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Prologue
Mia
“I’m so sorry, Mia He didn’t make it”
My lips feel numb as I say the words, “He’s dead?”
Dr Solorave “Yes I’m so very sorry”
The ood thing because I don’t want hi
Elation Relief Complete and utter relief
Oliver is dead
I want to laugh
“Mia, are you okay? Maybe you should sit down”
I feel Dr Soloroom
I can’t believe Oliver’s dead
I can feel the relief bubbling up inside me
“Could I have some water?” I ask Dr Solomon
“Of course”
He leaves the roorateful for the moment alone
Oliver is dead
I’m free
Free
I wrap ht
In exhilaration? In comfort?
Maybe both
I guess I should feel sorief that my father is dead
But honestly I don’t I really and truly don’t
And I’lad about that
Happy
Then I feel so form on my lips
So time; not for real anyway A smile
I touch a finger to my lips
There it is; an honest to god smile
I hear movement by the door – Dr Solomon
I force the smile away and relax my features to neutral
Dr Solomon takes the seat beside me and hands ainst ers makes me shiver
He puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes it in co from shock
I want to push his hand off I hate people touchingme
“Is there anyone I can call?” he asks
He’s asking this, but he knows there isn’t anyone Oliver was my only family
I shake my head
“Are you going to be okay?” he asks, releasing his hand fro it back in his lap
I glance up at him and nod
I can’t speak because if I do, I’ll quite possibly tell that I’ to be more than okay
Not really what I should be sayingout that my father has just died, but it’s the truth For the first tioing to be okay
Chapter One
Mia
Eight months later…
I push an errant strand of hair back withdown the roll of tape, I survey the boxes piled around s to give to Goodwill It’s been eight months since he died of a heart attack, but trustonto theof his, but now the house has finally sold after being on the o
I feel no sadness Nothing Just relief that he’s gone, and then a big black void of emptiness I’ve felt this exact way from the moment I found out he’d died
How ironic it is that he died of a heart attack? The great Oliver Monroe, respected and revered heart surgeon, dies from a heart attack
I like to think of it as divine retribution
The only one who could have saved him was himself Maybe punishment does eventually come to those who deserve it I need to believe that because it’s the only thing that’s keepingon
You know the saying ‘from bad to worse’? Well, my situation is kind of like that, but more like ‘from worse, to a diluted version of worse, but still shit nonetheless’
I moved out of my home—it’s a joke for me to call it that A home is somewhere you feel safe, but I hadn’t felt safe in this house for even a moment
I woke up one night, panicked and terrified froet er trapped; that I could leave this place that closeted htmares
So the next day, I put the house on the ht an apartment close to school and close to my boyfriend Forbes
We started dating a month after Oliver died
The instant I’d realized I was free of my father, I went a little wild Well, wild forI had never been allowed to do before
I didn’t really knohat I was looking for, or what I was hoping to find … but that hen I found Forbes
Or maybe he found me
We met in a bar He approachedI was flattered No one had ever paidI said mattered
I fell into him like he was a vat of melted chocolate, but I later found out that Forbes is more like quicksand