Page 146 of Promise Me Nothing
I flex a fist, the meaning of his words rolling through my whole body.
“How long do you think this little endeavor will last if I make buckling you at the knees a priority?No onein this town will work with any of you if I put the word out.”
And then he takes it a step further.
“And do you really think this little… thing you have going on with Henry Morrison’s daughter is going to last if I make sure she can’t find a job? If I unleash the hounds on her? Make sure every catty bitch in town sees her as a target?”
He shakes his head, and I know I’ve been well and truly sunk.
I might have knocked my dad onto the ground, left a mark on his face, but I’m the one who feels like I’ve been sprawled on my ass, my legs swept out from underneath me.
Finding a way to come out on the other side of this when it comes to the Elite X thing? Manageable. Otto and Lucas are resourceful. And they hate my dad as much as I do.
But it was his comments about Hannah that have me ready to throw in a towel. Give him whatever he wants.
“Blow off this speech, and I’ll just have to take these little matters into my own hands.”
I shake my head, disbelief coursing through my system, even while resignation is threading its way through my very being.
“I’ll have my secretary send you the details,” he says. Then he gives me a little wave. “See you soon, Wyatt.”
I’m left alone then.
Alone to lick my wounds.
Filled with anger and frustration, I do the only thing I can think of.
Without any gloves on, I turn and beat the shit out of the bag, imagining my father’s face the entire time.
The following day, two days after our meeting with Dr. Lyons, my mom gets an email that she should call the doctor’s office. Ivy and I crowd into the office to listen, and my mom puts it on speaker.
But I can already feel the sense of foreboding.
“Hannah’s blood results have come back,” she says, her voice echoing in the small space. “I’ve already spoken with her and she gave me permission to provide the news to you all. Hannah is not a full match with Ivy, so she isn’t a good pairing for a bone marrow transplant donation. I’m so sorry.”
Ivy can’t hear it over the phone, but I sign it to her.
Hannah’s not a match.
Her shoulders fall and she leaves the office, her little feet racing up the stairs and probably to her bedroom, where I hear a door slam.
“Thank you, Dr. Lyons,” my mom says. “Please keep us posted on the donor match process.”
And then she hangs up the phone.
“I have plans with Gigi Forrester. I’ll be back late tonight.”
My mouth drops open. “You’re leaving?”
She looks at me, her mask carefully in place. “I have somewhere I need to be. I said I’ll be back later.”
I pick up a paperweight off the desk and fling it angrily at a mirror that hangs over the fireplace. It shatters, pieces spraying all over the ground.
My mom shrieks, putting her hands up to protect herself as if the glass is anywhere near her.
“Your daughter is upstairs, probably bawling her eyes out, because she’s afraid she’s going to fucking die!” I shout at her, blood pumping angrily through my veins. “And you want to run off and pretend life is grand with people you barely care about. At all. What is wrong with you?”
She points a finger at me, her face furious. “Don’t get angry with me. I’m the one who has been here dealing with this while you were off doing god knows what and god knows whom. I’ve been doing it alone! And no one even cares. Your father doesn’t and Ben doesn’t. You barely did until recently. It’s been just me. So excuse me if I need a minute to myself.”
