Page 13 of Rise & Fall

“I’ll email them tomorrow. I’m hoping to get out of my rotation as soon as possible, but there’s a chance they’ll need me to work my next set of shifts with such short notice.”

“Hopefully they’ll understand.” I make a mental note to prepare for the next week; if the hospital wants me to work my last four shifts, that means absolutely no personal life for a whole week as the bar owner wants me to work four-seven hour shifts throughout the week and I can’t imagine working that on top of the forty hours at NC General.

“You should get to bed soon. Do you need anything?” I ask my mom. She’s stubborn when it comes to doing what’s best for her.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll see you in the morning.” She smiles at me.

“I’ve got Em. So don’t rush yourself awake.” I kiss her on the head before heading up to the guest room.

My mom’s nurses said they’d prefer me to live with her if possible, and she very much disagreed. Not because she didn’t want me around but because she didn’t want to strip me of my freedom. So I compromised and got an apartment five minutes away from Mom. Though most nights I’ve been staying at her house when she’s feeling the worst, but more so now to help with Em in the morning.

I change into my sleep shorts and t-shirt, then wash my face and brush my teeth before jumping into bed. I plug my phone into the charger and lay it on the nightstand as I pull my comforter over me and try to get cozy, settling my head into my pillow. But then, my phone buzzes. I sigh in annoyance and almost don’t turn to reach for it.

I’m surprised to see that the text is from Nolan.

Sorry for not getting back to you earlier. I was getting Aria ready for bed.

Reading his text, my heart unexpectedly thumps faster in my chest.

Before I have any more time to overthink the way I’m feeling right now, another text comes through.

I think the girls mentioned swimming. Is that okay? We can meet here right after school.

Again, my heart pounds against my rib cage. Something about this feels so… new. I don’t know how to explain what I’m feeling, but whatever this is, it needs to go away.

I push down the butterflies fluttering in my throat, and I think about the timing. I start my first night at the bar tomorrow at eight. And I have to get Em to her dad’s beforehand. Two hours of swimming and then two hours to get her where she needs to be before I start my shift.

That should work.

I text back, intentionally keeping it short as I let my phone slip out of my hand and lower my eyelids. Something warm crawls around inside me and I am really starting to hate the way that feels.

Then my phone buzzes again.

Perfect.

I read his text before I stare up at the dark ceiling for a moment. Why does it feel so intimate to be texting a man this late at night, I chalk it up to the fact that I haven’t had real interaction with a man since I’ve been living back home. Sleepy and overthinking, I stumble to text back.

That should work.

As soon as I hit send, I realize that I sent the same exact response that I did to his first text.Gosh, what the hell is wrong with me?He must think I’m absolutely ridiculous.

See you tomorrow, DJ.

He did that on purpose. Responded with a text that can’t be responded to. Which, thank goodness because I obviously can’t seem to have a conversation. He’s doing us both a favor by ending this one.

I decide to take a deep breath and prepare myself for the most grown-up thing I’ve had to do since I’ve become an adult. A playdate.

I place my phone back on the nightstand beside me and rollover to get some sleep.

But without warning, my phone vibrates again! I let out an annoyed groan as I eagerly reach for the damn thing thinking Nolan might have forgotten something. But when the screen lights up and I look to see who the message is from, my heart drops. This time, in the worst way.

I haven’t talked to him since the day I left him naked at his front door. The day I ended our engagement and decided I was completely over guys. All of them.

But I open his message, unfortunately interested in what he has to say, and the three words that I read will haunt me tonight. Three words I thought I’d never hear from him.

Three little words.

I miss you.