With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men 4)

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Even though I didn’t do any of the things I craved, I still felt completely satisfied in that moment. Because I’d made Zoey smile.

The apartment was quiet when I let myself inside after class. I thought I was home alone until I heard a strange sound down the hall. Immediately apprehensive, I froze.

It took a couple seconds for my vocal chords to work up the courage and function before I could hesitantly call out. “Hello? Cora?”

“Back here,” I thought I heard her answer.

Unease prickled the back of my neck, so I dropped my book bag to the floor and hurried down the hall and into her room. I heard the vomiting from her bathroom as soon as I entered.

“Oh, no.” Dashing past her bed, I flew toward the opened doorway and skidded to a halt in the entrance of the bathroom.

Cora sat on her knees in front of the toilet, her back arched up with the force of her heaves as she emptied her stomach.

“Cora!” My knees weakened and I almost landed beside her on the cool tile. But I managed to sit on the edge of the bathtub so I could gather her hair out of her face. “What’s happening? Are you okay?”

For a couple minutes, she was too busy to answer. I had to look away so I didn’t get sick myself, but the sound and the smell still turned my stomach, and I gagged more than once.

Tears were matted to Cora’s face as she came up for air. “I’m fine,” she finally said, wiping her cheeks clean. “It’s just nausea.”

Just nausea my butt. But I nodded and left her for a moment to fetch her a glass of water. When I returned, I watched her gulp the entire cup full.

“Could...” She had to pause to regain her voice before she asked, “Could you get my Nauzene in the bottom drawer next to my bed?”

She so rarely let me help her. Eager to do something, I stood up so fast I made the blood rush to my head. The dizziness blurred my vision for a moment before I could kneel beside her bottom drawer and pull it open.

I swear, the entire thing was filled with medicine, some prescriptions, some over the counter, and some vitamins. “My God,” I murmured, wondering how much of this she had to take every day.

Two minutes later, I still hadn’t found what she needed. She finally had to call, “The bottle’s in a white box, blue words.”

I spotted it seconds later and pulled it free. After shutting the drawer, I returned to the bathroom. I wanted to question and lecture her so bad.

She rarely followed any of her dietitian’s suggestions. And as often as I tried to feed her the right food, I really didn’t see her most of the day, so she could be eating anything when I wasn’t around. And I had no idea how much alcohol she drank.

“Go ahead,” she mumbled after she chewed and swallowed her pill.

I blew out a breath. “You’re not going to die, Cora,” I said, and then I shook my head because that was probably one of the worst things I could’ve said. But, really... “I’m here to help. This is going to pass. And the dialysis will be over soon. Just a couple more months and you’ll have a new kidney, and you won’t have to worry about any of this again. I know you said you wanted to live your life how you wanted because no one knew how long they had left, but not watching your diet is just going to make you miserable and maybe even delay things until you can get through this.”

Cora closed her eyes and bowed her head before pressing a palm to her temple. “I know,” she reluctantly admitted. “You’re right. I just...It’s easier to pretend nothing is wrong when I eat...whatever. And drink...whatever.”

“I know.” I cringed, wishing I could trade places with her, even just for a day so she could get a little escape. Just a small respite. “But—”

Down the hall, someone knocked on the front door. A second later, a familiar voice called, “Hello? Cora?”

Cora and I exchanged a glance, mine begging her to finally just confess everything, hers pleading with me to keep silent.

I blew out a surrendering breath as footsteps drew near. Another knock fell outside her bedroom. “Cora?”

“In here,” I said. Cora sliced me with a lethal glare half a second before Quinn appeared in the bathroom’s opened doorway.

He took one look at his girlfriend still planted on the floor in front of the toilet and bolted inside.

“Oh my God. What happened? Are you okay?”

Cora shook her head and lifted a hand. “I’m fine. It’s nothing. Just...the flu, I think.”

Quinn landed on his knees beside her and instantly pressed his palm to her forehead. “You don’t have a fever. Does your stomach hurt?”