Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, so forgive my lack of medical expertise if I get something really wrong!
Chapter 28: It Could Be Worse
*****Casablanas*****
Dick pulled into his driveway. Mac slapped her head. "Oh, my God! How could we be so dumb!" she exclaimed.
"What?" he asked, looking at her in surprise.
"We just planned an entire spring break project when we have a trip planned for spring break! We're going to India with Thea's dad!" she reminded him.
His eyes widened. "Damn. You're right. The model idea came to me, and I thought it'd be something fun to do outside of this insane killer on campus," Dick said, looking sheepish. "Totally forgot we just bought our tickets to a foreign land! I even hunted up my passport."
"Do you think Logan could handle it without us?" Mac asked anxiously.
"Well, if we did all the work beforehand, I don't see why he couldn't handle it. He's good with the models. Plus the Goldsmiths will help," Dick pointed out.
Mac looked relieved. "True. We'll have to get to work right away!" she said, getting out of his truck. Weevil and Wallace weren't home. Both were probably putting in hours with the murder investigation. She knew Wallace was helping out. It still seemed surreal that Max was being tried for murder. She just knew he was innocent. There had to be a way to help him. However, she put him out of her mind so that she could focus on designing the right flyer. She turned her phone off while she worked.
Dick spent an hour making calls. He called the Plaza first. Then he called Chip, who gave him Jessi's number. He called Thea, too, just to cover his bases. They agreed to put up the flyers in the sorority houses and spread the word. Getting his brothers to agree to put up flyers in various buildings on campus wasn't hard—he didn't think it would be. Planning stuff wasn't nearly as hard as Trina and Logan made out!
*****Neptune Memorial Hospital*****
Brad took Lauren to the ER, but they still hadn't seen a doctor. Since she wasn't bleeding or having a heart attack, they didn't seem overly concerned. He wanted to scream in frustration. They'd been waiting for an hour. Ryan had arrived about fifteen minutes after they got there. He'd taken one look at Lauren and freaked.
"You're yellow! Why are you yellow? What's wrong?" he'd demanded.
Lauren assured him she was okay. She just felt icky, but it wasn't like when she was sick with cancer. The boys weren't reassured. Her parents not showing up was making it worse. Ryan called Mac and got voicemail. He called his parents, who said they would try to track down the parents.
Finally, the nurse called Lauren's name. She stood and gave the guys a reassuring smile. "It'll be okay," she told them.
"We should go with you," Ryan said, standing up.
"I'll be fine. Find my parents or sisters," she said as she followed the nurse.
"Madison! We didn't try Madison," Ryan said, pulling out his phone and calling her. They would never be as close and he and Mac were. However, she'd gotten more tolerable as time went on. The way she treated Lauren helped. Lauren was the sole recipient of her kindness.
Madison actually answered the phone. "Thank God!" he exclaimed when she said hello.
"Who is this?" she asked.
"Ryan. Your brother," he said, emphasizing the word.
"Oh. Why are you calling me? You never call me. I didn't know you had my number," she said.
"Yeah, you never gave it to me," he said dryly. "Mom did. She thought someday we'd be real siblings."
Madison rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. We are real siblings. Why are you calling?" she asked.
"I can't get a hold of your parents or Mac, and Lauren is in the ER. She turned yellow," Ryan explained.
"What do you mean ER? Is she okay? What are the doctor's saying?" Madison asked, a note of panic in her voice.
"She's okay," Ryan assured her. "But she's been feeling bad for a while. Your mom made an appointment Monday, but she literally turned yellow on her date with Scott. Brad was there and drove her to the hospital."
"Good. I'll be right there," she said.
"Do you think you can go by Dick's and get Mac? She has her phone off for some reason," Ryan said.
"Yes," she said. "I'll be there in fifteen."
Ryan hung up, feeling relieved. "Madison is coming and is going to get Mac. Dick lives close to her and that's where Mac probably is," he said. Then he had a thought. "I guess I should call Parker. Maybe she's at her house." Mac had given him her roommates' numbers after Lauren's bone marrow transplant. He didn't have Daisy's, though—just Jazmin and Parker's.
He dialed Parker, who was at home alone. When he told her what was going on, she promised to call their friends and find Mac. Weevil and Wallace lived at Dick's so that was the first call.
Ryan was glad that someone was coming. Fear for Lauren made him so weary. He sat down next to Brad. "God, I hate this," he said, tilting his head back on the seat and stretching out his legs.
"I should've made her tell sooner," Brad said, feeling guilty.
"We both should've," Ryan said. "I saw her drop at a near faint weeks ago and told no one."
"But she did tell her parents. Why didn't they take her right then? Waiting until Monday," Brad complained.
"Probably because they want to think she's okay because they almost lost her with cancer," Ryan said. "They know what that kind of sick is. This has to be something else."
Both boys waited for news and family anxiously.
*****Dick's******
Weevil came into the living room looking grim. Mac was on her laptop and Dick his cell.
"Mac, your brother Ryan is trying to get a hold of you. Lauren's in the hospital," Weevil told them. "Jazmin called me. Ryan called her."
Mac froze a moment, taking in the news. Then she shut her laptop and stood up. "Oh, God! Is she okay? What happened?" she asked, grabbing her cell. Why the hell did she turn it off? No project was worth not being there when her sister needed her.
"I don't know. I don't think it was an accident. She's just sick," Weevil said.
"Let's go, babe," Dick said, putting his phone up.
"Thanks, Weevil," Mac said gratefully. She followed Dick to the front door. When he opened it, Madison was there about to ring the bell.
"Why don't you answer your damn phone?" she asked in annoyance. "Mom and Dad are at some function and won't answer theirs either."
"Weevil just told us that Lauren's at the hospital. We're heading there," Mac told her.
"Okay," she said, turning to go back to her car. Mac and Dick followed her to the hospital.
When they made it to the ER waiting room, she spotted her brother and Brad. "Ryan!" she called.
He jumped up and stepped toward her. "Thank God, you're here! I can't get a hold of the Sinclairs," he said.
"Our parents are at a function," Madison explained. "I left a message telling them where to go and what happened. How's Lauren? Where is she?"
"They called her back a bit ago," Ryan said.
"I'm going back there," Madison said, pointing to the ER doors.
"Will you stay with Ryan?" Mac asked Dick, who nodded. She followed Madison. When they went through the door, a nurse tried to stop them.
"Our sister, who is a minor, is back here. We need to be with her," Madison said firmly.
The nurse relented, and they walked on looking for Lauren. They spotted her in a bed talking to a doctor.
"Lauren, are you okay?" Madison asked worriedly.
"I'm fine," she said.
"My God! You really are yellow!" Madison remarked as she looked at her.
"These are my sisters," Lauren told the doctor.
"We can't get a hold of Mom and Dad. They're at some function," Madison said.
"Is she okay? What's wrong with her?" Mac asked the doctor.
"She's fine," the doctor said, giving them a reassuring smile.
"She's not fine! She's freakin' yellow!" Madison fumed.
"She's jaundiced, which is normally not life threatening but an indication of something wrong with the liver," the doctor said.
"Liver? Why would she be having problems with her liver? She survived cancer for God's sake!" Madison said.
"Really?" the doctor said with interest.
"I was just starting to talk to him," Lauren explained.
"What kind of cancer?" the doctor asked.
"Does this have something to do with her cancer? She had leukemia. Is she sick again?" Madison asked anxiously.
"I have to run tests, but no, jaundice isn't a symptom of cancer. It tells us something is wrong with her liver," the doctor said. "She told me she's been lethargic, achy, and had a rash of some kind, right?"
"Yes," Lauren said. "Mom made an appointment with our doctor on Monday, but my friends freaked out when I turned yellow."
"Rightly so. That's not something you ignore," the doctor said.
"So what's wrong with me?" Lauren asked.
"How long have you been in remission?" he asked her.
"Officially almost a year. It's been a year since the bone marrow transplant," Lauren said. "My sister Mac gave me her marrow."
The doctor looked thoughtful a moment. "It's possible that's part of the problem now," he said.
"Cancer? She has cancer again?" Mac said in alarm.
"No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that the body can sometimes reject transplants," the doctor explained.
"GVHD?" Lauren asked.
The doctor gave her a look of approval. "Yes," he said.
"What the hell is that?" Madison asked. She looked at Lauren. "How did you know that?"
"I read all the information they gave me before the procedure. I wanted to be prepared for any problems," Lauren said. Mac gave her a proud look.
"It's graft versus host disease. It's when the body begins to reject a transplant," the doctor said.
"But it's almost a year. That's crazy!" Madison said.
"She took all those anti-rejection meds," Mac added.
"GVHD can be acute or chronic," the doctor explained. "Acute is when rejection takes place shortly after transplant. Chronic usually occurs eight months or longer after a transplant."
Mac and Madison both looked scared, each holding onto one of Lauren's hands.
"It's okay," Lauren told them. "This won't kill me, right, Doc?"
He smiled. "No, you're not going to die," he said. "If that's what's going on, we'll get you on some steroids and meds that should take care of it. The concern is how much damage to the liver there is."
"So she should be okay?" Mac asked worriedly.
"She should be okay," the doctor said. "But I can't tell you how severe things are until we run some test."
"So I could've messed my liver up by not coming in sooner?" Lauren asked guiltily.
He gave her look of compassion. "Well, it could complicate things, but it still not anything we can't handle," he told her. "The important thing is you're going to be fine."
Mac let out a relieved breath. "Thank God!" she said. She smiled and kissed Lauren's cheek.
An orderly showed up. "We need to do some testing," the doctor said to the girls.
"How long?" Mac asked.
"An hour or so," the doctor said.
"We'll be waiting in the ER waiting room," Mac told her. Madison said goodbye and followed Mac to the waiting room where the boys are waiting.
"Is she okay? What's wrong?" Ryan asked anxiously.
"She's fine. They're running tests on her now," Mac said. Then she told the boys what the doctor thought was wrong.
"She should've went to the doctor as soon as she was feeling bad!" Ryan said, upset.
"Mom made an appointment as soon as she knew," Madison said.
"Yeah, a week after she was told," Ryan said with a snort. "And she's been feeling bad for a while."
"And you didn't say anything?" Madison said accusingly.
"She begged me not to!" Ryan said defensively.
"This isn't Ryan's fault," Mac said loyally.
"I made her tell her parents," Brad added. "She wasn't going to."
"Thank you for that," Mac said, smiling at him. She noticed another boy for the first time. He was standing next to Ryan. "I'm sorry, are you a friend of Lauren's?"
"This is Scott. The guy she was on a date with," Ryan introduced.
"It's great of you to be here," Mac said. "But she's going to be here a while. I will tell her that you came. I'm sure she'll call you as soon as she can."
"Are you sure?" Scott asked doubtfully. He'd never had a date get sick before. It kind of freaked him out, but his mother would be mad if he left a date.
"I'm sure. You should go. Lauren would be mortified if she knew you stayed here for hours," Mac said.
"You get brownie points for attempting," Dick added with a fist bump.
Scott glanced at Brad to see what he was going to do. Brad just glared and crossed his arms. "I'm staying!" he insisted.
"Of course, we're staying. Lauren's like our sister," Ryan said.
Brad didn't agree with that pronouncement exactly. He wasn't sure brotherly was the strongest emotion he felt for her.
"We'll call you," Ryan said. "Give me your number."
Scott gladly did so and then left.
"That was cool of him to be here," Madison acknowledged.
"Why were you the one to take her here and not her date?" Mac asked. She knew about Lauren's feelings for Brad and his ridiculous no-serious-dating belief.
Ryan looked in surprise at his best friend. "Yes, why did you bring her and not Scott? How did that happen?" he asked. Ryan had a feeling that Brad liked Lauren more than he wanted to admit.
Brad looked uncomfortable as all eyes turned to him. "Well, me and some friends happened to be at Hey Day, and I saw her turn yellow. I just grabbed her and brought her," he said.
"Stalking a girl when she's on a date with another dude? Nice!" Dick exclaimed with an approving grin.
"I wasn't stalking!" Brad said defensively. "The girls wanted to go there."
"What girls?" Mac asked.
"Nicole and Amanda," Brad said.
Madison shook her head. "How can you be so dumb?" She knew about the girls who were mean to her sister. She'd called Shelley more than once yelling about it.
"Sometimes, it takes the pretty ones longer to catch on," Mac said, giving Dick a fond look.
Dick snickered. "That's 'cause we're distracted by the hotness of the women in our lives!" he insisted.
"I don't know what you guys are trying to say, but Lauren and I are just friends. Good friends. I saw her in distress and tried to help," Brad said defensively.
"Yeah, well, next time the two girls that go out of their way to be mean to my sister suggest you follow Lauren on her date, get a clue!" Madison said in annoyance.
Brad frowned, saying nothing. Mac felt sorry for him. "She means that the girls probably were up to no good or had a hidden agenda you are unaware of," Mac explained.
"Amanda has the hots for you. Her sister has mentioned it more than once to me," Madison said. "I doubt she was there for the air hockey."
"More like tonsil hockey," Dick added with a snicker.
"Amanda knows the score. I'm not going to date her or any girl seriously in high school. That's just lame!" Brad said.
Dick didn't want to get hit by either sister, so he clamped his hand around Brad's forearm and dragged him to the other side of the waiting room. "Dude, wake the hell up!" Dick said. "I get and even admire your philosophy. But think about how you're going to feel when you could've been Lauren's first everything and aren't."
Brad wasn't about to acknowledge how that made him feel to one of the most notorious male sluts from Neptune High. "Lauren's a nice girl. I don't think I could ever be what she needs," Brad admitted.
"Yeah, well, take it from someone who knows. For the right girl, you'll be surprised what you can do and what you can be," Dick said knowingly. "Mac is the best thing that ever happened to me. You and Lauren could hook up in college. Or she could go far away, and you'll never be a part of her life again. You don't know. You also have no idea how fleeting life could be."
"I think I have a pretty good idea about that. We are in a hospital," Brad said sourly.
"Well, just think about what I said. You may never meet another girl like Lauren again," Dick said. Logan and Veronica came into the waiting room.
"Is she okay?" Veronica asked.
"How did you know?" Dick asked, surprised to see them.
"I texted her," Mac said. "She's going to be okay. She has GHVD."
"What?" Logan asked in confusion.
Mac started to explain it, but Parker and Jazmin arrived before she could. "You didn't have to come, guys," Mac said, smiling at her roommates.
"Of course, we did!" Parker said. "It's your sister."
"How is she?" Jazmin asked.
"She was just about to explain," Veronica said, smiling.
So Mac told all of them at once what was happening. Just as she finished, her and Lauren's parents arrived.
"I'll tell them," Madison offered, giving her a small smile.
"I'm glad they're here. I don't like being the responsible one," Mac said.
"But you are the responsible one!" Dick reminded her with a grin.
Jazmin and Parker sat down with Veronica, chatting while Mac went to visit with her bio-parents.
"So how are you guys? Anything new going on?" Veronica inquired.
"Well, my dad finally heard about the third murder," Jazmin said, blanching. "If he gets his way, I won't be returning in the fall."
"What?" both Parker and Veronica said at once. She hadn't said anything to anyone yet. Her ears hadn't stopped ringing from her dad's yelling earlier that evening.
"I don't think he's going to let me finish out my degree here at Hearst," Jazmin said quietly. "Between David and my two near death experiences and this, he's made up his mind."
"He can't do that!" Parker insisted, upset for her friend.
"He can. He pays for everything," Jazmin said glumly.
"You don't have to depend on him, you know," Veronica said. "You can apply for scholarships or get financial aid."
"My parents make too much money for any aid. A photography scholarship is possible since I'm in the spring showcase next month, but it won't be enough to cover all my expenses," Jazmin said.
"Jason will help you. So will Weevil," Veronica said.
"Jason won't be allowed to stay either," Jazmin said with a sigh. "Remember my brother only came here because I was here."
"He'd leave Daisy?" Veronica asked in alarm.
"He won't have a choice," Jazmin said. "My dad is acting out of love. Not a desire to control me. He's got a point. The campus has become unsafe."
"We're taking precautions," Veronica said. "My dad has Nick and Nathan, Wallace's dad, on the case. We'll stop this madman soon."
"I hope so," Jazmin said sadly. "Because I don't know how I'd say goodbye to Eli."
Veronica's heart ached for her friends. Eli's entire world was Jazmin. She didn't know how he'd manage without her. She also knew that his commitment to his grandmother and brothers wouldn't have him leaving Neptune anytime soon. "Well, if the worst happens and you leave, we'll all be racking up some frequent flier miles!" she said, putting on a smile.
"Very true," Parker agreed.
"So how about you?" Veronica asked. "How are things with you? Heard from Piz?"
"Not really. We've emailed a few times," Parker said. "That's easier. Calls are awkward. He's doing well with the show. He emailed me when the first death made its rounds. I assured him that I was being careful."
"I'm glad you're both doing okay with everything," Veronica said.
"What about Duncan?" Jazmin asked. "I thought you'd be with him if you weren't with Piz anymore."
"I don't want Duncan to be just a rebound guy. I already did that to him once," Parker said.
"That's good," Veronica said. "He deserves the real thing."
"Maybe," Parker said, revealing nothing else.
Logan walked over to them. "Dick and I are going to go on a drink run. Can we get you ladies anything?" he asked.
"A bottled water would be nice. Thanks," Veronica said.
"Not for us," Jazmin said. "We can't stay long. I promised Jason not to stay out too late without him or Eli. Being a part of this case has them both pretty freaked."
"Tell me about it," Logan said. "We're all worried about the ladies we care about. We don't want anything to happen to any of you."
"We're careful," Parker assured him. "I even check my backseat before getting in the car. I've seen Scream."
"Good," Logan said in approval. He dropped a light kiss on Veronica before turning away and leaving with Dick.
Mac joined them again. Madison left with her parents. "Madison is taking them back to the cubicle they had Lauren at. They're determined to wait there," Mac shared.
"I don't blame them. I'd be the same way if it was my kid," Veronica said.
The friends chatting while Ryan and Brad played on their phones. Over an hour passed, and Parker and Jazmin left while Dick and Logan returned. Finally, Madison finally came out.
"They're admitting her," Madison said to them.
"Really? It's that bad?" Mac asked with a frown.
"Not to the extent that she'll die or anything. It's just it's the chronic version, and she's really been hiding how bad she's been feeling. They're going to get her on the necessary meds right away, but it can take a month or more before she recovers fully," Madison said.
"Sheesh. That's longer than it took me with my heart scare," Dick commented.
"What room are they sending her to?" Mac asked.
"Room 315. We can go up there and wait for her," Madison said.
"Logan and I will head down to the gift shop to buy her some flowers," Veronica said.
"That's a good idea," Dick said, liking the idea. "I'll come, too."
"I'm going to go grab a bite to eat," Brad said. He looked at Ryan, who nodded. Everyone separated.
Mac met up with her bio-parents at Lauren's room, who were angry with themselves for ignoring the serious problem their daughter had been having. Lauren felt guilty and washed out. Mac could tell she was needing a break from them.
"Why don't you all go home and change? Get her some clothes for tomorrow," Mac said.
"My hospital night gown," Lauren said, latching on to the idea. "I don't want to stay in this hospital gown."
"We can take turns staying with her," Mac suggested.
"No! I'm not having any of you staying the night with me!" Lauren said stubbornly. "I have done this too many times. I know the score. I'll be fine. You can come see me in the morning."
"Well, I haven't done it that much, and I'm not leaving you alone!" Mac insisted.
"I guess Mac can stay with you," Marilyn said reluctantly. "I'm sorry it took so long for you to get a hold of us."
"It's okay," Lauren said. "I knew you'd show up eventually." Her parents kissed her goodbye, hugged their other daughters and left.
"So are you feeling okay?" Mac asked.
"I'm okay. Just tired. And embarrassed," she said, throwing her arm over her eyes. "Brad carried me out of there like I was some helpless damsel. Nicole and Amanda were there. It'll be all over school. Scott will never want to go out with me again!"
"Sure, he will. He was actually waiting in the waiting room. I told him he could leave," Mac said. "I didn't think you'd like that."
"No, I wouldn't. Thanks for that," Lauren said.
"So why were Nicole and Amanda there?" Madison asked.
Lauren shrugged. "It's a popular place," she said.
Madison opened her mouth to say more, but Mac glared at her. There was no reason to add anything to Lauren's plate. "Okay, squirt," she said easily. "I'm supposed to meet my guy, so I'm going to get out of here. I'll take tomorrow night's shift, okay?" She looked at Mac.
"Okay," Mac said, smiling.
"That's good," Lauren said.
Madison hugged her. "I'm glad you're going to be okay. I love you," Madison said to her.
"I love you, too," Lauren said.
Madison passed the guys carrying balloons. Veronica brought in the flowers.
"Come to see the freak show?" Lauren asked with a grin.
"You know it!" Dick said with a wink. He kissed her cheek. "You still look hot for a yellow-tinged dudette."
Lauren laughed. Her sister's boyfriend was so funny. They visited with her for fifteen minutes. Then Brad and Ryan made an appearance.
"I'll walk you all out while you visit," Mac said to everyone. Logan, Veronica, and Dick said goodbye.
Lauren stared at her two brooding guys. Neither had smiles for her. Both looked glum. "So what's up?" she asked.
"How do you feel?" Ryan asked.
"I'm okay," she said. "I have to stay here at least until Monday. They want to monitor my response to the meds."
"But you'll be okay?" Brad asked.
"Eventually," she said.
Ryan's phone beep. He looked down, groaning. "Kristen's been texting me for the past hour," he shared.
"You should go see her. I'll be fine," Lauren said. "Mac's going to stay with me."
"We should've made you see a doctor sooner," Ryan said, putting away his phone.
"This is not your fault. I'm a big girl. I chose to ignore my body. This is on me," Lauren said.
"You shouldn't have gotten this bad," Brad said crossly.
"Well, there's no use crying over spilled milk," Lauren said, unconcerned. "I know what's wrong now. I'll take the meds and be okay. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" Brad demanded, glaring at her.
Ryan sensed the two could use some privacy. He interrupted. "I'm glad you're okay. I'll be by tomorrow," he said, squeezing her hand.
"I'm fine, so don't worry. It could've been worse," she said with a smile.
"Not funny!" Ryan said with a glare. "Call me if you need me before lunch tomorrow."
"I won't but thanks," she said, giving him a fond look.
Ryan left, hoping to intercept his sister before she barged in. Eating a bite in the cafeteria with Brad made it clear how rattled he was by what was going on with Lauren. He needed to talk it through with Lauren.
When Ryan left, Brad pulled up the chair, moving it next to the bed. He sat down, his eyes fixed on Lauren. "You're still yellow," he observed.
She grimaced. "Yeah, I probably will be until the medicines start working. Thanks for bringing me here," she said.
"I'm just glad they figured out what was wrong with you," Brad said, reaching for her hand.
Lauren flushed. He was looking at her very intently and holding her hand. She hated that she was sick and ugly looking. "Some first date, huh?" she said, searching for a topic. "Scott will probably never look at me again."
At the mention of Scott, Brad released her hand. "Yeah, well, he'd be an idiot," Brad said crossly.
Lauren smiled at him. "Did you know that he's the first guy to ask me out since I got sick two years ago? That was my first real date," she confessed.
Brad's gut clenched at the mention of a first—Dick's words echoed in his head. "You'll have another. You'll have other firsts," he assured her.
"I suppose," she said tiredly. "It's just..." her voice trailed off.
"It's just what?" he prompted.
"It's too embarrassing," she said.
"You know you can tell me," Brad told her.
"I've never been kissed. Not really. We played spin the bottle once in eighth grade at Kristen's party, but that doesn't count. It was very quick," she said, flushing. She looked away. "I can't believe I told you that!"
"Did you hope Scott would kiss you?" Brad asked, wondering why he was asking.
She nodded. "I thought he might. Now he probably never will," she said sadly.
Brad couldn't help thinking about being her first. Damn Dick for putting that in his head. "Did you want him to be your first kiss?" he asked pointedly.
Lauren looked upset at the question. "Why are you asking me that? You know the answer to that," she said accusingly. "But I learned a long time ago not to count on wishes."
Her words made Brad incredibly sad. She was so brave. He never met anyone like her before. He got up and peered down at her. "If you want, I can kiss you," he offered, not examining too closely his reason for offering.
Lauren looked at him in surprise. Then she wanted to die of humiliation. "Please go, Brad. I don't need any pity from you. I also wasn't trying to guilt you into kissing me," she said, fighting sudden tears. Could this night get any worse?
Brad reached down for her hand. "I don't pity you," he said. "I admire you. More than I've ever admired anyone. You're remarkable."
She still wouldn't look at him, remaining silent. "Will you please look at me?" he asked.
"Just go. I want to go to sleep," she said, ignoring his request.
He reached down, putting his hand on her cheek and turning her face toward him. "I'm sorry I'm not stronger. That I can't be the guy you deserve, but I can give you this," he said. Then he leaned down and kissed her.
Lauren froze one moment, not believing this was happening. Then her arms moved, going around his neck as she sat up straighter, tentatively returning the kiss. Heat filled her as she opened her mouth, his tongue sweeping in.
Mac stood outside the door, grinning at the scene. She was glad something good came out of this night.
*****Chapter End*****
I hope you enjoyed this update.