Page 61 of Gray Area

“No, you can’t. I just spoke to the nurse practitioner and she says you need to take at least two days off,” he informs me.

“I need the money,” I tell him. “I have to pay my—” I stop. I had been about to say my rent when I realize that I don’t have a building anymore to worry about.

“We’ll find a place,” Bailey says, reading my thoughts. “And just think, it won’t have sleazy Tim.”

Declan narrows his stare at Bailey at the mention of Tim, but he shakes whatever he’s thinking off quickly. “You can stay with me.”

Bailey and I both stare open-mouthed at Declan, then we exchange a look. “No,” I say.

“I have a two-bedroom apartment. My dad’s house is just next door. I can stay there and you two can both use my apartment.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Declan,” I say, shaking my head for emphasis.

Declan looks at me with his stony expression. “It’s free, and you have nowhere else to stay tonight. At least stay until you can find another place.”

I’m about to decline again when Bailey speaks up, “Sounds like the price is right, Viv. Thanks, Declan.”

I turn and give Bailey thehow could youfriend look but she just smiles sweetly at me. I silently fume over the next hour, until the nurse and nurse practitioner come in and check me over one last time and then discharge me. Declan leaves to get his car, and I take the opportunity to yell at Bailey.

“How could you say we would stay there?” I demand.

“Come on, Viv. You guys are dating and sleeping together. I mean, you using one of his beds to actually sleep in isn’t more intimate than that.”

“This is a lot to ask of someone, and I don’t know what the hell we are right now.”

“We didn’t ask,” Bailey reminds me, “he offered, and until we can find a better place, this is a good choice.”

I nod and reach down to get my backpack when a sick realization hits me like a punch. I feel tears come to my eyes, and Bailey notices immediately. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

I look up at her. “My backpack,” I whisper to her, emotion clouding my ability to speak.

Bailey’s face falls too. “Oh, sweetie,” she says, gathering me in her arms as I cry.

“What happened?” Declan’s deep voice demands as he appears around the curtain, sounding furious.

I lift my face to tell him and freeze. “Is that my backpack?” I ask, looking at the familiar bag in his hand.

Without a word, he places it on the stretcher next to me. “It might be smoky,” he says softly.

I look from the bag to him and can’t believe what I’m seeing. Is this real life, or am I hallucinating due to some sort of weird smoke inhalation side effect?

“Hey, you know what? I just remembered I need to check something for someone for a thing,” Bailey says. “Declan, what’s your address? I can meet you guys there in a bit.”

As they speak, I grab my backpack and open it, reaching my hand in. Everything in there is just as I had left it. I reach in the back and there are my clothes, exactly where I have always kept them. I pluck out a shirt and leggings and zip the bag back up, quickly putting the clothes on. By the time I finish, Bailey has left, and it’s just Declan and me.

We lock eyes for a moment. Declan goes to break the silence first, motioning to my bag. “Was everything—”

I rush to him and lock my arms around his neck and pull his mouth to mine. He wastes no time in grasping my head and returning my kiss. But almost immediately, we are interrupted when the curtain is flung open.

“Take it home, you two,” the scrub-wearing woman says. “We need the room.”

Declan and I break apart, he grabs my backpack then my hand, and leads me out to his car.

Ten minutes later, we pull up to his apartment. Again he takes my backpack and brings me inside. “So this is my room,” he says, pointing to a room just as sparse as the rest of his place, “and this is the guest room.” He points to the room across the hall, which is identical to his own.

“Thank you, Declan,” I say.

He nods. “You can stay here as long as you guys need,” he tells me. We didn’t speak the entire ride home, and now our last encounter of the kiss hangs in the air. “The bathroom is there, so I can give you some space to—”

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