• L. H. Broussard Medical Center, France •
11:17 P.M.
"Yes. He's asleep now. The pain medication would, erm, wear off before lunch so I'll be back early in the morning to check on him."
Veronica nodded and replied 'Thanks', giving the friendly nurse a smile. The nurse's faint accent reminded her of her cousin Breanna's French lilt. "Could he leave a little earlier than Friday? I mean, will his doctor approve?"
"We will retest his blood tomorrow, another panel to recheck the numbers. If no problems at all, he can go," the nurse said with a few slight nods.
"Okay."
"Please call the nurse station if you need anything."
"Merci beaucoup."
"Okay." Clutching a patient chart, the short-haired woman in blue scrubs then headed to the other side of the hallway.
• Room 5108 •Early. It was still too early.Théo blinked away the remnants of sleep keeping his eyes heavy, gradually snapping out of his long, painkiller-rich slumber. He blinked a few more times to try to get the glue out of his eyes.The lights on the ceiling stayed unlit, keeping his private room dim enough. He squinted at the door. It was closed. He hastily shifted to his right. The sudden movement made his doziness ebb away.The pale blue hospital gown kept him clothed enough, like the past couple of days. He shifted on the bed more. His throat felt parched, and his entire body felt somewhat leaden. He lifted his torso to sit up. A grunt he tried to suppress slightly echoed throughout the room when he felt a bit of pain under his chest.Théo focused his dark, blurry vision on the small wall clock. It
•"Où es-tu maintenant?"Théo switched his phone to speaker mode as he got dressed near the hospital bed. His sister was always an early bird, but he didn't quite expect she would pick up right after the first ring.At this hour, she was probably busy preparing Tristan's breakfast. "Théo," she muttered when he hesitated answering her question."L'hôpital."Clara sighed on the other end. "Ça va?"Was he okay? Kinda. It gave him enough relief that the doctors had approved his early discharge. But was he okay aside from the the fact that he was now physically able? Not really. He still wasn't sure what to do next. "Oui," was his lie after a moment of silence."Maman a appelé," Clara said, her tone hushed."What'd she say?" He zipped up his pants.&nbs
• Toulouse, France •"Welcome to the fam!" Dan fist-bumped their new guitarist and gave Yanniz a grin, then shook hands with the new guy.Veronica put on a big smile for the newest member of their band and remotely fist-bumped with Yanniz through the camera. The video feed was lagging a bit but the audio was mostly clean.Dan's phone camera was high-definition enough that she almost felt like she was still in New York with them. After a few meetings, they all settled with Yanniz, Dan's first bet and also their manager's choice.It wasn't a permanent gig for the guy but at least they wouldn't have to keep looking for someone to assume Kyle's role during live shows in the next coming months."Thanks, guys. Real excited." Yanniz bowed a little and put his hands together, his shy smile partly showing his nice teeth. "Haven't been to Asia.""G
•Avoiding him?All she'd been doing the past two hours was stay right next to him as if they were glued together, as if it was all she wanted to do all evening. She kept up the act to not cause any drama or direct any attention towards them. She didn't want to somehow steal the spotlight from the bride and groom-to-be."Could you just..." Veronica backed away from him and pinched the bridge of her nose, just so she wouldn't have to look at the judgement in his overly attentive blue eyes. Was it too much to try to have some alone time this evening?"If you don't wanna talk to me after this, just say so."Did he even listen to himself? He was such a walking contradiction she could hardly stand to look at his face. She held back a grunt and kept her head away from his. When Théo stepped closer to her, she felt
• Room 1209 •10:42PMThis would be another long night. No doubt.She wanted to call him and tell him to come back, but she knew he'd rather leave Toulouse and go home than spend another night with her. The growing guilt just left a bad, lingering taste in her mouth and an awful wringing sensation in her gut.She didn't want to hurt him or shove him out the door like that. But it was all she could do to keep herself from breaking down in front of him. So she pushed him away. She didn't want to end up looking like a pathetic drama queen weeping in front of him.Her pride was forcing her to shut off the urge, but a few tears still managed to escape. Veronica wiped them off in haste, ignoring the impulse to check her phone again. She even put in on silent mode before she went back to bed.It was
•An informant? Did he mean a paid spy? For that scary, seemingly dangerous guy named Leandro? "What do you mean?" Veronica leaned closer to Théo and looked him in the eye. She sat still on the bed, eager for more explanations. Her mind was back in overdrive, and now that he decided to open up to her, she felt like a heavy cloud of ignorance was lifted off of her. At last.Finally he was coming clean. He was giving her the answers she'd been waiting for. He was starting to trust her again. "Been working for the DEA for a while now. But just a side job." Théo looked away and clenched his fist on his thigh. She gawked at him. Good grief. Did he seriously mean he was a DEA informant? What the fuck? So he'd been spying on drug dealers and drug lords these past couple of years? Why didn't he mention a thing?"It's not something I could talk to you about." Théo paused after glancing at her reaction. "And I didn't want you to know. To keep you safe." He scoffed and faintly shook his head, a
•PDA was never her thing.But there was something in the way he held her hand, the way he talked to her, and the way he looked at her that surpassed her tendency to put up a brick wall every time someone showed more than friendly affection towards her.Then again, Théo wasn't just someone. He was "the one" she'd hoped to meet even before the word 'relationship' became a constant thought.As they waited in front of her mother's house, Veronica gave him a quick smile and let go of his hand, just so he wouldn't worry about her cold, sweaty palm or her ballooning apprehension.It felt close to a panic attack, like the last time. In fact it took her more than five minutes and two attempts to calm her thoughts during the entire drive. If Mick wasn't the designated driver and if he hadn't insisted that she and Théo should come along, she wouldn't even be here.&nbs
•"Oh! Oh. I get it now."Veronica turned off the stove and stacked the pancakes on the serving plate, minding the excitement in her brother's husky voice.He'd been drinking a lot last night, like her dad. Behind her, Mick chuckled and sat on the chair across from Théo. Mick's early morning puffy face matched his bedhead. His spiky short blond hair wasn't all over the place, though.Unlike her, her brother had always had straight and naturally blond hair. Sometimes it looked light brown, but now it looked dark blond, like Théo's. Veronica served the freshly cooked pancakes on the dining table and made a face at her brother's smirk. "What now?""You guys are the French-American version of Scott and Kourt," Mick replied loudly, his grin more teasing, ignoring her confused look.