Page 99 of The Lies I've Told
A solid few seconds went by. “Are you serious?”
“I am.”
“What changed your mind?” he asked. I could hear him rustling. Obviously, he had decided to get out of bed after all.
“You know what.”
“So, you told her?”
I swallowed hard, the blue water of the bay winking back at me. “No,” I replied.
“What? Why?”
“I…” I couldn’t find my words. No, that wasn’t true. I knew exactly what I wanted to say. I was just ashamed to say it. “I just want to be me a little while longer,” I confessed.
I could hear him sigh on the other end. “You’ll always be you, Aiden.”
“No,” I argued. “Once I tell her, I’ll be different. I’ll never be this Aiden again. I’ll be a different version of myself. And, for now, I want to be uncomplicated Aiden—the guy I hope she is falling in love with.”
“All right,” he relented.
“So, you’ll help me?”
“Of course I’ll help you! I’ve been trying to help you from the very beginning! It’s you who’s been avoiding—”
“I get it,” I said, making him chuckle. “So, what do we do now?”
“Why don’t you come home and—”
I adamantly shook my head. “No.”
“But, Aiden, I need to be able to examine you. To retest and see how much worse it’s gotten and then come up with a plan.”
“Then, come here.”
“To North Carolina?” He sounded incredulous.
“Yes. Why not?”
“Well, for starters—”
“Can we figure it out? That’s all I need to know.”
He breathed out a sigh of frustration. I could hear his wheels turning from here. “I guess I could figure something out. It might take me a few weeks though. Your case isn’t exactly textbook. If you were a fifty-year-old patient coming into my office, I’d know exactly what to do, but you’re not. You’re thirty-three, and this is—”
“Rare. I get it.”
“I’m sorry,” he sighed. “Yes, I can do it. I’ll research everything. I’ve already put some feelers out, trying to get in contact with a couple of colleagues who’ve had similar patients. But can I ask why? Why are you so intent on not coming home?”
I paused for a moment, my gaze focused on the lawn and the sparkling water beyond. “Because this is my home now, James. With her.”
“And when your brother shows up to help you out with this mystery medical problem you haven’t told her about?”
“Let me handle that,” I said. “Just worry about your end.”
“Okay,” he said.
This time, it was me who chuckled, hearing my brother say the word that drove Millie crazy.
