Page 134 of Alexander: Alexander's Story

“Yeah, yeah,” he waves his free hand at me. “Go, take your wife to dinner or something. Don’t waste it sitting at a hospital with me.” I chuckle.

“If you insist,” I squeeze his hand once more and get up to leave.

“Hey,” he says, stopping me. “She likes the Italian place on West. It’s close to the house, too.” I shake my head but take his word for it.

“Love you, Connie.”

“Love you too, kiddo.”

THIRTY-THREE

Alex

Matt is nice enough to catch a ride home with Niko, so I can borrow his car and give Emma a ride.

She and I are the second to last group to leave, with only Max and Silas sticking around till the very end of visiting hours.

“Take care, kid,” Max says to Emma when I pull her away.

She looks tired, mirroring how I feel, but there isn’t a chance in hell I’m taking her home without a decent meal.

“Come on,” I pull her into the hall, then hold her hand as we walk. I can’t believe she’slettingme hold her hand. A fucking miracle.

Halfway to the elevator, I realize she’s crying. Pulling her to a stop, I ask, “What’s wrong?”

“H-he looked so weak. And pale. And my heart hurts for him. A-and then I wondered, is that what I looked like?” She looks up at me.

She looked worse. She looked a step away from death. Connie looked like a fucking warrior compared to her.

“You were…things were touch and go for a while, and yes, I know the feeling.” I push a piece of curly hair behind her ear. “My heart hurt then, too.”

Her nose scrunches, and she turns to keep walking.

I help her get in the car, hold her door, and follow right behind her.

“Can you drop me off at the condo? Is that alright?”No.

“I-I thought you would just stay with us?”

“Oh…um, I don’t…I think it’s probably wisest if–” I can’t handle this.

“Em, Iwantyou to stay with us. There’s an empty guest suite beside mine.” She’s still quiet, looking out the windshield and not at me. “Please, I just need to go to sleep knowing you’re safe tonight.”

I lay my hand out flat, my elbow resting on the center console, like an offering. Would she take it?

Her fingers slowly slide against mine in acceptance.

I thread our hands together and head towards the Italian restaurant on West, just like Connie said.

“I love this place. How’d you know?” she asks. I hadn’t known. There’s apparently a lot I don’t know about her. Like that, she goes to NYU. Is she still studying anthropology? Fuck, what’s even her favorite color?

“Connie’s suggestion. It’s also close to the house.” She knows that though; she’d been there before at least a dozen times with me. Maybe more just to see Constantine.

I get her door for her when we arrive, and she leads the way. The place is small and quaint. The lights are dim, and there’s an open booth calling our name. One of the servers seats us, and I debate ordering a drink to take the edge off my nerves.

“Can I get you something to drink, a bottle of wine?” Our server asks, and I look at Emma, but she shakes her head.

“Just a Sprite, please, if you have it. If not, club soda is great.” Since when did she drink either of those things?