Page 83 of The Ripple Effect

Come back.I’ve literally dreamed of this moment, where the people who threw me away begged me to take them back once I didn’t need them anymore. Although given tonight, maybe Idoneed them.

In my fantasies, I didn’t have to choose between telling off my enemies and coming back in a blaze of glory. In real life, I’ll get neither of those, but there would be a job, at least, if the Love Boat died. It doesn’t make my stomach feel great, but my student loans would like it.

Evan pauses, gloved hands poised on the sterile towels he’s draped around my arm. “I heard about what happened to you,Stellar. Words probably feel pretty empty from where you’re standing, but I’d like to think I would’ve backed you up if I’d been here. A lot of people in the department would be glad to see you again.”

“Um,” I say, unable to summon something angrier, likethey can keep dreaming, or something smarter, likesend me an offer, and I’ll consider.

I can’t process Evan’s pitch right now. I need room to grieve everything I hoped for with the Love Boat, everything Iworkedfor, every part of my heart I handed over and might not get back.

So I ask, “What would you do if you were me?”

“Ha. My first instinct would be to tell them to go fuck themselves, honestly. But my second instinct…” Evan waggles his head likeWill I, won’t I. “I’d probably be curious. Maybe I’d give them a chance to show me they’d changed.”

He ties the last stitch, then cuts the suture with a flourish. “Acetaminophen and ibuprofen every six hours. I’ll give you a prescription for antibiotics, but don’t fill it unless you see signs of infection. Bag it when you shower. No baths or swimming until the stitches come out in ten days. No strenuous exercise for a couple of weeks.” He disposes of the needles in the biohazardous waste bin.

No exercise. No getting wet.

I should’ve put it together before now.

This injury is the end of the road for me. And where will Lyle find another doctor? Even a rescue paddler will be tough to hire at this point in the summer season. This situation is getting worse all the time.

“Knock, knock,” Sloane sings, peeking around the door. “Sorry, that took forever. Sharon’s called an emergency meeting tomorrow at—” Sloane breaks off, seeing that Evan’s still here.

“Come on in. We’re just finishing up here,” Evan says, stripping off his gloves. He angles his head to indicate Sloane should take the chair. “I’ll come back with that prescription.”

The second he leaves, Sloane’s all over me. “You’re too fucking pale. Did he give you enough freezing? Let me see the stitches. I know a plastic surgeon in LA who can make any scar disappear.”

“Jesus, Sloane. It’s fine. I’m fine. What did Sharon—”

But I don’t get to hear what Sharon said, because Lyle’s voice cuts through the ER soundscape.

“I know she’s here. She’s my fiancée.Nowcan you tell me where she is?”

Chapter Twenty-four

There are no secrets in the emergency department. If anything, the thin walls amplify sound by blocking out the visuals.

Lyle’s voice is calm. He’s not shouting, but neither is he quiet or deferential. He sounds like he’s taking up a lot of space at the triage desk, and I can’t help but feel a tiny thrill for him even as a bolt of terrified energy strikes the center of my being.

“She’s myfiancée,” Lyle insists, again. “That means her next of kin isme.”

“He’s here.” I sound panicky. I want more time; I want him to burst in here and pull me into his arms.

Hearing him sayfiancéetears my heart in two. I want it to be true so badly my throat squeezes. But it’s a lie—and now everybody knows it. As much as I want to believe inus, it’s not real.

And the moment I see him is the moment we have to stop pretending.

“Don’t look so surprised. He was always going to come for you, little star.”

I squeeze my eyes closed. “He left me, Sloane.”

“He freaked out,” Sloane says gently. “He needed to cool off. He couldn’t have known what would happen.”

“It doesn’tmatterwhat he thought would happen! I asked him foronething. I asked him to not let me go, and he did. Maybe we’re not right for each other. Maybe we should cut our losses and end things now.”

Sloane takes a measured breath like she’s fighting for patience. I open my eyes to find her massaging her temples.

“What the hell, Sloane?! Don’t tell me you’re onhisside?”

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