Page 41 of Until Now
“You hit your head on a rock, Nick. We need to make sure you don’t have a concussion. Stai sanguinando, what if you need stitches?”
“Nina, I don’t—”
“Stiamo andando all'ospedale.” No argument in my voice. Pure authority. This is not up for discussion.
Kai offers his hand to help Nick stand, but he waves it off. He stands only to stumble but catches himself on one of the boulders. He needs to goto the hospital.
“Sorry, man. I was just—”
“Stay the fuck away from him,” I stop Lee from getting too close. “Qual è il tuo problema?”
Kai leads Nick towards the garage where Eileen waits with my keys and wallet. He’s still fighting them, he doesn’t want to go, but I don’t care. He’s going. I need to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion.
“It’s not my fault he can’t take a hit, Nin.”
“Can’t take a hit? You tackled him nelle fottute rocce! We don’t tackle, Lee. You know that. L'hai fatto apposta.” He tries to reach for me, but I shove his hand away. Nick tries to move toward us, but Kai holds him back. There’s no way he can confront Lee in his current state.
Lee tries to reach for me again, “Nina, come on. I’m sorry.”
“Lee, lo giuro…if you don’t back up—”
“That’s not what you were saying the other night.”
“You fucking wish.”
“You’re choosing him over me?” Lee still hot on my trail.
“You chose first, Lee.” Just before I reach the garage, he grabs my hand. Without hesitation, I slap him and he staggers back a step, stunned. “Stay the hell away from us.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Since we gotback from the hospital, I have refused to leave his side, even after he fell asleep two hours ago. The hospital says they don’t believe he has a concussion, but I still need to watch for the signs, just in case. They gave Nick eight stitches. Eight. I hope he doesn’t hate me after this. I mean, he’s going to have a scar on the side of his head now. Eileen brought leftovers from dinner down about twenty minutes ago, but I’m almost too tired to eat. The only thing keeping me going right now is coffee.
“No wine? That’s not like you,” Eileen jokes, but I’m not in the mood. So much is going on, so much I don’t even understand. I can’t even begin to describe the panic I felt when I saw Nick tumble into those rocks. The idea of something happening to him scares the shit out of me. “What is going on with you, Nin?”
“Niente,” I snap and Eileen reels back. Shit, I didn’t mean to snap at her. “I’m sorry, I just…I’m fine. Everything is fine, Lina. There’s nothing you need to worry about.”
“It’s very obvious you’re not fine. Maybe everyone else is okay ignoring it, but I’m not. And, I know it’s not just about Lee.” Eileen reaches over and holds my hand. I want to tell her. I need to tell someone, to finally get it off my chest. But, I can’t. What if it backfires? “You can tell me.”
“We’re not… We’re not together.”
“What?” Eileen laughs, but it fades when I don’t join her.
“Nick and I aren’t together.” Saying it out loud…hurts? It physically makes my heart ache to finally say it out loud. It’s like before, I could almost believe the lie, believe we were together. But, saying it out loud, makes it true.
“What?”
“He’s pretending to be my boyfriend.”
“What?”
“Are you a parrot?” I sip my coffee. For a moment, neither of us says anything as Eileen soaks in the information. “Mother was adamant I have someone here to make it less awkward. It didn’t matter that I’m her daughter and didn’t want to see my ex-boyfriend. She was gonna set me up with someone…the neighbor, actually. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“So you what — picked some random guy off the street?”
“Not exactly.”
“Is he an escort?”