some reason, the sadness of losing Dylan seemed fresh and raw again, but now it was mixed with guilt over somehow betraying him by falling for one of the people his body had saved.
I tried to explain the swirling mixture of emotions to Soraya, but she insisted that I didn’t have anything to feel guilty for. “That asswipe, who knew exactly who you were, is the one that should feel bad. What was he thinking? Did he assume you would never find out?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head sadly, wondering why he had sought me out in the first place. It made sense to have a certain degree of curiosity about your donor’s family, but Oliver had openly pursued me. It was cruel for him to have set me up for renewed heartbreak like this.
“He should be bludgeoned for what he has done,” Soraya seethed, beyond angry. I flinched at her harsh words. Her fiery gaze darted to me when she added, “And that woman! She should lose her job over this. Has she never heard of patient privacy laws? We need to turn her in and make sure she regrets being so loose-lipped.”
I was already shaking my head. While I appreciated Soraya’s vehement rage on my behalf, I didn’t want to punish anyone. “No, Sheila knows that what she did was wrong, and I could tell by her expression on the sidewalk today that she feels horrible and will never do anything like this again. She is a good person. I truly believe this was a one-time thing. Besides, I can’t blame her for falling victim to Oliver’s significant charm, since I did, too.”
“You’re right,” Soraya agreed, “It’s Oliver that needs to pay for this. I’ll never forgive him for hurting you.”
“I don’t want to make him pay,” I said in a flat tone. “I just want to move on and forget this ever happened.
Soraya angled a no-nonsense look at me that let me know she was fully aware that moving on and forgetting about Oliver would be practically impossible for me to accomplish.
Her unwavering gaze had me backpedaling with my words. “Okay, I at least want to try to get back to living my life on my own and figure out a way to make it work without Oliver in it.”
“I’ll help you,” my sweet friend promised, squeezing her arm around my shoulders.
“Thank you,” I tried to infuse my voice with sincerity, since my words fell painfully short of sharing the full sentiment I wanted to express.
Deciding to break the tension with a bit of humor, I added, “Just don’t send a thug after Oliver to rough him up.”
“No promises,” my friend quipped.
“Soraya,” I dragged her name out in a low tone to let her know I meant business.
“Okay, okay… He’s safe from me,” she assured me.
Evidently, her calming words did the trick because the next thing I knew it was morning. I lunged off the sofa, concerned that I was late for work, until I realized it was Sunday. The blanket Soraya had evidently covered me with before leaving fell to the floor.
I stopped short when I saw the strange bouquet on my table. Rather than flowers, it was an enormous arrangement of Hershey chocolate bars, which made it obvious who it was from without needing to read the card.
I chuckled when I saw Soraya’s hastily scrawled note beside it. “This was sitting outside your door. I would have thrown it out, since it’s obviously from Oliver, but there’s no reason to waste perfectly good chocolate. PS. I swiped one for a midnight snack.”
Even though I was furious with Oliver, the chocolate bar bouquet he had sent was calling my name. I dug into one as I threw his card in the trash without bothering to open the envelope to read it. By the time I stopped devouring the chocolate, I had eaten three full-sized bars. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t make me feel a bit better.
“Breakfast of champions,” I muttered to my empty apartment as I walked to the bathroom to shower.
Being clean made me feel marginally better, but I still needed to mope. I donned my comfiest sweats and resumed my spot on the sofa. I tried to read, flipped the television on and back off, and stared off into space. Nothing could hold my attention or ease my sadness, so I decided to take a nap. Perhaps sleep would provide me some solace.
The knock at my door startled me awake. I tried to ignore it,