Member-only story
Eyes of Ocean Blue
What lies will we tell next?
The air feels tight in the front seat of the car. He’s only an arm’s length away, but he may as well be in another universe. The tension rolls off him in waves.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks, and there’s such anguish in his voice that my heart squeezes in my chest.
I look down at my lap, at my folded hands and the chipped nail polish that could use another coat when I finally get back home. Home. After the last few days I had, it’ll be a relief to be back in my apartment — what’s become my sanctuary in the past few months with the revolving door to the hospital.
“I didn’t know how to,” I say, and I don’t even dare to look his way as I speak. It’s almost as if I fear the tears will rise and spill out of my eyes before I have a chance to stem the tide. Crying in front of him — that might actually break us both. “I’m not your responsibility. We just went out on a few dates. It was fun and everything, but this — this is the kind of stuff that changes lives.”
“Then why did the hospital call me?” He shoots out the question as if he just pulled the trigger on a gun, and I feel the hit of it immediately. It’s a blow even if he doesn’t mean to be.
“I don’t know,” I say, though that’s a lie. I had his business card in my wallet. It must have…
