Page 92 of My Little Doe
“Everyone else must be hungover,” I said.
He laughed. “Probably.”
We walked into Lina’s home, and Callie and Lina were sitting on the couch watching a movie. The aroma of Italian food hit us as soon as we walked in. My mouth watered. Then I thought of the last time I had lasagna. My stomach grumbled, and not in a good way. Annabelle. I hadn't seen her since that night she said too much. I often wondered if things would have gone differently if she’d been there that night. I could still be pregnant. I’d be in mythird trimester now. His movements would have been bigger and more frequent. What if I hadn’t told Quinn about what she said?
“Hey Zay!” Callie and Lina said at the same time.
“And yet nothing for me,” Quinn said.
“Hey, my darling Quinn,” Lina said.
“Oh, hi, my favorite Titi,” he said.
She laughed, and then we all joined in laughing.
“Lasagna will be done soon. We were just watching a movie,” Lina said.
“Oh… lasagna,” Quinn said, then he dropped his head.
“What’s wrong with lasagna? I thought it was one of your favorites?” Callie asked.
“It is…” he said, then turned his head toward me.
“Do you not like lasagna, Zalayuh?” Lina asked.
“Actually, it’s one of my favorite dinners… but he’s probably worried because back home I was drugged with lasagna one night,” I said.
“Fucking Ravik,” Callie muttered.
“Would you like something else, sweetheart?” Lina asked.
“No, absolutely not. I almost drooled when I walked in,” I said.
“Titi does make a mean lasagna,” Callie said.
“While we’re waiting, we can go to the office and do a visit,” Lina said.
“Sure, let’s get that over with,” I said.
“Alright, you two hang out here,” Lina said.
She stood up and started walking into the kitchen. She looked behind her and nodded at me to follow her. She walked through a door, and we walked into a garage—no, a garage converted into an office. I looked around, taking it all in. My eyes stopped at the rocking chair that sat next to the bed. It was the one that had been in the cabin. I stared at it longer. There was an L engraved intothe back of the chair. I hadn’t realized it was a letter before, barely wanting to look at it.
“Lie on the bed there,” Lina said.
“Yes, mam’,” I said to her.
I removed my shoes at the door, as she did. Then walked over to the bed and laid down. She grabbed her blood pressure cuff and slid it up my arm.
“How have you been feeling?” she asked.
“Honestly, back to normal,” I told her.
“That’s good. Has the bleeding stopped?”
“Yep, a couple weeks ago.”
“That’s great,” she said. She placed the bell of her stethoscope on my elbow and then inflated the cuff. She watched the gauge as she pumped and then slowly released it. “Perfect, one-o-seven over seventy-one.”
