Fighting History (Fighting For Love Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

monitor her vitals. If she needs dialysis, we’ll deal with that. If she starts to reject the kidney, we’ll know and start to take steps to prevent that, if we can. The next two days are crucial, alright? If all goes well, we’ll discharge her anywhere from five to ten days from now.”
    “I know.” Maggie bit her lip. “I hope it’ll all be OK.”
    “Me too. So, just wait here just a bit longer, and I’ll have someone come and get you when Rita’s in the transplant ICU ward.”
    “Thanks.”
    Carrie glanced at the sketch pad on the chair. “You drew those?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What are they? Dancing women?”
    “Apsaras. Female spirits from Hindu and Buddhist mythology, usually associated with water and air – with clouds, mostly.”
    “Wow.” Carrie stared at the drawings. “They’re beautiful.”
    Maggie blushed. “Thanks. They’re for that big commission I told you about.”
    “Oh, right.” Carrie cocked her head. “If it’s none of my business, tell me to butt out – but I’m dying to know why you didn’t want to take it.”
    Maggie sighed. “It’s for an ex-boyfriend.”
    “Ah.” Carrie winced. “Ouch. Bad break-up?”
    “You could say that. Two years ago, I caught him in bed with a waitress from his restaurant. Like, caught them. She was on top of him and they were just… uh… finishing .”
    “Oh, God, Maggie.”
    “Yeah. It was very noisy. That’s probably why they didn’t hear me walk across his gorgeous hardwood floors and up the stairs. I didn’t have a key, but they were in such a rush to get down to it, they’d left the front door unlocked.”
    “And what did he say? I mean… what could he say, right?”
    “Actually, he had plenty to say. He told me that I had no rights on him, and that we’d just been having a bit of fun, and it was own damn fault for thinking it was more than it was. Then… then he laughed at me.” Maggie’s voice shook. “Even two years later, that’s the part that still hurts the most, you know? He laughed. She did too, like it was all a massive joke, and for them, I suppose it was.”
    “Wow.” Carrie stared at her. “And did you see him again?”
    “No. I grabbed all my stuff out of the bathroom and the dresser drawers and walked out the door. Never called him again, never went to his restaurant again. And he never called me, or apologized, or anything. Then about a year ago, he started trying to contact me about this commission.” She shrugged. “He’s been unrelenting about it too. He really, really wanted me to do it, and now I’m actually grateful, you know?”
    “Yeah. And how’s it going with seeing him again?”
    “Fine, so far. But he’s not my priority right now.”
    “Does Rita know that this cheating idiot is paying for her transplant?”
    “Nope, not yet.” Maggie grinned. “I’ll fill her in when she wakes up and recovers a bit.”
    “She’ll be OK with it?”
    “Honestly, Carrie? She doesn’t have to be OK with it. She just has to get better. That’s Mom’s whole job right now, and it’s my job to deal with the cheating idiot.”

Chapter Five
     
    On Friday morning, Maggie was at her studio by eight o’clock. She was exhausted after spending most of the previous three days with Rita. Her mother was doing amazingly well – she’d gotten out of bed two days after surgery – and her temperature was normal, her reflexes and vitals steady. She needed Maggie nearby, though, and Maggie had been doing her work when Rita napped, and when she left the hospital at night. It had been a punishing, stressful few days, and she knew it was just the beginning of the tense time.
    Maggie made a cup of coffee and threw it back like it was water. She made a second one, considered eating one of the stale croissants in the cupboard for breakfast, rejected the idea for the moment. She’d get something at the hospital, though the idea did not fill her with joy. Chances were that the croissants here were still going to be