la's

ing it. Just letting it flow because the silence feels too loud. The café is closed,

eezing, soft but sharp,

?" I ca

not a

ging door, and I meet him slumped in the old recliner, hand

ntense like that of a pounding drum; I r

ks too pale, too wet. Cold sw

," he

calling an

now, but I'm already dialing the emergenc

e. Please don't

the back with him, holding his ha

*

still on and garlic still clinging to me like a second skin. My legs bounce. My

. They're running tests. Ye

buzzes.

t the h

r I set to check

hat could pay the rent we're three months behind on. Only if it was r

ury my phone under my thigh lik

r to ask how my grandpa is feeli

know what to do again. The lights above me

weird cramp. Low in my st

it at first. But it

n the pani

*

ospital bathroom

staring at my thighs like

math in

G

period in... al

extent that I can't take care of myse

that night. The one I

his voice, his eyes. The way he t

most too perfect; as if da

t calls his

left before t

r did he call, just a memor

nd lean forward.

n't let t

g to stress. Grandpa's hospital bills, the café evicti

from the hospital. Hoodie up. Head down. I buy the pregn

hospital bat

feel lik

nally,

preg

ck. I slide down the wall

f feeling bet

while I stare at th

y. I don't wa

nt-thinking it was real-shook

ht wasn't just a mistake. It matt

lied abou

*

out by a

ling through some news story linked to

hoto. A group of rich-looking people in tuxedos and diam

red Johnson, CEO of Jo

mach f

that w

me sharp jaw, and

say his name

id, D

g at how soft that soun

ie. Just like

for a long time as if m

ne like him lie

a game?

tory he didn't want to

*

s propped up in bed, a little color back in

like hell,

augh and sat beside

p breakfast," he counters. "You

argue. H

e that job," he

"How did

hings. You've been pacing ar

not r

is voice is soft. "But sometimes you gott

st watch the beeping

rts, then stops. H

abou

ur dad called it her 'storm cloud phase.' Said she

hard. "I

learly. Just flashes. Her laugh.

them," I

s. "Me

in the quie

*

ed home. It's dark and cold. I c

ollapse into the chai

bills, the test, the rent, the

lionaire who called himself Daniel. The man wh

ep inside me, a t

e risk that may come o

's the only way