Page 184 of Accidental Theirs
“You’ve got the money.”
I laugh at her blunt words. “You really didn’t have to come with me. It’s just a scratch.”
“Scratches don’t need stitches.”
I don’t have anything to say to that, so I sit in silence as we head to the hospital.
They rush me inside when we arrive and a couple of hours later, they dope me up and stitch me up.
“Wow…” My head spins when they put the medication in my IV. “Can I get some of this to take home?”
Olivia laughs, and it’s good to hear.
I know what a rough go she’s had of it.
I just stare at her with heart eyes, the meds making me vulnerable.
She smiles. “What are you looking at?”
“The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She snorts. “You are high.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t change your beauty.”
She flushes. “Stop. No, keep going.”
I chuckle. “Always knew you liked the attention.”
Olivia bites her lip. “You don’t really think that, do you? That I’m playing you all just for the attention?”
I gape at her. “No, God, no. Nothing like that, Olivia. Please ignore me, I’ve had morphine.”
Everything feels slow and fast at the same time, somehow, and I’m afraid I'm going to say something I can’t take back.
Something like I love you.
She laughs. “I guess I can’t hold anything you say against you right now.”
“Please don’t.” I just stop talking so I don’t say something stupid.
After a while, she smirks, shifting in the seat next to the bed.
“So, you're just going to go silent, huh? What if I ask you questions?”
I wave my hand dismissively, feeling giddy from the medication. “You can ask me anything you want.”
Apparently, my vow of silence lasted about five minutes.
“You really grew up in foster care?”
“Yeah, I was off and on in the system from the time I was about six or seven.”
“Jesus.”
“It wasn’t all bad. Made a lot of friends.” In fact, I keep in touch with some of my foster brothers and sisters.
I think about contacting my blood relations, but I just don’t know if I want to relive that. I’m sure they don’t, either.
