, man, it’s been years, my brother, how you been?”

“Good, Lew, real fuckin’ good. We miss you, man, you know you got a place with us if you wanna come back.”

“I know, man, I swore to my old lady, though.”

“Shit, she know some crackhead is more likely to shoot you here than you was likely to get hurt workin’ for me?”

“Yeah, I know, but it’s legit. So this is her, huh? Yeah, I got you all hooked up. Third floor, room 204, Doctor Nagy.”

“Thanks, man. You good, you need anything?”

“We’re makin’ it, man, you know. Grind ain’t too satisfyin’, but it works.”

“I got somethin’ new comin’ down, lemme me know if you want in on it. Zero danger. No runnin’.”

“I’ll mention it to Olah… we been tryna figure on how to replace that busted washer.”

Geo snorted a nod. “Yeah, I feel you. Lemme know. Thanks, man,” he told him, then did the half hug, half arm-clasp thing she’d seen Geo do with other men.

Turning, he pulled Sailor to the elevators, pulling his phone out. As soon as the elevator doors closed, he put the phone to his ear. “Mig, order Lewis a new washer ’n dryer set. Have it delivered to his house. Tell ’m to haul away the old, too. … Yeah, aight, man. … Yeah, for both of us,” he told him, then hung up. Pocketing his phone, he looked Sailor over again. “I mean it, Rue, you best behave. Ain’t no one here gon’ help you.”

Sailor nodded and looked down at her feet, feeling miserable.

The OBGYN office he pulled her into was empty, with a sign on the window saying they opened at 9. The clock on the wall said 8:14.

As soon as they approached the window, a woman stood up and nodded at them, then opened the door, looking nervous. She was an older woman with short, no-nonsense hair and looked like she’d been doing this her whole life.

“You must be Geo. Lewis told me to expect you. Come on back… ahh… is this your daughter?”

Geo snorted, anger flaring up. “Nah, bitch,” he snarled. “She’s over 18. Check your fuckin’ judgment.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean to judge! Lewis said it was an emergency, and you needed privacy, I just thought maybe… other times when I’ve had similar situations, the dad just found out after she tried to hide it, you know? Come in here and have a seat, Sir. Miss, can you slip those sweats off and get under that blanket for me? Your undies, too. Lewis said you needed a full checkup? She conceived in December?”

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