an hour straight, then came over here practically on her knees because you weren’t replying to her texts and she was too busy throwing up to talk on the phone.”
Guilt shot through my body. “Is she okay?”
“Sure, after I called her doctor’s emergency number and was reassured it was likely just pregnancy sickness because the name ‘morning sickness’ is a joke,” Anna spat. “After I held back her hair and got her not throwing up long enough that she could take a shower, I quite literally force fed her some saltine crackers and put her to sleep in your bed so I could keep an eye on her because you were fucking missing.”
“Shit.” I rushed through the apartment and into my room where, as Anna had said, there was an Ivy-shaped lump on one side of my bed. Her hair was fanned out across the pillows, and she was fast asleep, but she was paler than I’d ever seen her.
I watched her for a moment, as her chest rose and fell, making the blankets move with each breath.
Anna grabbed my shirt and pulled me back from the room, pulling the door over. “Don’t you dare wake her up,” she hissed. “It took her an hour to get to sleep because she felt so awful.”
I pushed past her into the living room where I tossed my phone on the sofa. “Fuck. I’m a dick.”
“Well, I won’t argue that,” she replied. “You’re allowed to go out with your friends, Kai. But you have to make sure your phone is charged so she can reach you if she needs to. Regardless of your relationship that you really need to sort out, physically speaking, you’re the person closest to her. If she needs someone, you have to be accessible for her. She’s clearly struggling right now and you need to be responsible about that.”
I perched on the arm of the sofa and ran my fingers through my hair. I couldn’t describe how fucking guilty I felt right now. I couldn’t believe I’d been laughing and drinking with my friends while Ivy had been sick back in my own apartment while my sister looked after her.
And all because I’d forgotten to charge my phone.
Anna slapped the back of my head. “Don’t be a fucking baby. You can’t change it now, and you’re not gonna sit there feeling sorry for yourself when she’s been throwing up all night. Go to her apartment, take a shower, then bring your sorry ass back here. I’ll make a bed on the sofa for you.”
“The sofa?”
“Kai William Connors, if you think your sorry ass is going into your bed and disturbing her, you can think again.” She shoved some keys into my hand and shoved me off the sofa. “You can feel miserable when you’re done showering. Now fuck off.”
Fighting with her was futile, so I left without a word and let myself into Ivy’s apartment. It was weird being here without her, but I brushed off those thoughts and headed for her bathroom.
Shit. I hadn’t grabbed any clothes.
Hopefully Ivy had clean towels that weren’t pink.
After a detour to her linen closet to retrieve a towel that thankfully was not pink, I stepped into her bathroom.
The thick stench of vomit filled the air, and I felt too guilty to even revolt at it. Instead of getting in the shower, I went back to the kitchen for some cleaning products and a cloth, then set to cleaning her bathroom.
By the time I was done, the smell was all but gone, and both her toilet and her sink sparkled.
It was the least I could do.
With that done, I quickly showered. I felt ten times better in general after doing so, although the heaviness of my dead phone still weighed down on me.
It’d been a long, rough week with Ivy. We’d been forced together faster than either of us had ever imagined we would be, and it was easy to forget that as my life moved forward as normal, she couldn’t even have a night with her friends without feeling unwell.
I dried myself off and changed back into my dirty clothes. It didn’t feel good, but it was all I had, and I wasn’t going to wander across the hall in a towel.
There were enough people in this little town talking about me and Ivy right now.
I made sure I locked up behind me and her apartment was secure, then let myself back into mine. The only light that was on was the