Page 125 of Prelude To You

And then it hit me. “Oh my God, Meg. You passed the bar!”

“Yes! Yes I fucking did!”

I hugged her, and she started crying and couldn’t stop, so I cried with her.

She managed to speak through the tears. “Are you crying because I passed the bar or because of you-know-who?”

“Probably both,” I sobbed. “But my tears for you are the happy kind, I swear.”

Meg pushed me toward the bathroom. “Shower and get ready, we made coffee and burned toast to celebrate.”

“You know there’s a setting on the toaster. It’s very hard to burn toast these days.”

“It’s fine when you scrape off the burnt bit.”

“Oh God please no,” I grimaced. “I’ll make us breakfast.”

“Thank you. I like this arrangement. You cook for me, and I’ll give you free legal advice for the rest of your life.”

“Not that I think I’ll ever need legal advice, but sure, that’s a deal.”

After a warm shower, I turned the hot water off and braved another two minutes under the cold stream. If my new goal was to keep Henry alive until he woke up, I had to be fresh.

In the kitchen, I threw the burned toast in the trash and started breakfast from scratch while sipping a steaming mug of coffee. I broke the eggs into a pan and glanced at Felix and Meg at the small dining room table.

Felix stared adoringly at Meg. “I fucking love you, Meg,” he said with a goofy smile.

“That’s just because I passed the bar,” Meg countered wickedly. “What if I failed the bar?”

“Then you’d just take it again. But I’d still love you to death, baby.”

“What if I fell on my face and ended up looking like Quasimodo?”

“I love Quasimodo,” Felix said. “So I’d love you even more.”

I had to smile. “Get a room, you two.”

Meg beamed. “Oh, we’re going to. As soon as you leave.”

While we ate breakfast, Meg and Felix watched me stealthily, as if to measure my wellness level. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Could you stop looking at me? I’m fine. I’m totally fine. I couldn’t be any better.”

Meg sat back and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Wow. Maybe try harder to convince us, why don’t you?”

I pushed my plate back. “Okay, I don’t have time for this. I’m leaving now so you two can go have sex. Enjoy.”

George was waiting outside, as always. I handed him a small confectionary box with the extra madeleines.

“Here are some for you to take home to your wife.”

“Thank you, Isabelle. And listen, keep your phone until we get to the estate.”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble, George.”

“As long as our lips are sealed, no one will know.”

I used the blackout time in the back seat to read more about comatose patients on my phone. It was really hard to stay positive about Henry’s condition because it was mostly terrible news. I couldn’t help but feel disappointment tug at my belly.

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