DEAD IN BED By Bailey Simms: The Complete Second Book

PART 11, AUTHOR'S NOTE - 2/13/15, 2:20pm

I tried to ignore the string around my boyfriend's neck, for now. 

Kyle was here, with me, and I didn't want even this weird tether to ruin that. I crawled onto the bed beside him and put my arms around his shoulders. 

"He's still feeding you, right?" I asked. "You sure you're okay?"

"Grilled cheese." Kyle nodded and shrugged. "Morning, noon, and night." Then he put his hand at my waist, concerned. "He's feeding you, right? You've been cooperating? You've been doing what he's telling you to do?"

I didn't say anything about the strangely gourmet meals the cop was making for me. "He's feeding me, yeah." I rested my head on Kyle's shoulder. I still couldn't quite believe he was here. "I just finished Part Ten."

"That's good." Kyle looked at me with a glow of hope. "The sequel's almost halfway done, then. Right?"

"Yeah, almost," I said. Then I confessed, "But I haven't been writing it exactly how he wants me to." I told Kyle about how I'd made Shawn TGV positive, and how I'd had Ashley reject him.

I felt Kyle recoil. "But . . . I don't understand." He gave me a long, confused look. "Why would you do something like that? Bailey? Don't you want to get out of here?"

"Of course I do," I said. "But it's my book. And if I'm going to write it, I have to write it my way."

Kyle slowly pulled away from me. He was right to be upset. I was risking a lot by defying the cop—not just my life, but Kyle's life too.

"I just . . . I don't understand." Kyle put his hands to his face and shook his head in frustration. "This is serious, Bailey. I mean, Megan was right about you. You're so stubborn. This is isn't a game."

"Megan?"

I couldn't believe Kyle was bringing up Megan, right now of all times.

Megan was my best friend in high school. I guess technically she still is, but I haven't seen her since I left home. I think I may have mentioned her in an earlier post around the time when Kyle and I were getting together. I'd said that I couldn't talk to her about Kyle. Well . . . that was because Megan was Kyle's first girlfriend. He even lost his virginity to her. She told me all about it. I mean, don't worry, they'd already been broken up for like six months when we got together. But, still. Megan wasn't exactly the most comfortable topic between the two of us.

"I'm sorry," Kyle said, putting his head in his hands again. "I'm really sorry. I don't know why I said that. Forget Megan. Okay? And, anyway, you know that I even like your stubbornness most of the time. You're a strong person, and, well, honestly that really is one of the things I love about you." He paused, took my hand, and looked me in the eyes. "It's just that we have to do everything we can to get out of here alive. I'm really scared. I know how much your book means to you. But it's just a book. And you can re-write it however you want, later. Right?"

That's when I realized that none of my choices about defying the cop or writing the book in my own way were ever going to make sense to Kyle until I told him the truth.

"No," I whispered. "I don't know if I'd be able to re-write it later." I hadn't planned on telling him the truth about my condition. But, suddenly, I knew it couldn't wait any longer. "I'm sick," I said quietly.

"You mean your Lyme?" Kyle looked me over with sudden concern. "Is it getting worse?"

"No." I bunched Kyle's hands into mine and held them close. "I've been lying to you. I'm so sorry. I don't have Lyme disease. That's not what I have. It's something else. Something worse." I shook my head in frantic apology. "I don't know if I'd have a chance to re-write my book later because I'm not going to live for very much longer." I felt tears spill onto my cheeks.

The look of confusion and fear on Kyle's face was breaking my heart.