Page 38 of Little Sunshine

“Mila—” I started.

“Move now, or I’ll…” She raised her chin. “If you don’t, I’ll…”

“You’ll what, little girl?” I asked from behind her.

“I’ll… Oh shit.” She darted to the side. Miles shifted to block her, but she wasn’t trying to escape. She slammed down onto her knees and grabbed the wastebasket, barely getting it under her before she retched.

“Fuck.” I moved behind her, holding her hair away from her face as she threw up what she had in her stomach. From what I could tell, it wasn’t much more than water and stomach acid.

“Go away.” Another heave mixed with a sob, and she half-assedly swatted at my hand. “Go.”

I didn’t.

Keeping hold of her hair, I crouched behind her and rubbed her back.

A water bottle appeared in front of her, and she took it from Miles’ outstretched hand with her own shaking one. Before she could take a sip, her body leaned to the side, and the bottle dropped. She barely flinched as the cold water spilled onto her bare legs.

Fuck it.

The space I’d been trying to give her was gone as I gathered her into my arms. I sat on the couch with her on my lap but kept my arms loose.

She leaned away from me. “I just need to eat. Or sleep.”

“Let the doc look at you.” I stroked her hair from her face. “Then you can go.”

Even as I said it, I knew it was a lie.

When she didn’t argue, I jerked my head for Dr. Pierce to come over. I didn’t put Mila down as he poked and prodded. Her eyes stayed closed the entire time, her face blank except for the occasional wince.

After a few minutes, he used a gentle, doctory voice. “We need to reconsider going to the hospital.”

“No,” Mila shot back immediately.

“Baby,” I said without thinking, “if the doctor says?—”

“No.” The one word was even firmer and backed up by her trying to launch herself off my lap. “I told you, I just need to eat.”

“Good. They’ve got food at the hospital.”

“I’m not going.” That time when she shoved away from me, she did it so forcefully, I had to release her before she hurt herself. She scrambled to stand, and her body swayed, but she just lifted that stubborn chin. “I appreciate the concern, but I’m good. And I’m leaving.”

“Mila.”

At my tone, she froze, and tears glimmered in her eyes. Despite all the pain she had to be in, it was the first sign of them. Like she was holding it together by pure spite, only one drop slid down her scraped cheek.

As heart-fucking-breaking as it was, I wasn’t going to bend. Not when it came to her health.

I could say that I would feel that strongly about any random person’s pain and suffering, but I wouldn’t. Years of working in Vegas had shown me most people weren’t all bad.

They were worse.

A shitty outer shell that hid an even shittier, rotten inside.

Other than my family and small circle—who were basically family—I didn’t give a single, solitary fuck about other people.

For whatever reason, I gave a whole lotta fucks about Mila.

I snagged her wrist and carefully situated her back onto my lap before she passed out.

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