“Oh, so now you care?”

I grind my molars together and try to hold back my tongue. I know she’s attempting to keep me at arm’s length. It’s so obvious, and even though I know she’s doing it on purpose to protect herself, it doesn’t mean I’m not hurt or annoyed by it.

“I don’t want to argue with you. Let’s just get ready for the day, okay? We can talk about the semantics of everything later. I just want to get you to Nichole so you can be with her.”

I’m ready for her to tell me to fuck off or to keep arguing, but instead, she lightly nods and then moves toward the bedroom and into the bathroom.

I let out a deep exhale.

Fuck, this is going to be harder than I expected.

* * *

MYLA

“Where’s Ryot?” Nichole asks as she shakily lifts her donut to her mouth and takes a bite.

I shrug. “Somewhere in the hospital.”

“Why? Shouldn’t he be in here?”

“No. Why would he be in here?”

Nichole gives me a look. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. Now let’s talk about something else, like your treatment.”

“Do you really think that’s something I want to talk about?”

“It’s something I want to talk about. I need the details of everything so we can beat this.”

She sighs and leans back in her bed. “Myla, I’m not beating this. I would rather talk about your future and what you’re going to do.”

“Stop saying you’re not going to beat this. Have you gotten a second opinion yet? Sure, you started treatment, but there must be something else we can do, someone else we can talk to. Aren’t there experimental drugs we can try? We need to think outside of the box.”

“I know this is hard for you because you’re just now hearing about it—”

“You’re damn right this is hard for me,” I shout as I stand and push my hand through my hair. “Jesus Christ, Nichole, you should have told me. You had more than enough opportunities to tell me.”

“As you’re going through a divorce? Do you really think you could have handled all of that?” Why does everyone else believe they know what I can and can’t handle?

“The divorce could have been put on hold. All of that could have been put on hold.”

“So you could push him away?” Nichole asks. “Like you’re doing now?”

“No,” I answer, even though I know it’s a lie. “I’m not pushing him away.”

“Uh-huh. So call him, bring him in here.”

“Nichole, stop. This isn’t about him.”

“No, this is about us,” she snaps. “And as much as you might hate to admit it, Ryot is a part of us. He has been for a while. So call him up and ask him to come in here if everything is fine.”

I twist my mouth to the side, and despite it all, I reach for my phone and start to text him, but she stops me and says, “No, call him. I don’t want you sending him any kind of code.”