Page 149 of Promise Me Nothing
My eyes widen.
Apparently Dr. Lyons has given them the news. It should have occurred to me the minute she showed up at the door with tears drying on her cheeks.
Honey, that is not true at all. You have to know that you’re going to be okay.
“Don’t lie to me!”she shouts, her facial expression turning angry, her jaw gritting and her eyes welling with tears. “I’m sick of everyone lying to me!”
I’ve never heard Ivy verbalize before, and the sound of it breaks my heart. Because it isn’t the sound of a happy, gleeful young lady with her whole life ahead of her. It’s a painful sound, full of anger and laced with fear.
She paces in front of me, her hands gripped in fists. And then she spins and looks right at me.
The doctors lied and said I was fine. And then everyone lied about me having a sister. Ben lies about why he wants to stay away and Wyatt lies about not wanting to leave. They’re still lying about Lucas, like I don’t know he’s my brother too. Like I don’t know that my dad isn’t really my dad.
I stand frozen as Ivy has an absolutely deserved meltdown, her emotions pouring out from her.
I’m going to die soon. I know it. Everyone pretends all the time, and I’m sick of it. I just want the truth.
And then she crumples onto the couch, her body wracked with sobs.
I rush to her side, sliding in next to her.
Her little frame wraps around mine, her body shuddering as she tries to deal with the emotional storm in her body, all of the fears coming to a head and exploding on the closest person.
Me.
So I run my hand through her hair, rocking her slightly, singing to her even though I know she can’t hear me.
Lissy always used to say that she liked ‘hearing’ me sing after I tucked her in on the nights I babysat, because she could feel my body rumbling. She didn’t know the words or the songs or the beat, but she liked that little bit of vibration.
So I do the same for Ivy, and her sobs slowly start to pull back. Before I know it, she’s fallen asleep on me, pooped out from the hard work of carrying the weight of everyone’s problems.
I hold her for a moment longer, feeling so thankful that, in rest, her anxious and upset face has given way to something calm. All I can hope is that sleeping gives her a moment’s reprieve.
I give her a soft kiss at the crown of her hair, then move as slowly as I can to shift her so she is sleeping against the couch pillows. Once I cover her with a blanket, tucking some of her hair behind her ear, I get out my phone and give Wyatt a call.
As much as I don’t want to talk to him, I can’t just not let him know that his sister is here.
It rings a few times before he answers.
“Hannah I really want to talk to you but Ivy is missing,” he says, the panic in his voice slicing through me.
“She’s here,” I say, not wanting to beat around the bush at all. “She showed up and started crying and now she’s asleep on the couch. She got here about ten minutes ago.”
“Oh my god,” he says, his voice coming out in a rush. “Gimme a second.”
There’s a pause on the other end of the line, and I try to picture what he’s doing. Maybe he’s slumped against a wall in relief, or he’s clenching his phone in anger. But if I know Wyatt at all, which is up for debate, he’s standing with his hands on his hips, forcing himself to breathe slowly.
“Thanks for calling me,” he says a moment later, once he’s collected himself enough to talk again. “I was a mess.”
“I can tell,” I say, the little chuckle coming out unintentionally. “I’m sorry you were so worried. But she’s okay.”
There’s a pause.
“Lucas said you’re leaving.”
I sigh.
The idea of leaving without anyone knowing was a decision I made as soon as I got off the phone with Dr. Lyons. I opened up a greyhound app and found a ticket for tonight at midnight leaving from Union Station.
