Chapter 12 #2
She gives me a nod like she understands. “Well, I’m glad you choose to come here. It’s going to be awesome learning from you.”
I give her a smile and throw her another believable answer. “I’m glad I came here too.”
At least, I want to be. I’ve put distance between me and Austin, but I don’t know if distance is enough. Not for what I did.
“Should we go back inside?” Sophia nods, taking my mind off my indiscretions.
I give her a simple nod and follow her back into the hospital.
The whole way to the pediatric floor, I repeat it like a mantra.
I’m glad I came here.
I’m glad I came here.
I say them until I actually start to believe them.
But not fully. Not yet, at least.
I may need to call Serena when I get home for some reassurance.
* * *
When I get back to my rental for the month—because actually looking for something more permanent seemed like a bit much at the moment—I sit on the couch and do what I promised myself I would do.
I call my best friend.
I talked to Serena when I first got to Chicago, but we haven’t talked in the days since. She has her own life; she doesn’t need me blowing up her phone with my issues. I also don’t want to take time away from her family.
As the phone rings, I think maybe she is going to let the call go to voicemail, but she ends up answering after the fourth ring.
“Sorry. Sorry. I had to make sure Noah was settled with Leo.”
I can’t help but smile a bit at the mention of her husband and son—the same husband she met in Vegas and married that same weekend. They are still married three years later with a beautiful baby boy. Crazy how life works out sometimes.
“How is one of my favorite nephews doing?”
“One of your favorites? I’m sorry, but did you magically get another I know nothing about?”
A laugh runs through me, and the small bits of worry fade away.
Both Serena and I are only children, which is probably why we’ve stayed at each other’s side since our college days. She is the sister I never had, and I’m the same thing to her.
There was a point a few months after we got back from the Vegas when I didn’t want to see or talk to her.
Apparently, not only did she marry a stranger in Vegas, she happened to marry the son of a cartel leader, something I didn’t know about until men came to our apartment with the intent of kidnapping her but ended up finding me instead.
I was angry at her for not telling me who she had associated herself with, for putting both of us in danger. So much happened that even to this day, I have a hard time with feeling safe.
Which is why I chose a rental with state-of-the-art security.
Things between me and Serena have definitely gotten better since then. I’ve even gotten to know Leo more since Serena found out she was pregnant. Hell, I’ve even spent more time with my Vegas bestie, Santos.
They have become my family as much as Serena, and I won’t lie—it pained me a bit to leave them behind in Texas.
“Did you forget that Isabella, your sister-in-law, is pregnant? That baby is as much my niece or nephew as it will be yours.” I even have a bet with Leo’s youngest sister, Camila, and Santos, Isabella’s husband.
The man finally got his head out of his ass and is giving Isabella the world she deserves, so we’re betting on the baby’s sex.
Camila and I say it’s a boy, Santos says it’s a girl. We will see who’s right in a few months.
“I didn’t forget.” Serena laughs. “The nephew part just threw me off. She’s having a girl.”
“Oh my God! She found out?” I’m surprised Santos didn’t text me to gloat.
“Well, no, but I have a feeling.” If I was there, I would be narrowing my eyes at her. “So what’s up? How’s Chicago? How was your first day? Are the people nice? Have you made friends?”
I can’t help but smile at her questions. She is such a mom now. Those are the exact questions my mom threw at me when I called her on my way home.
And like my mom, I give her same answer. “It’s fine. Everything is fine.”
Serena is silent for a few seconds. “Just fine?”
The voice she uses is one you would use on a child.
“Yeah, everything is fine. I’ve only been here for a few days, so I haven’t really taken everything in. As for friends, all the nurses I met today were nice. I really liked who I was shadowing, and I can see myself becoming friends with her. Other than that, everything is fine.”
And it is.
Everything is fine.
It’s not home, it’s not Austin, hell, it’s not even California where my mom and stepdad live, but it’s fine. Everything will be absolutely fine.
“Aria…” my best friend starts, like there’s a question she wants to ask but doesn’t know how to voice. “Why did you move to Chicago?”
Serena and I may be as close as sisters, but there are still things I haven’t told her.
And the why behind Chicago is one of them.
“I told you, I needed a change of scenery.”
“Okay, but Chicago? Where you don’t know anyone? If you wanted a change of scenery, why not somewhere closer, like San Antonio or Houston? Or even California with your parents? Why did you go to Chicago?”
A tear trickles down my cheek, and I don’t wipe it away.
I want to tell her. I want to tell her absolutely everything I’ve held in for years, I want all the words to escape me, because then, I won’t feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. But I can’t find it in me to do so, just like I haven’t been able to do since all of this started.
I try to push every ounce of emotion down before answering her. “You know how I am. The urge to escape comes, and I find something to distract me a bit. This time, it just involved a whole move. I chose this assignment because it was in pediatrics. I promise, there is no secret meaning behind it.”
Oh, but there is, and I can’t even tell my best friend about it.
Serena is silent for a little bit, and if I know her like I think I do, she is trying really hard not to fight me. Eventually, she lets out a sigh.
“Ok, but promise me if anything is wrong, you will tell me. And if you need help disposing of a body, you know Leo and Santos will volunteer in a heartbeat.”
The last part makes me laugh a bit. I shouldn’t be happy I have cartel connections, but I am. Do I wish I had used said connections to help put a stop to what was going on before it got to this point? Absolutely, but there is nothing I can do about it now.
I made my choices and now I'm paying for them.
“I promise. You will be my first call. Tell me everything Noah related.”
She pauses for a moment before she follows my subject change and goes off on everything and anything that has to do with her son.
The kid is just a little over a year old and barely knows how to walk but already thinks he owns the damn place.
I guess that’s what happens when your daddy is a kingpin.
I listen to Serena talk and smile a little. A small trip to Vegas changed her life for the better. Yes, her husband is a cartel leader, but she seems happy, happier than I have ever seen her.
Though I do find it funny how a trip to Vegas was amazing for her, yet for me…I have regrets.