Let Me Love You

Chapter 6

Lisa POV

"You didn't have to help me out," she said, walking out of the kitchen with me. I playfully scoffed at her. "Oh, come on. I hope you didn't expect me to just sit there and watch you clean. I'm a gentlewoman; helping people is in my blood," I said triumphantly.

"Yes, a very cute gentlewoman you are." Cute. She called me cute. Don't overthink it, even if just hearing her call me cute is making my heart flutter and race. Or is it the apple pie?

"So, are your parents picking you up?" she asked, making my body go stiff. Parents. I wished they could pick me up. "Nope, my parents are technically on a business trip, so I brought my car. I'm a big girl who can drive and go home alone," I said, trying to divert the topic from my parents.

"Yes, of course, a big girl," she said, mocking me. I gasped, hitting her shoulder playfully. "I guess I should go. I have an early morning class," I said quickly, turning to face her.

She nodded. "Yes, I understand."

I nodded back, waving goodbye and walking toward the door with her beside me. As I opened the door, she called out, "Lisa."

I paused and turned to face her. She was close, so close that I could easily kiss her. My eyes widened as she stepped into my personal space and hugged me. I stood frozen. She was hugging me. Her body was pressed against mine, very close. When I didn't reciprocate the hug immediately, she began to pull away. But then I hugged her back, tightly, not wanting to let go. But I couldn't hold her forever.

I heard her exhale a deep, silent sigh. I tilted my head to rest it on her shoulder, inhaling her scent of apple pie and flour. But I didn't mind it; I foolishly found it a beautiful scent because it came from her. I knew I couldn't hold her like this forever—it might be weird for her—so I did the one thing every fiber of my being resisted. I loosened my hold on her, pulled back, and stepped away, putting some distance between us

I guess she was shocked because of the too-close hug we just had. "Bye, Rachel. Take care," I muttered under my breath and left without letting her say anything. I walked to my car and got in. It was too much. The hug was too much—it shouldn't have happened in the first place. These feelings are growing, and this shouldn't be happening. I started counting backward from ten to calm myself down. What the hell is happening? I'm sweating just because I hugged her.

I turned on the car to drive myself home, but my vision started to get blurry. It was difficult for me to drive. Was I having an allergic reaction? No. Fuck. My insulin. I forgot to take my insulin. Panic surged through me as I changed my route and drove to the nearest hospital.

Getting out of the car, my energy plummeted. I couldn't walk or see properly, blinking my eyes continuously to try and focus, but nothing was helping.

"Mam, are you okay?" I heard someone ask.

I shook my head. "I forgot to take my insulin. My blood sugar is too high. Vision is blurry," I managed to say before the darkness consumed me.

................

Groaning, I rubbed my eyes and opened them, letting myself adjust. I was in a hospital room. I propped myself up with my arms and situated myself in the bed. Looking around, I saw that no one was there. If anything happened to me, no one would be here anyways. No one. The door opened, and the doctor and nurse entered.

"Miss, I'm glad you're awake," the doctor said, taking the pad from the nurse and checking it. "Do you know what happened to you?"

I nodded. "Yes, I forgot to take my insulin before dinner, so I had a reaction—blurry vision and high blood sugar. I drove here because my insulin was at home, but it would have been hard for me to drive back, so I came here," I said, sighing. It was a stupid mistake, forgetting to take my insulin.

"Good, Miss. Now it's a lesson to always carry some with you," the doctor said.

I smiled and nodded. "Miss—" he started again, but I interrupted.

"Lisa, Lisa Graham."

The doctor nodded and continued, "Lisa, you didn't have anyone listed as your emergency contact—"

"Yes, my parents are out of town at the moment. There's no one to come here for me right now," I said nonchalantly.

"Yes, but your phone was ringing continuously. One call was from a guy named Nolan. So I picked up; he should be here any minut—"

"Lisa Graham, when the hell will you put me in your emergency contact?" Nolan's voice cut through the room. I sighed, groaning to myself. I looked up at the doctor and nurse, who were trying to hide their smiles.

"Lisa, honey, when will you take care of yourself?" Nolan's mom said. I just smiled at her, ignoring her comment.

"I didn't want to stress you all," I said truthfully.

"Oh, stop it. You're my kid just as much as Nolan is," she said, then turned to the doctor. "When can she be discharged? Is everything alright with her? Does she need any tests?"

I chuckled at her being so careful about me.

 "She is fine, ma'am. She just needs to take her insulin on time and take care of herself. That's it. I'll get the discharge papers ready. Please pay at the counter and collect your medicine," the doctor said and walked out of the room with the nurse.

"Lisa, what in the world were you thinking, not taking your insulin?" Nolan asked me. I sighed, knowing it was my fault. I was too busy deciding which outfit to wear to dinner with her.

"I was busy picking an outfit and got too excited," I replied.

He sighed and took a seat beside me. "Lisa, for God's sake, can you put me on your emergency contact, please?" he begged. "What if something happens to you and I'm not here? I don't want that to happen, Lisa. Ple—"

"Okay, okay, chill. I will," I told him with a tired smile.

"So, how was it? The dinner?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"What dinner?" Nolan's mom questioned. I tried hiding the blush creeping up my cheeks from Nolan's teasing.

"Mom, she had dinner with her crush, but her crush doesn't know she has a crush on her," he explained.

"Lisa Graham, do you like this girl?" she asked.

"Woman, not a girl. A woman who has a kid. But she isn't married," he corrected his mom.

"Hey, by saying it that way, you're making her sound old. And secondly, it's just a crush. I'm hoping it's nothing more than that because I know nothing will happen between us," I said, feeling defeated. At this moment, instead of convincing others, I was trying to convince myself that nothing could happen between us. Which was even worse.

"Leave that. Just tell me what happened," Nolan asked eagerly.

"Nothing much. We talked, she asked me about my parents, and I—"

"What did you say to her?" he interrupted.

I looked at him, annoyed. "I told her the same thing I tell everyone: they're on a business trip. I don't want anyone's sympathy when they find out my parents are dead, or anyone trying to be my friend just because I'm rich and own a company at the age of, what, 21." I gasped for air. He opened his mouth to say something, and I knew what it would be, so I cut him off. "And let me stop you right there. I told you because you're family, not like the others."

I laid back on the bed, feeling a mix of frustration and relief. "Ugh, now I'm hungry. Be a good bestie and buy me a sandwich," I said, making his mom chuckle and him groan in mock anger because he couldn't say no to me.