Page 20 of Angel

Angelo opened his mouth, probably to question me some more, but I cut him off.

“I need Sophia,” I rasped. “Please. Call Sophia. I need to talk to her.”

“Okay. But...”

I stared him down, silently begging him. He nodded and pulled out his phone.

My eyes fell back down to my lap.

All these years… How could it be I forgot about something so big so easily?

And then, even more crazily, how could it be I remembered so quickly?

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but it didn’t budge.

I needed my sister. She was the only one I could talk to. The only one who understood. The only one who had answers to my questions.

“She’s not answering,” Angelo announced. “I’ll send her a text telling her to get in touch. Should I tell her about the asthma attack?”

“Just tell her it’s important,” I quietly said. “I don’t want her to freak out about me being in the hospital. Thank you.”

What time was it anyway? Maybe Sophia was still asleep. Or maybe she didn’t want to talk to Angelo. She’d pretty much kicked him out of our apartment. Would she answer if a call came in from my phone?

Maybe not. We hadn’t exactly parted on good terms.

It didn’t matter anyway. My cell was back at Angelo’s family’s house along with everything else I packed.

“I’ll try texting Dominic,” Angelo announced, standing up and typing away on his phone.

“Dominic?”

“To see if Sophia is on a job. He’ll know if she is.”

“Oh.”

Angelo didn’t look at me. Instead he paced about the small room, keeping his head turned away from mine. Something about his body posture was off.

Was there something he wasn’t telling me?

He lowered his phone but still didn’t look at me. Instead he went over to the window and fiddled with the curtains.

“Do you want some light? I can open these a bit.”

“No, it’s fine. Thanks.”

“What about food? Are you hungry?”

“No.”

He finally turned back to me.

“The nurse said I could call her once you woke up. They ran some tests on you once you got here. Everything is fine.”

“Okay,” I rasped. “Uh, but let’s wait a minute. Did Dominic text you back?”

“Not yet.”

His phone beeped and he looked down at it. “That’s him.”