Page 52 of Angel

---

I don’t know what happens next.

But I know I won’t trade myself for it.

He reads it slowly. Then nods.

“Good,” he says quietly.

That’s all. But it’s everything.

The morning of the appointment arrives faster than I expect. The sky is pale and washed-out when I wake. I lie still for a minute, listening to Angel breathe beside me. I focus on the rhythm instead of the noise in my head. We move quietly, getting ready. Angel pulls on his boots while I brush my hair. He catches my eye in the mirror.

“You don’t have to be brave,” he says.

“I know.”

“But you are anyway.” My throat tightens.

“Only because you’re standing next to me,” I say.

He steps forward and presses his forehead to mine.

No grand speeches.

No promises.

The clinic waiting room feels both familiar and foreign. Like a place I’ve been through a hundred times in another life. I lace my fingers through Angel’s. His grip is warm.

“You, okay?” he murmurs.

“No,” I say softly.

“Good,” he replies. I blink at him.

“You don’t have to be,” he clarifies. “We just go in honest.”

Honest.That’s our new rule.

When they call my name, I stand without hesitation. My heart is pounding. As we walk down the hallway, I feel the fear rise. And Angel’s hand in mine tells me he’s keeping the same one.

Chapter Twenty

Angel

The call comes in while I’m at the garage. Wrench is mid-sentence about a timing issue on a custom build, gesturing with a wrench as if it personally offended him, when my phone lights up with Stevie’s name. My stomach drops before I even answer. I step away automatically, already halfway toward the open bay doors.

“Angel,” she says, breathless with an edge to her voice. That scares me more than screaming ever could.

“I’m here,” I say immediately. My voice is steady. It has to be. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s… there’s blood.” The world narrows.

“How much?” I ask.

Calm.

Measured.

Every word deliberate.

---