Page 143 of Heartbreak & Cupcakes
SADIE
I staredout the window as Charli drove me home and tried to wrap my mind around everything that had transpired at the hospital. My head was still pounding as I attempted to digest the U-turn my life had just taken. Everything had happened so quickly.
Alex and I broke up. The nurse came to take me for my MRI. The doctor came in to discharge me and spoke to me about my bloodwork. I found out I am going to be a mom.
It was a lot to process.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Charli asked as we turned onto Market.
“Yes,” I replied weakly. “Just not right now.”
Charli had explained that she ran into Alex as he left the hospital and she’d known he “fucked up” because he looked like he wanted to puke. I found it ironic that I was the one who was pregnant, yet he was the one who was green around the gills.
I knew when it happened. I had a sinus infection the week before the dinner cruise and took antibiotics. It must have been the night on the roof.
“Do I need to kill him? You know I’d get away with it.True Crimeis my shit and I have access to a mortuary incinerator. I can easily dispose of a body.”
“No. You don’t need to kill him.” I sighed not truly having the strength for this conversation but knowing that she would not let it go if I didn’t address the situation. “I was the one who broke up with him.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw that her head spun toward me. “Don’t lie just to get him out of trouble.”
“I’m not.” I turned to look out the window so that she would not see the tears pooling in my lower lids. “I told him to leave.”
“Why? Why would you do that?”
“Because I saw what me getting hurt did to him…to us. It changed something…” I didn’t know how to explain it. I wasn’t sure that Charli would understand. How could she? She’d never felt the way it felt when Alex looked at me. It was like the sun was shining on me and when it changed, the shadow it cast was cold. That was the best way that I could explain it but I didn’t think that would make sense, so instead I explained, “He’s not ready to be with someone.”
And I honestly didn’t think he ever would be. It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t done anything wrong or lied to me. He’d told me that he would try, but he couldn’t make me any promises. I’d known that this was a trial run. And I’d just had to get robbed during our relationship’s probationary period.
It wasn’t the best luck.
I would have thought that my mugging and subsequent breakup would have been the biggest things that I would be dealing with, but after Dr. Lowe came to talk to me about my blood work, those two events paled in comparison.
“You’re high on pain killers. He loves you. He might not think he’s ready, but he is.”
I wasn’t actually high on painkillers. Not after the results of my blood work came back, that is. I was going to be recuperating with OTC pain meds.
“This conversation is not over.” Charli decreed as she pulled up beside my car in the back of my building. “But it will have to be on pause. I need to get you settled and then go pick up your dad from the airport.”
I nodded when I saw someone walking down my steps. I knew those shoes.
I opened my door and started to get out. “Dad! You’re here!”
His flight wasn’t scheduled to come in for another hour.
“I got an earlier flight and took a cab.” He said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “I called the hospital but they said they kicked you out already. And don’t shout, you have brain damage.”
“I don’t have…” I started to correct him but decided against it. I was just so happy to see him.
He’d barely made it to the bottom of the stairs when I threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly. His arms wrapped around me gently and I allowed myself the comfort of being in his embrace. I hadn’t realized how much I missed him, how safe I felt with him hugging me until this moment. It was like all the past few months just came crashing down on me.
The uncertainty of opening Sweet Temptations.
The fire.
Falling in love with Alex and Lexi.
The mugging.
