Page 118 of Killing Me Softly

Swallowing his dread, he stepped forward, hesitated for a second, before sitting carefully on the edge of the chair beside her bed. He didn’t know if he should reach for her, if she even wanted him to.

“You look like shit,” she croaked, her voice weak, hoarse.

Aaron let out an almost broken laugh, rubbing his face with both hands before shaking his head. “You don’t exactly look ready to party yourself.”

“Bit of lippie will sort all this right out.”

Aaron snorted.

Mel blinked, smile fading, lips dry. “So…you’re the Howells’ son, huh?”

Aaron swallowed. Hard. “Sorry I didn’t tell you.Couldn’ttell you.”

“S’okay.” She took a moment to digest it all. Then shrugged. “Got the highlights reel of season one and two from your sister. You win the award for most fucked-up family.”

“Yeah.”

“Thought my lot were nuts.”

“You know as a psych student, you should probably use the correct terminology.”

“Psycho?”

Aaron sniffed back a laugh. “Closer.”

“Well…despite appearances to the contrary, and yourpsychoticbloodline…you’re all right.”

Aaron arched a brow. “Am I?”

Mel studied him for a long moment, her exhaustion making the silence between them stretch just a little too long. Then, finally, she exhaled, her voice quieter, but certain. “You will be.”

“Maybe.”

“How’s Dr Lyons?”

“Fuck knows.” He ran a hand through his blood-matted hair. “Still in surgery. Could be a punctured lung, but…fuck.”

His chesthurtwith the force of it, the not knowing, the way his heart felt as if it was being rung out between two hands. He tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling, as if looking up would keep the tears from falling free. And even though she was the one lying in the hospital bed, wounds stitched, barely holding it together, Mel reached forhishand.

Her fingers were weak, her grip unsteady, but she squeezed as much as she could manage. “He’ll be okay.”

Aaron swallowed hard, the warmth of her touch tethering him, grounding him to the moment rather than the panic swallowing him whole.

“If he is, it’s because of you.”

Mel smirked faintly. “Yeah, I’ll do anything for a first.”

Aaron let out a half-choked laugh.

Then, her expression shifted. The teasing edge fading.

“So, you love him, huh? Dr Lyons? And he loves you? It’s not just fucking?”

“No.” Saying it out loud was still foreign, fragile. “I mean… yeah, we fuck. But it’s not just that.” He exhaled, quieter this time, like the words were settling into his bones. “I’m in love with him.”

“Nice.” Mel’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “That’s really nice.” She blinked, tilting her head as if trying to will away the tears threatening to spill.

Aaron squeezed her hand, unsure what to say, unsure what to do with the emotion sitting thick in the air between them. But a figure emerging at the entrance to the cubicle prevented Aaron from saying anything else.

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