Page 122 of Sing For Me

And then he’s gone, leaving me in a shitty mood—not so much different from how I started my day.

The only difference is, there’s a pain in my chest now, too. A pain that doesn’t go away for a long, long time.

* * *

I have sucha hard time concentrating after Lennon leaves that I end up cutting out of work early. I bring some paperwork with me, telling myself I’ll work on it later, but really, I just want to be near Eva. I have a feeling that whatever pain is still lingering in my chest can only be eased by her.

But Eva isn’t alone when I get there. Instead I find her deep in conversation with her manager, that slimy guy I met at her birthday party. I didn’t like the way I had seen him watching her that night. It was the same way he’d looked at her at the gala all those weeks ago—calculating.

“Hey!” she says, face brightening when she sees me. Dennis turns the calculating look on me, before he settles his features into something more neutral.

“Hey. I got off early. Sorry, I didn’t call.”

“Oh, that’s fine. We were just wrapping up.”

Dennis looks like he wants to argue with that assessment, but he keeps his mouth shut, gathering up the papers spread out in front of them on the dining room table.

“So we’ll talk about this more tomorrow,” he says briskly.

“In a few days,” Eva argues. “I need to think about it. And I’d like to talk to my medical team, as well.”

He tries to hide it, but I can see the flash of annoyance on his face before he once again flattens his features. “You know they’re just going to tell you to stick with them. They don’t want to lose your business.”

I have no idea what they’re talking about, but Eva stiffens. “I’m not business, Dennis. I’m a patient.”

He rolls his eyes. “They’re all just after money, sweetheart. And you’re a pretty big meal ticket.”

I hate the way he calls her sweetheart. I hate the condescending tone in his voice. Who the hell is this prick, and why does she put up with him?

“A few days,” she says again, sounding less sure this time. “I’ll call you.”

He taps the folder in his hand. “Don’t wait too long. Time’s already wasting.” His voice is bright but I know I hear an undertone of threat there. I’m relieved when he finally leaves, barely gracing me with a nod as he passes.

Eva jumps up from the table and comes around to hug me, lifting her face to mine for a kiss. “What was that all about?” I ask once I’ve kissed her hello.

“Dennis wants me to switch doctors.”

I hadn’t been expecting that. Eva always talks so highly of the medical team she works with. They’d certainly seemed pretty on top of things when I joined her at PT that day. “What? Why?”

She shrugs. “My doctors are pretty insistent that I’m going to need the hip replaced. Sooner than later. Dennis disagrees.”

A surge of anger goes through me. “Dennis disagrees? Does Dennis have a fucking medical license?”

She frowns at me. “No. He just wanted me to see someone who has an alternate treatment plan. To see what my options are.”

“To keep you from having surgery, you mean. So you can get back to work faster.”

Eva stiffens in my arms then pushes away. “I’m going to have to go back to work eventually, Will.”

At the back of my mind, I had known that would probably happen someday. It’s the reason I was resistant to us in the first place. But as the weeks passed and she showed no sign of getting ready for that possibility—never even talked about it—the worry lessened. It was easy to convince myself she wouldn’t get caught up in that world again.

The fact that she’s talking about it now? That her manager is obviously pushing for it to happen sooner than later? That sends a cold chill through me.

“You shouldn’t go back until you’re ready,” I say in a choked voice, trying to keep the impending fear from knocking me over. “Physically and emotionally.”

“I know that.” She fiddles with the hem of her t-shirt, something she only does when she’s nervous. “But maybe with this new treatment plan, I’ll be closer.”

Closer. Closer to recording, to performing. To going back to all the shit I so strenuously rejected.