Pieces of Summer (A stand-alone novel)(69)

I wipe it away and clear my throat.

“Their mother was on some pills their uncle hooked her up with, and she was drinking on top of that. She refused to let them leave. Mika would have been in that hallway and in front of that bannister no matter what went down between you two,” he says on a sigh. “This isn’t on anyone standing out here right now, so both of you stop trying to claim the guilt.”

I never said anything, but apparently guilt is written on my face.

“You need to go,” Aidan says quietly, looking up at me.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying. I realize I have to make some changes, but—”

He snorts loudly, almost snarling, and he glares up at me.

“Some changes? You’d have to make lifestyle changes galore. You think you know what to do? There’s literally a whole f*cking book on Mika. Yeah. That sadistic son of a bitch wrote a book on her case. Mika unknowingly signed a waver to get the free treatment from him and his legion of sociopaths. They can’t use her last name, but so f*cking what. He had a bestseller from her pain during those three years of trials. The bastard even took credit for the success she’s had since her ‘recovery,’ if that’s what you want to call it.”

Hunter walks away, and I continue staring at Aidan.

“He was praised by the psychological community for his success,” Aidan goes on, angrily spitting out the last word. “I had to get a court order to halt his therapy. I went through hell to get her out of there and find her a real psychiatrist. Mika can’t have drugs because the side effects always induce possible suicidal tendencies. With an irrational brain during agitation, it makes the side effects more severe. Everything has to be organic. She can’t even schedule f*cking appointments to see a shrink, so imagine how hard it was to find one who would allow her to just show up at random.”

Blake blows out a breath as he lowers himself to the ground. Standing isn’t easy for any of us at this point. Everything feels heavy and intimidating. Mika… Mika is a survivor like I never knew, and I spent my life thinking she was better off.

“She can’t drive longer than fifteen minutes, because she ends up driving until she runs out of gas, going around in circles. She can’t work a puzzle because she gets frustrated too quickly if a piece that should fit doesn’t line up properly. She can’t read directions because they don’t make sense to her. She can’t cook, and she loved it. She can’t… She can’t ever have kids either. Her life is all about survival and getting better one day at a time. It’s not just a few changes you have to make. See?”

I start to speak, but he cuts me off.

“You love her. I get it,” he says angrily. “She was the one who got away and all that. But tell me you can quit your shop, because you can’t have a regular work schedule around her. She’ll expect you to go in at exactly the same time. You won’t get sick days. Tell me you can function without an alarm clock, or eat at random times, or never watch a new TV series, or screen movies that don’t have cliffhanger endings, or even plan out a vacation. She can’t fly—planes have flight times. She can’t go on a cruise—boats have port times. She can’t plan anything.”

Blake looks over at me, as though he’s silently imploring me to just drop this. Neither of them f*cking understand.

“It’s just been a couple of weeks, dude,” Blake finally says. “She needs—”

“Stay out of it,” I growl, watching his lips tense. “It was years. Don’t you get it? From the time I was eleven until now, Mika has been it. Even before I noticed girls in that way, she was it for me.”

“She’s not the same,” Blake groans. “Twelve years is a long time, and she’s obviously different. Aidan is her brother, and he knows what’s best—”

“I said stay out of it!” I snap, jerking back to my feet and glowering down at him. He looks away, and I turn back toward Aidan.

“She’s still the same,” I tell him, as though he’s the one who said she wasn’t.

“No, she’s not,” Aidan snarls. “She never will be the girl you knew during summer.”

“She’s the same girl. Treating her like she’s someone else is probably half her stress.”

He slowly stands, fists clenching at his sides.

“That’s the problem! She wants to be that girl again. It’s why she wouldn’t tell you! She wants to be normal so bad that it’s killing her. But she’s not! She never f*cking will be again. She’s always going to have—”

“Problems,” I interrupt. “She’s going to have certain boundaries. I get it. But I can and will find a way to be what she needs. She is the same person. If anything, she’s stronger than she ever was and more appreciative of every f*cking day that she doesn’t have someone staring at her like she’s broken. Mika never wanted to be weak or look weak. Twelve years I’ve done nothing but waste all my time wondering ‘what if’ and what’d I’d give for a second chance. I don’t give a shit about changing my life, because I haven’t felt alive in years. Go f*ck yourself. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll do whatever I have to.”

He shakes his head in disgust, and Blake groans.

“All your dreams will end. Love your shop? Too bad. You can’t have a normal job with normal scheduled hours. Want a family? Too bad. Mika had her tubes tied because children have schedules—babies have schedules. Like the freedom to change your mind about what you’re doing, such as having a beer after work instead of coming by her house like you said? Too bad. If you know Mika so well, then tell me she’d let you give up your life to be with her.”