Page 68 of Forced Proximity
“Try again,” I urged. “Maybe they’ll at least help.”
She nodded. “I could at least try.”
I thought about the day I had ahead of me and said, “What would it take to persuade you to take the day off?”
She hesitated. “What are you doing exactly that you think you need me to stay?”
I swallowed hard and then said, “Planning the funeral of two of my best friends…and identifying a body.”
Her breath hitched. “They don’t have any family?”
“I was their family.” I cleared my throat. “I was all they have. And they were all I had.”
Just thinking about them no longer being here felt like I couldn’t draw a complete breath.
“Oh, Finnian,” she murmured as she leaned up. “I’ll stay. I didn’t know.”
I cleared my throat. “I feel weak for even asking but…”
She sat up and pointed at the shower. “My shower’s the size of a postage stamp, but I think we can still fit in there together. I’ll get ready, then we can go to your place to change. And then we can go. I just have to call and say I won’t be picking up that shift after all.”
“Do that now, and I’ll get the shower turned on.”
So she did, and we enjoyed a shower where I pretended that today wasn’t going to be one of the worst days of my life.
Thirteen
I’m not proud of being crazy, but I’m not ashamed of it either.
—Dru’s secret thoughts
DRU
I’d never been to a morgue before.
I’d seen plenty of dead bodies, of course. But I’d never gone to a morgue specifically to identify a body.
Or, a body that was torn in two.
I stopped Finnian from going back because I wanted to get a good look at Elaine before he did, so I could prepare him.
But once I did, I knew that I couldn’t let him go back.
The woman was traumatized.
There was no way I was letting him see her like this.
I caught a look at the report that was on the chart, and I gritted my teeth.
Fifteen weeks pregnant.
Fucking, god.
That was something he didn’t need to know.
I moved the chart, shoving it on another table in the corner of the room, then covered Elaine up with a sheet, pulling it all the way up to her chin.
He didn’t need to see any more than that.
