Chapter
41
“Aje, you okay?” Howie asked, once the three girls were
gone.
AJ sighed heavily, sliding down the wall until he was
seated on the floor. “I can’t face her,
D,” he said. “This whole thing was my
fault, and I don’t know how to make it up to her.”
“AJ, Elyssa’s pretty forgiving. You didn’t do anything that horrible. She’ll get over it,” Nick said, sinking to
the floor beside AJ. “I mean, Jenna
hated my guts for putting her into that eating disorder clinic, but she got
over it, didn’t she? And Elyssa is much
better tempered than Jen is.”
AJ shrugged. He knew
Nick was probably right, but he felt horrible that this had all happened. He shouldn’t have pissed her off by flirting
with that girl. When he was doing it, he
hadn’t realized that he could be doing something wrong. Flirting was just something he did a
lot. But it had been a mistake.
“Look, Bone, if she’s still mad at you, just apologize to
her. But she might not even be mad
anymore,” Brian reasoned. “Either way,
you can’t just hide out here all night.
You’re her boyfriend, and whether she’s mad at you or not, she needs
you.”
“I know,” AJ said, nodding slowly. “I’ll go in when the girls come out.”
The others nodded, and they all sat down in some chairs
across the hall to wait.
***
About ten minutes later, the door opened, and Ashalyn,
Jenna, and Serena came out.
AJ looked up at them, but before he speak, Jenna said,
“Lyss is fine. She’s tired, and she
doesn’t feel that great, but she’s okay.
And she wants to see you.” She
nodded to AJ.
AJ stood up. “Okay,”
he said. He glanced back at Kevin,
Howie, Brian, and Nick.
“Go on in,” Howie urged.
“We can see her later. You need
some time alone with her.”
AJ nodded gratefully and headed into the room, closing the
door behind him.
Once inside the room, AJ waited for his eyes to adjust to
the dimness of the room and stepped forward.
“Elyssa?” he asked softly.
She was lying in a bed in the center of the room. “Hey, AJ,” she said softly, offering him a
cautious smile. “AJ, I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” AJ asked in surprise. “Why are you sorry? I’m the one that should be sorry!”
Elyssa shook her head.
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong.
You were right. I know you didn’t
mean anything by flirting with that girl.
I overreacted.”
AJ shrugged. “Maybe,
but I shouldn’t have flirted with her anyway.
Not while I have a girlfriend, even if I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“I guess we were both kinda at fault then,” Elyssa said,
shrugging. “Oh well, it’s over now.”
“Yeah, it’s over,” AJ repeated. “I love you, Elyssa.”
She smiled slightly.
“I love you too, AJ,” she replied, opening her arms for a hug.
Relieved, AJ leaned over and hugged her tightly, planting a
soft kiss on her forehead. “So, how’s
my baby feeling?” he asked sympathetically.
She stuck out her lower lip. “Not too great,” she admitted. “AJ, I’m kind of scared.”
“Scared? What about,
sweetie?” AJ asked, but he already knew the answer. And he was scared as well.
“About these tests that they want to run,” Elyssa
specified, confirming his suspicions.
“What if I have something really bad?”
“Don’t worry, Lyss.
I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” AJ said, stroking her long
blonde hair.
“Sorry, Aje, but it’s not something you can really
control,” Elyssa murmured, a hint of melancholy in her soft voice.
“Hey, now, don’t get all upset. There’s nothing to worry about yet. It’s probably nothing. Just a case of the flu that hasn’t gone away
yet because you’ve been overworking yourself.”
The diagnosis sounded convincing enough to AJ, but he had
no idea if it was the right one or not.
He could only hope it was.
“Maybe,” Elyssa said, but she sounded doubtful. “I hope so.”
She offered AJ a tiny smile.
He squeezed her hand and gave her a optimistic smile in
return. “I hope so too.”
***
