Chapter 9

Pax and I parted on bad terms.

Four days before I left the country, she was hospitalized. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any more ridiculous, Nina tried to kill herself.

“She’s got serious depressive tendencies.”

“It’s just an apology.”

Pax stood before me, fingers pressed to his forehead, as if the weight of this conversation had exhausted him. The dim hospital lights cast deep shadows under his eyes–evidence of a sleepless night.

I wondered if he had spent the night here, at her bedside.

He exhaled slowly, his patience fading by the second. “Wouldn’t you?”

I stared at him, my lips curling in amusement.

An apology?

I almost laughed.

“Of course,” I said, my assent easy, almost nonchalant.

Then I walked into her room.

The place smelled sterile and artificial, like disinfectant, with a hint of metal. The monitors beeped at slow, rhythmic intervals, the only sound to break the silence.

Nina sat on the bed, her skin pale under the fluorescent light. Her hair was combed to one side, framing her delicate features and making her look almost ethereal–like a fragile thing that was almost broken.

When she saw me, her lips parted slightly.

I took a step closer and locked eyes with her.

very clearly, I said,

“Apologize, asshole.”

that followed was sharp, suffocating.

as if she really expected me to come here, lower my head, and beg for her forgiveness.

quickly recovered–her expression

tears. Her fingers clenched the hospital blanket, the knuckles

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of Love, Seven Minutes

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as if my words hurt

to admire

really good

rehearsed a thousand times before–Parks was already in

rested on her shoulder,

“Nina don’t-”

Then I reached for my passport, my fingers curled around the familiar edge. Without

if you walk out that door today, we’re really

I paused

fell between us, heavy and

and looked back

watching me, waiting,

Waiting for what?

Am I going to buckle under

we’ve shared?

a slow

I smiled.

“Deal.”

that what I’ve always wanted?

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