Chapter 14 #2
He shifted his weight from foot to foot again, nervous. “This stays between us, okay?”
“Okay.” My curiosity peaked.
“So…Ro has a crazy sense of smell.”
My eyes narrowed as I tilted my head, watching him, trying to make sense of what he’d said.
“Ro said that you’d told him you’re diabetic, but you didn’t smell diabetic to him.”
“Seriously?” I didn’t know if that was even a thing. I’d heard of dogs being able to tell if a person was diabetic, but I’d never heard of a person being able to do that.
He nodded. “When he was at your place, he sniffed your insulin and said it smelled wrong. He thought he smelled something that shouldn’t be in it. Something dangerous and harmful to you. He was so freaked out, he took one of your vials to investigate.”
I raised my brows at the huge intrusion of privacy. Rowan should have said something to me right away.
Adan held up his hands. “I know it sounds bad, but it came from a good place. He was worried about you.”
When he had no right to be worried. “If he had any concerns, he should have talked to me about it.”
“Would you have listened?”
“I don’t know.” I probably would have reacted like I was now. “But you have to admit his behavior is a bit creepy.”
“It is. And when he told me what he’d done, I was freaking pissed with the guy.”
“You hurt me, too, because I thought we were friends.”
“We are.”
“Then when you found out what Rowan had done, why didn’t you tell me?” Instead of taking his side.
Adan sighed. “It’s complicated, but I didn’t know at first. When I found out, I didn’t know how to tell you, because by then, I’d learned it wasn’t insulin.”
I put my hands on my hips. He could not be buying into Rowan’s ridiculous theory.
“Before you argue with me, please listen to what I have to say.”
“Fine.”
“I’m worried about what you’re injecting into your body twice a day.” He looked pointedly at me. “All I’m asking is that you at least consider that what you’re taking isn’t insulin. There’s no harm in investigating it, is there?”
He didn’t understand. There was nothing to investigate.
There was no sinister plot. “I think I’ve mentioned to you before that my mom is a geneticist. Well, she actually makes my insulin for me.
Not only is it cheaper for her to make it, but she can adjust it as needed.
Now do you understand why Rowan’s theory is horse shit? ”
His eyes widened slightly. “Your mom makes that stuff you’re injecting into your body?
” His voice shook slightly as he spoke. “Shit.” He turned away from me, running his hands through his hair and kicking a stone.
When he looked back at me, his lips pulled down.
“Are your parents your biological parents?”
The question caught me so off guard, I jerked. “Yes, my parents are my parents.” What kind of question was that? I was about to argue with him when he held his hands up in a placating gesture.
“I’m just asking, not accusing.”
“I have better things to do than stand here arguing about nonsense with you.” Irritation coursed through me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “When you asked me before why I didn’t say anything when I learned that Rowan had taken your medicine, why were you upset?”
We’d been over this. “Because as my friend, you should have said something to me.”
“Exactly. And right now, that’s what I’m doing. I’m acting like a friend and telling you that your medicine isn’t insulin.”
“I appreciate your concern.” I did, honestly. But it was just too much. “I need to go.”
“Laney, wait,” he said, reaching out and grabbing my arm. “I have an idea.” He released me.
“What is it?”
“I say your insulin isn’t insulin, and you say it is.”
“Correct.”
“So let’s take one of your vials to a pharmacy and ask them. If they say it’s insulin, I’ll tell Rowan, and I promise he’ll leave you alone. But if it’s not, then you need to face reality and talk to him.”
“It’s insulin,” I said. While his request sounded reasonable, it was ridiculous to have to do it in the first place.
He shrugged. “Then you have nothing to lose from this and everything to gain.”
“Fine,” I said. “But when they tell us it’s insulin, you better make sure Rowan leaves me alone.”
“I will. I promise.” He smiled. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your room.”
I started heading toward my dorm, Adan at my side. “I don’t think taking it to a pharmacy is feasible.” They wouldn’t take a foreign substance or random medicine and test it for us.
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Yes, actually, I do. How about we enlist Teagan’s help? We can ask her to test it for us or show us how to do it ourselves. It can’t be that hard.” Teagan would probably view it as a challenge.
“Okay. I’ll email and ask her right now.” He pulled out his phone.
“What are you going to tell her?”
“I’m being vague. We have an unknown substance. We want to know if it’s insulin or something else. I’m not going into specifics with her.” When he finished, he slid his phone into his pocket.
At the front doors to my dorm, Adan pulled out his phone, checking his emails.
“She already responded. She says she can run the test for us this weekend while she works on another project for one of her grad classes.”
“Excellent.” Then we could get this over with.
“She just needs the substance to test. If you want to give me a vial, I can swing it by the lab on my way home.”
I swiped my card and opened the door. “Come on up.”
We took the elevator up to my floor, and I unlocked my door. Sarah was lying face down on her bed.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“Fine,” she mumbled, not bothering to move her head when she spoke.
I went over to my fridge and opened it. I only had two doses left. I pulled one out and handed it to Adan. “Don’t drop this. That’s all you get.”
His fingers curled around it. “I’ll be careful.”
“And don’t tell anyone what we’re doing.”
“Got it.”
“Thank you.”
“That’s what friends are for.” He left my room.
I closed my door and texted my mom.
Laney
Is my new batch ready?
Mom
Just about. I left work early and I’m already on my way up to get you.
Laney
I wasn’t expecting you until 9:00.
Mom
Surprise! I’m about 30 min away. See you soon!
I hadn’t even packed for my weekend trip home yet.
“What was that all about with you and Adan?” Sarah asked, rolling over and facing up toward the ceiling.
“Long story. I’ll tell you later. I need to pack.”
She sighed. “This week sucked.”
“Are you doing something with George tonight?” I asked as I got out my duffle bag and unzipped it.
“No. He’s busy all weekend.”
“I have to go home. Want to come with me?”
Sarah sat up on her bed. “Actually, that sounds fun. Count me in.”
“Then get your ass up and pack.”
I peeled my eyes open and stretched. It was good to be home.
Shoving the covers back, I swung my legs over the side of my bed and got up.
It felt strange being back here. I loved my room.
I definitely missed my double bed. Having a twin at school sucked.
I also adored my hardwood floors with my cute area rugs.
It was so much better than the linoleum the dorm room had.
I made my bed, pulling up my ivory bedspread, then arranging the dozen pillows, each a different color.
As I pulled on my fuzzy slippers, I looked around my room.
One of my walls was sage green while the rest were ivory.
I had a cool light hanging from the center of my room.
But my absolute favorite part was the window overlooking the backyard.
Someone had built a window seat there, and I’d decorated it with pillows.
I loved to sit there and read while watching the snow fall in the backyard.
I went over to one of my black and white pictures hanging on the wall, running my hand over it.
It was a picture of Paris. I wanted to go there one day.
Smelling coffee, I knew my dad must be up.
I grabbed a Stonemore sweatshirt and headed downstairs.
Last night, I hadn’t given my mom a heads up that Sarah would be coming home with me.
I figured if I didn’t ask, she couldn’t say no.
When she showed up, she’d simply smiled and welcomed Sarah into the car.
When we got home, she made up the guest room for her.
At first, I assumed Sarah would stay in my room with me.
Then when we realized we always shared a room, we laughed and took the opportunity to have separate rooms. We’d gotten in so late, I hadn’t seen my dad since he was already asleep.
I found my dad sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. He had his laptop open, and it looked like he was either reading a patient file or studying a surgical procedure.
“Morning,” I sang before wrapping my arms around him and giving him a hug from behind.
“It’s good to have you home,” he said. “I hear you brought your roommate.”
“I did. I hope that’s okay.” I went over and got myself a cup of hot tea before taking a seat.
“Of course.”
“Where’s Mom?” She never slept in late and was always the first one up.
“She’s still on her run.” My dad closed his laptop.
My mom ran at least five miles a day. For fun. I took a sip of my tea.
“How are you feeling?” Dad asked.
I sighed. “Fine.” I hadn’t taken my insulin today.
After my conversation with Adan, I’d started to reconsider everything.
Was it possible my medicine wasn’t what I thought it was?
That alone made me hesitate injecting myself with it.
But these were my parents. They wouldn’t lie to me.
“Can I ask you a question?” I twisted the mug between my hands.
“Of course, honey. What is it?”
“Why does Mom make my insulin? Is it because it’s expensive?” I’d thought more about it, and that reason seemed flimsy. My dad was a doctor and my mom a geneticist. They made good money, and we had excellent health insurance.
“Oh.” My dad stood and went over to the sink, rinsing out his mug, his back to me. “You know your mom and her need to be in control all the time. I think making your medicine helps her feel like she’s in control, instead of you having something we can’t beat. Does that make sense?”
I nodded, though I wasn’t sure. For the first time in my life, I honestly wondered if my dad was telling me the truth.
“Why do you ask?” He put his mug away and turned to face me, leaning against the counter.
“I was just thinking that while I’m in college, it might be easier to get my insulin from a pharmacy near campus.
That way Mom doesn’t have to drive all the way up there every month.
” I remember how Sarah thought it was strange that I didn’t have a prescription with a local pharmacy.
While I hated to admit it, there were definitely some things that needed to be investigated.
Everything was probably fine, but there were enough little red flags to warrant a closer look. Not that I’d ever admit it to Rowan.
“Maybe,” my dad said. “I’ll talk to her.”
And now that I was thinking about it, now that my mind was all over the place questioning things I’d never thought to question, I didn’t recall ever going to a doctor before.
If I got sick, my dad took care of me. It never seemed strange before because it was my normal.
All I’d ever known. Now I wondered about it.
Damn Rowan for putting these seeds of doubt in my head.
I took another sip of my tea. I intended to prove Rowan wrong. Teagan was already working on testing my insulin. As soon as I had the results, I’d have proof.
It also bothered me that Adan had questioned whether my parents were my biological parents.
No doubt that had come from Rowan as well.
Of course my parents were my parents. Only, how did I know for certain?
If I was adopted, would my parents tell me?
What if they’d promised my birth mother to keep it a secret?
I pulled my hair back, wrapping it around and knotting it.
Rowan and his ridiculous accusations were driving me insane.
My mom and I looked alike. Same hair, same eyes, same skin.
I wasn’t adopted. In fact, I recalled seeing pictures of my mom pregnant with me.
Pictures from when I was born. I’d have to pull them out and take pictures of them so I had proof if Adan asked me again.
At least once I had the results saying my insulin was in fact insulin, I’d never have to see Rowan again. Although, that thought made my stomach hurt.