Don't turn around, I tell myself as I continue marching down the hospital corridor.

I'm not sure where I'm going, but anywhere is better than being in that room. With him.

Kissing me.

Kissing me like my sexuality doesn't mean a damn thing.

Kissing me like I'm not in love with the girl he wants nothing to do with.

Kissing me...like I belong to him.

“Baby doll!” a voice I know so well I hear it in my dreams screeches.

I turn just in time to see Becca run down the hallway and my heart leaps out of my chest.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, breathless.

She hugs me. “Where else would I be? I was in my first class when I got the school alert on my phone informing me some maniac was in the cafeteria shooting people. When they finally let us out, I overheard a few students talking about a video posted on YouTube of him holding a pink-haired girl at gunpoint. It had almost a million views before it was taken down.”

Tears lodge in my throat. “I can't believe you came here for me.”

“Of course, I—”

She doesn't have a chance to finish that statement because I incline my head and kiss her.

I kiss her the way I wanted to when I thought my life was over.

My heart starts to flutter...until it stops and tumbles over itself like a faulty car starter on a cold winter morning.

All I can think about is where my lips were last.

“Are you okay, baby doll?”

Becca's voice zaps me back to where my focus should be.

I give her a small nod. “Yeah, just a little shaken up still I guess.”

She pouts. “You know, it's too bad we don't have our apartment anymore. I'd take you home and nurse you back to health.” She loops her arms around my neck, pulling me close again. “I'd even—”

The sound of someone clearing their throat cuts her off.

“Kit Bishop,” a voice dripping with disdain says.

I angle my head and recognize the man standing there as one of my Nanna's assistants. Why a seventy-year-old woman has personal assistants is beyond me, but she has several.

“Hi, Reggie.”

“Reginald,” he replies tersely.

I know.

I look past him and his stuffy demeanor, hoping to spot my Nanna. No doubt she's off somewhere fuming due to my lip-lock with Becca. “Where is she?”

His lips purse. “If you're referring to your grandmother, I'm afraid she's not here.”

“Then what the hell are you doing here?”

He peers down his nose at me. “She sent me to collect you.”

“To collect me?” I unhook Becca's arms from my neck. “Has she listened to any of the voicemails I left her?”

“She did,” he assures me. “Hence, I am here.”

“Why isn't my Nanna here?” I grit through my teeth, not caring that I sound like a toddler in the middle of a tantrum.

You'd think the one day my Nanna would drop everything for me would be today.

“Ms. Bishop is indisposed. My instructions are to bring you back to your dorm when you're through here.”

“Let me get this straight,” I say, feeling like a volcano about to erupt. “She told you to take me back to the campus where I was almost killed today?”

Reggie looks around, visibly uncomfortable.

“You know, Reg. I think I'm good.” I reach for Becca's hand. “You can tell her I got a ride home from someone else.”

Reggie looks up to the ceiling. “Very well.”

“Also, would you be so kind as to let her know I won't be able to fulfill my monthly obligation next week.” I twist my hair around my finger innocently. “If she asks why, you can tell her I'm indisposed.”

“As you wish,” he says before he turns on his heel.

“Indisposed having loads of hot, dirty lesbian sex with my pregnant girlfriend.”

Poor Reggie nearly trips on his way down the hall.

I turn to Becca. “I have to talk to a social worker before they discharge me, but it shouldn't take long.”

“No problem.” She looks down. “Do you really think it's a good idea to upset your grandmother?”

I want to ask why she cares so much about the woman who obviously doesn't care about me, but my nurse from earlier appears. “The social worker is ready for you now.”

I let go of Becca's hand and give her a kiss. “I'll be back soon.”

She gestures to the crowded waiting room. “I'm gonna try to grab a seat somewhere.”

“Becca?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for being here.”

Thank you for loving me when no one else does.