Perhaps, even, Alex needed to find his way, too. Dr. Imperfect was more than enough for her.
Kissing his cheek, she went to the kitchen, poured a cup of coffee, and settled into a chair across from him. Just in case his head injury was worse than expected, she figured the safest course was to stay until he woke up.
And then—an idea.
Her phone was back at her apartment, so she used Alex’s phone to call Laura.
“Hello?” Laura answered in a guarded voice.
“What should I do?” Josie hissed into the phone.
“I think you should tell him how you feel and just stop being so ridiculous,” Laura answered without hesitation. “Whose phone are you on?”
“Alex’s.”
“Oooooh.”
“No, it’s not like that. I’m at his apartment. He’s asleep on the couch.”
“Tired him out?” You could hear the leer in Laura’s voice a mile away.
“No. He was running past my house and I was touching Joe’s chest and Alex got jealous and ran into a parking sign.”
“What? Repeat that!”
“I can’t. Hell, I don’t understand it myself.”
“Who is Joe?”
“One of Darla’s boyfriends.”
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The doorbell rang. Who the hell could that be? Slipping past Alex, she propped the apartment door open with the deadbolt and went to the main door.
Darla.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to check up on you. Make sure you weren’t being dismembered and put in a freezer.” Darla craned her neck around Josie, obviously hinting she wanted to come in. Letting her, Josie ushered her into the apartment, putting a finger to her lips, pointing to Alex.
“Laura?” she whispered into the phone. “I need to let you go.”
“Only if you promise to talk to him. Openly. Honestly.”
Sigh. “I promise.”
“Don’t do what I did with Mike and Dylan. Don’t shut him out.”
“He’s the one who was wrong!”
“Yes, he was. But you’re paying the price for you own stubbornness, Josie.”
“You’re right. Kiss the baby for me.”
“Mwah!” Click.
Darla was gawking at the apartment. “This is newer than yours”, she stage whispered, careful not to wake Alex. “Ours. Our building.” She glanced at Alex. “He okay?”
“He will be.”
“Did he really sew his own eye wound shut?” Darla asked, her face a mask of revulsion.
“No. He used Dermabond.”
“Dermawhat?”
“Surgical glue. Like crazy glue, sort of.”
“Trevor will be disappointed,” Darla joked.
“Tell Trevor to go rent a Rambo movie to get his flesh-sewing fix.” A loud growl came from Josie’s stomach and a lightheadedness hit her. Meeting Trevor and Joe. Alex’s appearances. His injuries. Meeting his mother—all in one morning, it was just too much.
“You okay?” Darla peered at her with knowing eyes. “You’re not okay.”
Tears filled Josie’s eyes, and she allowed them—finally—to spill over. “I’m not okay,” she admitted, sitting down on a chair across from Alex, pressing her forehead against her knees.
“What’s going on between you two?” Darla gave Alex the once-over, taking in his body. “He’s really cute.”
“I met his mom just now,” Josie sobbed as quietly as she could.
“It went that bad?”
“It was greaaaaat,” Josie cried. “She’s sweet and smart and funny and I could see her as my mother-in-law.” She hissed the last word in an even lower whisper, as if she were a Harry Potter character saying Voldemort’s name.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I’m too f**ked up for Alex,” Josie wailed.
“Then go unfuckup yourself, Josie!” Darla said matter-of-factly. “No one else will do it for you.”
Laughing through her tears, Josie said, “Oh, like it’s so easy.”
“No—it isn’t. It’s complicated.”
Snort. “It’s always complicated.”
“You’re always complicated, Josie.”
That stung. “What do you mean?”
Darla’s voice softened. “I know it was hard for you, growing up with your mom like that. Mama used to say she got the better end of the bargain, because while she lost a foot and her mobility, at least she kept her mind. Her sister didn’t.”
“Aunt Cathy said that?”
“Yes, she did.” Compassion oozed out of Darla. They hardly ever talked like this, and Josie found it surreal. Eye-opening. Expanding. Not at all freakish or upsetting.
“I was always over at your place. She’d call and ask for help with you.”
“And sometimes she needed it, but Josie, mostly she was trying to get you out from Aunt Marlene’s wrath.”
“I know.” She’d known when she was eleven. She knew now, at twenty-nine. Aunt Cathy gave her a stable place to escape to, where the home was cluttered but there were regular meals, a place to do homework quietly, and Darla to curl up on the couch with and watch television. It was homey, even if it wasn’t home.
“But you got to get beyond that. You’re twenty-nine. How much longer are you going to drag your past around like a big old ball and chain?” Darla looked pointedly at Alex, then put her hands on her thighs and pushed herself to standing, sighing deeply, as if tired.
“And that”—she pointed at Alex—“is worth way, way more than the three or four luggage carts of baggage you’ve loaded yourself with.”
“You make it sound like I had a choice!” Josie hissed.
“You didn’t when you were a kid, but you sure as hell do now.”
“This from the woman who wouldn’t leave her mama until a few weeks ago?”
Darla stopped, her jaw going tense, nostrils flaring. Then she sighed, a slow relaxing that drained her anger out. “Yeah, Josie. That’s right. I decided I needed to make a change and look what I got.” She nodded toward the door. “And on that note, I’m going back to the apartment. Sam and Liam from the band are there and we’re getting ready to go out.
“Four?” Josie gasped.
“No!” Darla shouted. Alex stirred, and Josie put a finger to her lips. Rolling her eyes, Darla slipped out quietly, leaving Josie to stew in her thoughts.