“Hey, I’m a New Yorker. I need excitement in my days. Why do you think I take the J Train to work?”
I let myself sink into my friends’ banter, their familiar voices. For a while there, locked inside Brad’s gilded cage, I thought Imight never see them again. That I’d lost my chance to even say goodbye.
But that didn’t happen. They waited for me. Kept their faith in me and stayed.
Without Yulian, I never would have been able to live up to that trust.
“I love you guys.” I say it without thinking, one arm around each of their shoulders. “So freaking much.”
“Aww!” they go in sync. But as they cuddle up to me in my embrace, I can tell their eyes are a little bit wet, too.
Soon, however, a cough sends us scattering. “We’re out of gauze,” Gwen announces.
“I’ll go grab some,” I volunteer.
I
