Months ago I was lost, drowning in a sea of guilt and fucking crippling sadness. Though I was fighting to break the surface, I couldn’t ever get free. Every fucker I knew was watching me from the sideline, letting me drown, but not her. Not la mia luce. I thought she might throw me a lifeline, or at least try to pull me through. What I didn’t expect her to do was jump in and tread water beside me… waiting, just waiting until I was ready to follow her to the shore.
I squeezed Ally’s hand. “It’s more than fucking okay,” I replied. And there it was, that blinding smile. That smile giving me hope that maybe this life would work out after all.
“Ready?” Ally asked, with a nervous smile.
Part of me said that I should let her go, that I shouldn’t put her through the shit that no doubt everyone was gonna put her through for being with me. But the other part of me, the selfish part, which for once in my life wanted to have something just for me, refused to fucking let go.
I was going with the selfish part. I wasn’t giving her up for nothing or nobody.
“Ready,” I replied. Together we walked out of the storeroom and down the hallway to the OB unit. As we entered the unit, the nurse at the nurse’s station directed us to the waiting room. As we approached the closed door, I glanced down and could see the apprehension on Ally’s face. She was nervous and I felt nothing but guilt.
Sighing, I dropped my head and tried to let go of her hand. Ally looked up at me in alarm, and squeezed our hands tighter. “No,” she said firmly, “we’re facing this together. I’m choosing to take whatever they throw at us.”
Yanking her to my chest, I kissed the top of her head. Ally turned the doorknob, straightened her shoulders and walked through, pulling me in behind her. Low voices had been talking. When I looked up, Austin, Lexi, Levi, JD and Cassie were sitting on plastic chairs… talking… but they were all now real fucking quiet as they looked our way.
The silence dragged on and Ally stepped closer to my side. When I lifted my eyes, every fucker in the room was staring at us… at our joined hands… At Ally Prince with Axel Carillo.
The first person I clashed eyes with was Austin, who was frowning in confusion, Lexi sat on his lap, her mouth dropped open.
Clearing her throat, Ally asked, “How’s Molly?”
Moving on from Austin, I next met eyes with Levi who was looking between Ally and me, back and forth, back and forth. No one looked happy. No one was answering Ally’s question.
My stomach dropped and Ally’s face paled as we heard, “Molly’s stable. Her condition’s now progressed to Eclampsia, that’s why she collapsed. Her blood pressure was way too high.”
I recognized Rome Prince’s voice from behind us. Ally tensed. Using my hold on her hand to pull her into my side, we turned so everyone could see us. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and lifted my chin just daring any of these fuckers to say something.
Ally melted into my side and gripped onto my shirt. She looked up at Rome in relief. “Molly’s gonna be okay?”
He had his arms folded over his chest and I could tell that he was about to lose his shit. “She’s sleeping, but she’ll be fine,” he replied tightly.
I heard Ally sigh deeply and I moved my mouth to her ear to whisper, “She’s gonna be okay, carina.”
“Firstly,” Rome looked right at me and said, “I wanna thank you for bringing Molly and me here. I fucking fell apart, but you brought us here and she’s safe now. I can’t repay that.”
Ally relaxed hearing her cousin’s sincere thank you, but then Rome dropped his hand and looked to her. “But secondly,” he shook his head in disbelief, “You’re with Axel, Al? Are you fucking kidding me?”
Ally’s eyes tightened and she looked at me. “Yes, I’m with Axel,” she replied, nothing but pride in her voice.
“You told us you were with that artist. You fucking lied?” he half-asked, half-challenged, looking like he couldn’t wrap his head around everything that was happening.
Ally’s hand froze on mine. My heart pounded wondering what the hell she was going to say to that.
“Yes,” Ally whispered, “I lied… I lied to y’all because I knew you wouldn’t approve.”
I exhaled sharply as Ally lied to her cousin to protect my secret, when Rome’s mouth dropped open. “Ally, what the fuck are you thinking?” he asked loudly. Ally sucked in a hurt breath. “Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“No,” Ally whispered, “I’m thinking real clear. For the first time ever, I’m thinking perfectly clear… and I want him. I’m with him.”
Rome’s eyes narrowed, when Lexi spoke up. “There’s no artist? Axel’s the guy you’ve really fallen for?” There was nothing but concern on Lexi’s face. That kinda fucking gutted me. I knew we weren’t close. I knew she still expected me to fail in life, but I didn’t expect to see fear in her eyes over my being with her friend.
“Yes,” Ally told Lexi who darted a glance to Cassie who, surprisingly, for once, seemed to have shit all to say.