“I patch people up.” He lowers the space and presses his mouth onto my skin, so the corners of our lips touch just at the edges. “And that’s what I want to do with your heart, Maggie. I want to do everything I can to patch it up and make it whole again.” I hold my head as still as possible, though everything in me wants to burst. “If you let me, I’ll do everything in my power to help you heal.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“When are you coming back? I didn’t think you’d be gone already!” Cora squeals on the other end of the line. I drop another egg onto the pan and it sizzles instantly. I twist toward Mikey and mouth ‘How many do you want?’ He holds up four fingers. Glad to see his appetite is back.
“I don’t know, Cora. It’s not so easy for me to get back and forth between home and school without a car.” The edges of the egg whiten as the heat bubbles through it, and after a few more seconds I scrape the spatula under it to flip it over.
“Then ask Ran to take you. He seems pretty willing.” I hear her snap a piece of bubble gum loudly into the receiver, followed by a magnified scratching sound, so I assume she’s peeling off the gum that’s now stuck on the phone. “Or maybe I can drive out to get you, leave you with my car, and he can give me another ride on the back of that bike of his.”
“That doesn’t sound like a very good idea.” I pry the edge of the egg up and glimpse the perfectly cooked underside.
“Wrong, that sounds like the best idea ever. Even better than my thesis for my last English paper. You know what? You’ve given me a great idea. I think I’m going to use this subject matter for my next paper. All the reasons why riding Ran is a good idea.”
“You mean riding with Ran.”
“That’s what I said,” she asserts with false innocence in her tone.
“Um, no, it’s not.”
I can see the eye roll without actually having to see it. “Are you claiming him? Because if you are, I’ll lay off.”
I drop three more eggs onto the pan. “I’m not claiming him. He’s not a piece of meat.”
“Um, yeah he is. Thesis statement number two: All the reasons why Ran is a fine piece of meat.”
“I’m not sure when I’m coming back.” I change the subject. “In reality, I don’t really have a reason to come back. I turned in my paper and I’m done for the quarter.”
“Um, hello?” Cora huffs through the phone. “Since when is giving your roommate moral support as she suffers through finals week not reason enough?”
I lift the remaining eggs off the pan, grab the two pieces of freshly toasted bread from the toaster, and plate Mikey’s breakfast for him. He mouths ‘thank you,’ as I settle it down in front of him on the counter.
“I don’t know, Cora. We’ll see. I’ll be back after break for sure. Next quarter is going to be insane.” I’ve already registered for my classes and I have no clue how I’m going to survive with the immense workload rumored from each professor.
“All the more reason you should enjoy your last week of the quarter, responsibility-free.”
“We’ll see.” I hang up the line with Cora and cook two eggs for myself and then slide in next to Mikey. “How are they?”
“Good. Thanks, Sis.” He shoves an overflowing forkful of a soggy, yellow bread mixture into his mouth. “Hey.” He pauses. “Can I tell you something?” Mikey’s voice wavers.
I swivel on the barstool toward him and lower my fork onto my plate. It clinks faintly as it hits the ceramic. “Sure, Mikey,” I say, cautiously. “You can tell me anything. You know that, right?”
He drops his fork onto his now-empty plate and pushes it away from him. Running his hands back and forth over his fuzzy scalp, he looks up at me and says, “I think Sadie might be pregnant.”
It probably wasn’t a good idea to take a sip of orange juice right before Mikey’s declaration, because it burns as it slides back up my esophagus, unable to make its way down. “What?”
“Never mind, I shouldn’t have said anything.” He pushes off of the bar with his palms and chucks his dishes into the sink. They rattle angrily against the stainless tub.