Page 124 of Every Broken Piece
Under the table I touch his thigh. “Gabe.”
Troubled eyes meet mine. “I’m sure.”
After a long moment of him searching my face, he seems to find what he’s looking for and nods.
“Okay then.” He rolls onto his hip, causing his thigh to press into mine, and pulls his phone out of the front pocket of his jeans. “If you really want to go back for those appointments, we can go back, but I’ve done some research and found two highly recommended doctors here in Denver. Would you consider seeing them instead?”
I can’t imagine what they would cost if Gabe found them. Then again, I don’t even know what the doctors back home cost either. The expense of my hospital stay and the future appointments weighs heavily on me. I can only hope I can arrange some sort of payment plan.
My phone vibrates in my back pocket.
“I sent you their information,” Gabe says. “Take a look and let me know what you want. Your appointments are next Friday, right?”
I nod, perplexed at this different Gabe. While we were in Cincinnati, he was calling the shots, leading me where he thought I should go, taking charge. To be fair, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to make any decisions. But now he’s giving me the choice over everything. What pizza to eat, which doctor to use. And while the decisions are overwhelming, I like that my life is in my hands and not dictated by drug dealers or a strung-out mother.
“Yes, next Friday.”
He shoves his phone back in his pocket. “Let me know what you want to do. If you want to go back, I’ll have a plane ready.”
“Oh, you don’t need to—”
“I do. I do need to, Tess. For my own peace of mind. I need to know you’re safe.”
I nod, thinking of that picture of Gabe and Cara and Pax and how everything changed for all of them so quickly. His need toprotect me, to know I’m safe, is the baggage he carries. I can give him this. I can make his life a little less heavy. “I’ll call the Denver doctors tomorrow and make an appointment.”
His relieved smile is all I need to know I made the right decision.
Tina arrives with their pizzas and my calzone. Pax and Jack abandon their tech discussion and all four of us talk about our week and what we have planned for next week. Jack and Pax are more like brothers than uncle and nephew and soon they’re poking each other and laughing and Gabe’s smiling softly, shaking his head.
I lean back in the booth, stuffed with calzone and finally, for the first time ever, feeling like I’ve found my family.
It’s everything I’d dreamed it would be.
Chapter fifty-five
Tess
We walk home together, bringing our conversation and our laughter with us until we split off from Jack who exits the elevator on his floor.
Pax is yawning when Gabe unlocks the door to their apartment. I can’t tell if it’s a fake yawn or not.
“Night, everyone,” he says as he heads up the steps with a floppy wave over his shoulder.
“Night, son.”
“Night, Pax.”
Before I can follow, Gabe stops me with a hand on my arm. “If you’re not too tired, I’d like to talk to you.”
“Oh. Um. Okay.” Immediately my mind tells me he’s kicking me out of the apartment, and I start spiraling. My interview isn’t until Monday, but since Gabe’s been paying for almost everything, I think I might have enough to rent a new apartment if I can find one in my price range. Except I don’t know what my price range is because I haven’t interviewed for the job yet. All of this runs through my mind in the few seconds it takes Gabe tolead me to the couch. I’m formulating plans, escapes, discarding ideas so fast that my mind is unraveling. Do I have enough money to get back to Cincinnati? Despite the danger there I know I can’t live in the same city as Gabe if I can’t have him.
I perch on the edge of the couch while he sits next to me, my hands clenched between my knees, my knees bouncing in time with my galloping heart.
Gabe presses a palm to my leg to still my nervous energy. “Relax. This isn’t bad.”
I swallow, preparing for the worst, more devastated than I thought I’d be. I’m the one who usually runs before things get bad. I became complacent. Comfortable. I should have known better.
“Damn it, Spitfire. Someday you’ll look at me without that haunted expression. Not every news is bad news.”
