Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
When Diana’s gaze goes over my shoulder, I turn and watch Roman’s mom and sisters enter the room.
“The doctors are going to be in soon to talk to us,” Francesca says. “Since this is a family situation, maybe you should take your friend home.”
“Elora stays with me,” Roman bites out, and the woman he introduced as Sofia eyes me curiously. His mom does the same but with mistrust, and Lucia just seems dismissive of my presence altogether.
“Roman.” His mom’s hands fist at her sides.
“It’s okay.” I get to my feet and rub my hands down the front of my shorts.
“Elora.” Roman reaches for me, wrapping his big hand around the back of my thigh.
“I’ll just be in the waiting room.” I can tell he’s not happy, but I don’t want to be the reason they start fighting, not when there’s still an obvious fracture that hasn’t completely healed from Val’s death. Taking my eyes off his, I look at his grandmother. “It was nice meeting you. Hopefully, I’ll see you soon.” I give her a shaky smile, then without caring if it’s appropriate or who is around, I touch Roman’s cheek, then lean down and brush my lips across his.
“Elora,” he whispers, and I shake my head.
“It’s okay. I’ll see you in just a little while.” Without another word, I walk out of the room, passing Roman’s dad and Jimmy, who are standing in the hall. Since there is no waiting room on this floor, I take the elevator down to the first floor and find an empty chair.
With the TV on the wall playing the news, I make myself as comfortable as I can as I wait. The seconds turn into minutes, and one show on TV turns into another before I feel a presence come and sit next to me. When I look to my side, I see it’s Roman’s sister Sofia, and she gives me a smile that looks unsure.
“Hi,” I greet softly.
“Sorry about what happened upstairs.”
“It’s okay. A lot is going on.”
“Yeah,” she agrees, wrapping her arms around her waist.
“Did the doctor come yet?”
“Yes, she just left. They’re going to get Diana ready for surgery soon.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I looked it up online. The statistics aren’t great for—”
“Don’t do that,” I whisper, and her chin wobbles. “Every situation is different; every person is different.”
“Roman told us why he’s stayed gone, that you two have been traveling, and about your mom.”
“Yeah.” I wrap my arms around myself to ward off the chill from the air conditioner. At least, that’s what I tell myself is the reason.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. He’s made everything so much more bearable.”
“He’s the best. I hate that he thought that.” She shakes her head. “I mean, I know we made him feel like it was all his fault, but we know it wasn’t. He was right. Val would have hated being stuck here. He would have wanted us to let him go.”
“I get it. I understand accepting you’re going to lose someone is hard, even if you know that loss is inevitable.”
“Sofia.”
Knowing that voice, even if I’ve only heard it once, my insides seize. Turning to look over her shoulder, she then slumps forward after she turns back to me, whispering, “Hopefully, I’ll see you around.”
“Hopefully.” I watch her get up but don’t turn to look over my own shoulder at her father. Early on in life, I learned that people only have power if you give it to them, and I refuse to give any power to Roman’s dad—or stepdad, whatever.
Alone once more, I focus back on the TV while my mind wanders to Roman and how he’s doing. Part of me wants to go to him, just to see for myself that he’s all right, but I know my presence isn’t wanted right now, even if he did explain to his family that I’m not, in fact, some call girl he picked up in Vegas.
When my stomach rumbles, reminding me that I haven’t eaten since the lunch we had on the plane—which I barely touched with Jimmy staring at me—I take my purse and go to the front desk to ask if there’s a vending machine or somewhere I can get food nearby. Luckily, the girl working there tells me there’s a cafeteria on the second floor, so I start to make my way to the elevator but stop when I spot Roman and his family getting off.
Backing out of the hall, I go back to where I was sitting in the lobby, wanting to give them whatever time they need. Before long, Roman joins me, his body falling into the chair next to mine, and I look over at him.
“Did they come to get her?”
“Yeah, they’re prepping her for surgery. The doctors said it’s going to be a few hours, so I figured I’ll take you home, then come back when she should be getting out, so you don’t have to wait here.”