Down Fall (Fallen Duet 2)

I spun around, seeing what she was doing, and blinked. She’d covered the sofa in mismatched pieces of pastel-colored fabric, but it somehow worked. She was pulling the fabric taut on one of the covers and hot-gluing it into place.

“Holy shit, Jan.”

“I know.” She pressed down on the edge of the cushion and placed it in the middle. “I’m a genius.” She stepped back and looked down at the sofa. “You need a couple of throw cushions. I’ll make you some.”

“Make me some?”

“Yep.” She rifled through the bag and pulled out a shower curtain and some stickers. “Now for the bathroom.”

“The bathroom?”

“What are you? A parrot.” She hip-checked me on the way past to the bathroom. “I had these pretty shell stickers left from when Aria was making her school project. I figured they could brighten up your tiles above the sink. Why don’t you make us some breakfast while I do this? I’ll leave the shower curtain for Sal to hang. God knows he’d turn into The Hulk if we did any ‘fixing things.’”

It suddenly made sense why Sal had brought her with him yesterday. She was scoping out the entire apartment and seeing what it needed. They were sneaky, sneaky people.

My eyes started to water. How had these people come into my life and not thought twice about helping me? Neither of them knew exactly what I had lived in, but I had a suspicion that Sal had told Jan his theories. They were as thick as thieves, both in and out of the diner.

“Okay,” I finally managed to whisper, sniffling back the tears that threatened to break free. I’d been an emotional wreck for what felt like weeks, any little thing setting me off, and I had no doubt it all started with finding out who Brody really was.

I pulled a package of bacon out of the refrigerator, along with some eggs, and warmed a pan on the stove. I didn’t have much to provide in the way of breakfast, but you could never go wrong with bacon and eggs.

Jan whistled some random nursery rhyme tune as I whisked the eggs. She always seemed to be singing or whistling something around the diner, and I wondered if she was even aware she was doing it.

Shaking my head, I reached for the package of bacon and then opened it. My mouth watered at the thought of crispy bacon, and I couldn’t wait for it to explode on my taste buds and send my mouth into food heaven.

The meat sizzled and popped as soon as I placed it in the pan, but instead of watching it cook and waiting without patience, I gagged at the smell. My rumbling stomach turned, and I had to dart into the bathroom, making it to my knees in front of the toilet just in time to throw up.

Jan squeaked, covering her own mouth and rushing out of the bathroom. I already knew she wasn’t good with vomit because she always made anyone else but her clean it in the bathrooms at the diner, but I didn’t even have it in me to apologize.

As soon as I was finished, I flushed it all away, closed the seat, and laid my head on the lid. I was exhausted. The kind of exhausted that came on so suddenly you weren’t sure you’d be able to move a muscle even if you put every ounce of energy into it.

“Hon?” There were two raps at the bathroom door. “Are you okay?”

“I…” I blew out a breath and lifted my head. “Yeah. I’m good now.” And I was. The roiling in my stomach had gone, and that feeling of food being stuck at the top of my stomach disappeared.

Jan opened the door, her brows low on her forehead and her lips twisted up on one side. “That’s not the first time you’ve been sick in the last couple of weeks.”

“I know.” I winced and placed my palms flat on the floor. I didn’t want to remember throwing up in the bathroom at work and what had caused it. “I’m fine, probably just the paint fumes.” I pushed up off the floor and leaned on the toilet, my head spinning in the process. “I’ll be okay in a few.”

Jan stared at me, her gaze tracking over my face and down my body then back again. “Lola?”

“Did you take the bacon off the stove?” I asked, turning to face the sink and running the cold water. I cupped my hands under the tap and dipped down, sighing when it hit my face.

“I did, but...Lola?”

I pulled the towel off the rack and wiped my face. “Hmmm?”

“Are you…” She trailed off, not finishing her sentence.

I frowned as I turned the tap off and folded the towel up. “Am I what?” I asked, turning to face her fully.

“There’s no chance you’re pregnant, right? Because you’ve been really tired, your feet are hurting, and you’re throwing up because of the smell of bacon.” She leaned against the doorframe.

I barked out a laugh and shook my head. “No. No, I…” My breath stalled in my chest. No, I couldn’t be. I was feeling out of sorts because my life had been turned upside down. Brody, the man who I thought would be it for me, had turned out to be a liar and cheat. I’d only just managed to get away from Hut without him finding out. It was all the changes. It had to be.

My hand fluttered over my lower stomach, and I blinked. We hadn’t used anything, and neither of us had mentioned it. When you’re in the throes of passion and what you thought was love, it didn’t occur to you to be safe. How had I been so stupid?

“I don’t know,” I finally replied on a burst of breath. I looked at Jan, seeing her small smile, but it didn’t make me feel any better. “I don’t know,” I repeated. I couldn’t remember when my last period was. All of the days and weeks seemed to have merged together. It had been two months since Brody and I had slept together, right?