Page 88 of The Genius
Marco, who stood by a mirror taking in the bruises on his face from the fight, answered in a hoarse voice. “No, I don’t hate you.”
“But you aren’t talking to me.”
With a slow turn of his body, he looked at me. “My head is so fucked up right now, I don’t know what to say.”
“What did you give as an excuse to leave the tournament?”
“I didn’t, I just left.”
“They’ll be wondering, though.”
Marco looked away. “I’ll have to make up a lie. I guess being around you, that shit is infectious.”
That stung. “I’m not trying to destroy your life. You know that, right? I mean, I’m not asking anything of you.”
Marco sighed and gave a small nod before coming to sit down beside me. “I know, Shelly, and that’s what worries me. You don’t need me the way I need you.”
“You need me?” My eyes widened.
With his eyes fixed on my knee, he radiated tension. “I’m well aware you can go back and join some family unit with our child, but I would be left out and it scares me. I checked in with some friends on my way back from the tournament and it looks like I’m pretty screwed. As an Nman I have no rights if you go back to the Motherlands to have our child. I would need a visa to visit and even if I was willing to move there, I couldn’t without your consent.”
“Marco, you’re overthinking this. My only concern at the moment is how mad you’re going to be at me when there’s no child and you realize you left the tournament for nothing.”
“Yeah, well, I guess we’ll know in ten hours.” He got up from the sofa. “I’m sore from the fight and I could use a shower. You’re welcome to sleep in my bed. I can take the couch if you need me to.”
“No, it’s fine. We can share the bed.” I bit my lip. “I promise I won’t touch you.”
Marco moved away from me too fast for me to see the expression on his face. “We have an appointment with the doctor at eight a.m. sharp,” he said over his shoulder. “He should be able to determine if we’re having a child or not.”
CHAPTER 19
Taking the Test
Shelly
Marco tossed and turned a lot that night. I know, because I didn’t sleep much either.
At eight o’clock we met with a doctor who was in his early thirties and clean-shaven.
“Don’t look so shocked,” he said and smiled. “It was my wife’s birthday yesterday and at the top of her wish list was a week with me clean-shaven. I know I look stupid, but my wife really wanted to see what I looked like without my beard, so we had a good laugh about it.”
“You must really love her,” Marco replied with a smile and nudged me a little forward. “This is my wife. And of course, you know why we’re here.”
The doctor smiled. “Yes, and being newlywed myself, I understand the excitement. It can be hard to wait for the answer when we all so urgently want to start a family.”
I raised an eyebrow, looking at Marco. He stepped closer to me, placing his arm around my shoulder.
“That’s right; it’s just come a little sooner than we expected, so we don’t have all the practical details figured out yet.”
“I understand,” the kind doctor said and gave me a smile. “My name is Robert and I’m honored to have you as my patient.”
“Thank you. I’m Shelly. Shelly Summers.”
His eyes expanded. “Like the genius?”
“Yeah, but my wife isn’t actually her. They just share the same name,” Marco said before I had a chance to talk.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t actually think you were her. I’ve seen interviews and documentaries with the real Shelly Summers.” The doctor chuckled. “Not that you’re not real, of course. It’s just so impressive to see someone so gifted.”
