Page 24 of Until We Break

“I’m not keeping track.”

“I’ll let you buy the coffee, but I am keeping track.”

Stubborn. As. Fuck. She didn’t care that she was wearing a five-dollar T-shirt we just bought. She wasn’t willing to let up on anything.

“The cafeteria is this way. I saw a sign when I was at the front desk.”

We wandered through the hospital halls. The arrows pointed right left and right again. A few of the visitors nodded at me when they saw my badge. I was used to it by now.

“Is it always like this?” Margot asked.

“Like what? What are you talking about?”

“The seas part and the women fall on their knees when you look at them.”

I groaned. “I don’t think that’s happening.”

“You just don’t see it happen. That doesn’t mean it’s not happening.” She rolled her eyes as we each picked up a Styrofoam cup from the dispenser.

“You want to explain what you’re talking about?”

She blew out a huge breath. “If you’re that oblivious to it, then no. I don’t.”

She added sugar and cream to her coffee, stirred it, took a sip, and added more sugar.

“What?” she questioned.

“Nothing. I just remember that’s how you always drank your coffee.” Fuck. I regretted it as soon as I said it.

“You still drink yours black?” Her eyebrows moved high.

“Yeah. Because it’s easy. Simple. I don’t even have to stir.” I followed her to a table near the window. It looked out onto a courtyard of the center of the hospital. The shrubs were planted in a neat row. There was nothing unique or special in the design. I wasn’t sure that it would lift anyone’s spirits to sit in this particular courtyard, especially when the water was close by.

“I wish there was something else I could do. Some way to figure out who he is.” She was lost in thought about the kid again or avoiding the elephant in the room. The huge elephant that was sitting on the table between us.

“Are you working on getting the Blue Heron running like a real marina?” I asked.

She looked at me with those big green eyes over her cup. “I have no idea what to do with the Blue Heron.”

“You might not stick around, then?” It was a blunt way to ask why she bothered to even be here.

“I’ve been getting that question a lot and I still don’t have an answer.” She took another sip of coffee. “So you still live on Marshoak?”

“On the base. We have quarters. It’s not bad. They let us out every once in a while,” I goaded.

She blushed. Damn. She was still pretty.

“Sorry about Walt. I heard he passed a few weeks ago.”

Her eyes darted to the top of the coffee. “Yeah, well it was a shock to me. I haven’t seen him or talked to him since…” her words trailed off.

“Where have you been living since then?” I waited for information to flow. I wanted her to give me more. Tell me more without having to pull every damn detail from her lips.

“New York.” She glanced away quickly.

“New York? As in the actual city? That’s far. Not to mention the exact opposite of this place.”

I waited for her to offer more, to fill in the blanks. Instead, she started to make lines in the Styrofoam with her thumbnail.

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