Page 84 of Books and Hookups

“I’ll go with her,” Dr. Gu said. “My shift starts in a couple of hours anyway. I’ll keep you updated, Mom.”

“Thank you, dear. And Ms. Knox, I hope you remember to take care of yourself. Your child is going to depend on you, and you can’t take care of her if you’re sick.”

“I understand,” I said. An icy chill raced through my veins. I hadn’t thought of it like that before. I didn’t envy the poor kid who relied on me as a mother. I had to get my shit together.

And that meant spending an hour at a DC hospital hooked up to an IV, taking a later flight home, and dragging my exhausted body back to my building right at Barb’s closing time. When there was a hundred percent chance Danny would notice.

29

Boring, Respectable, and Stable

Banana-Spinach Smoothie

Combine a frozen banana, 1 cup fresh spinach, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, a dollop of almond butter, 1/2 cup almond milk, and a drizzle of honey in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and drink your goddamn electrolytes, Lucie.

DANNY

When I flicked on the overhead lights, Frank and Walter squinted and grumbled. “Go on home, guys,” I said. “Need me to call you a ride?”

“I’ve got them,” Leo said. “And Nico and I’ll take care of the cleanup. You should worry about that.” He tipped his chin at something behind me.

I turned and spotted Lucie in the residents’ hallway. She shuffled like a zombie, and she looked just as pale. What was she doing out this late? Had something happened?

I curbed my urge to run to her and took a breath. “You sure you’ll be okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, yeah. We’ve got this. But…” He looked down at his kitchen clogs. “Could you meet me tomorrow morning? I’ve got something I want to show you.”

“Everything all right?” He’d been weird tonight, switching between wild-eyed excitement and quiet, almost guilty introspection.

“Yeah, it’s good. I just had an idea I wanted to talk to you about, but it can wait until tomorrow.”

“If you’re sure…” But I was already moving toward the hall that led to the stairs. I felt a tug in my gut like Lucie was a magnet and I was a nail.

I caught up with her on the second-floor landing. “Hey.”

“Hey, Danny.” She didn’t even try to smile. She looked dead on her feet.

“Let me take your bag.” I lifted the messenger bag from her shoulder. She shook out her arm, and that’s when I noticed the bandage, the bruise, and the hospital bracelet. “Jesus Christ! What happened?”

She slapped her other hand over her wrist. “Nothing. I mean, yeah, I had to go to the hospital, but it was only dehydration. They pumped me full of electrolytes and let me come home. They said I had to keep the bracelet on for twenty-four hours, though, in case anything else happened.”

I tugged her into my arms and held her like I could protect her from whatever “anything else” meant. And she let me. She didn’t push me away. Instead, she relaxed into my arms. I never wanted to let her go.

But she needed her bed. “Can I carry you up?”

“Carry me?” she scoffed. “There’s nothing wrong with me that twelve hours of sleep won’t cure.” She pushed away and slowly ascended the stairs. Then she looked back. “Come on.”

Joy filled me up and threatened to overflow. I bounded up the stairs after her, her bag bumping against my hip. “How’d the interview go?”

“Okay, I hope. I started to feel a little out of it toward the end, so I don’t know if I asked the right questions.” She handed me her key, and I fit it into the lock. “I’ll listen to the recording tomorrow.”

I pushed the door open and flicked on the light. Not bothering to take off her shoes, she went straight to her bedroom while I took a moment to bolt the door and slip off my sneakers. On the way to her bedroom, I set her satchel in her desk chair.

She’d flopped onto her side on the bed, her feet sticking out over the edge. I unlaced her boots and pulled off her thick socks. “These must’ve been a bitch at airport security.”

“God, yes,” she said, her voice muffled by the comforter.

“Want me to find you some pajamas?”

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