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always have. Please, Mikah.... Please respect that," I plead with him.  
    "I...Vivienne, I can't. I respect you for everything you've done, but you need more than you can provide for yourself. It's not just you that you need to worry about. I want to help you. And your baby." He takes a long, deep breath.  
    Guilt floods through me as I take in his words. "If I go to the hospital, get checked out, will that be enough for you? Will you walk away when I'm done?" I plead.  
    "I can't promise that."
    "Damn it, why not? Mikah, you don't even know me."
    "Vivienne Alison Callahan. Born September second, nineteen ninety, Boston Hospital. Born to mother Rebecca Callahan, father unknown."  
    I lift myself up onto the leather seat of the bench I’ve been leaning against to put as much distance between us as I can manage.  
    "Do you want me to continue?"
    I shake my head. "Just because you know those facts does not mean you know me or who I am.” Good God, he went digging for my history. Why would he do something like that? “You've known me less than three days. How on earth were you able to find that out?"
    "I'm not sure you really want me to answer that." I glare at him. "When you flinched away from me after you fainted, I took off because...because..." He looks away from me. "Because I was afraid we would end up in this situation. In a car, heading to the hospital, with you feeling as though I'd trapped you in here."
    My heart clenches tight.  
    "Please, Vivienne. Do this for me? There are reasons that I can't explain. It's not pity or charity. It's..." He pauses and looks back toward me. His eyes are warm, sincere. "It's a need that I don't understand. So please, let me help you."
    "I..." I take a long, ragged breath.
    "I understand your pride, your determination. Hell, I even admire it. But don't you think it's time you deserve a break? You deserve a chance to step back and take a break. Please, Vivienne, let me help you."
    "Alright. I'll go," I say. I feel exhausted, emotionally drained. I barely register the fact that the car is in motion, but we're moving.  
    I realize deep down that he's right. I need to get checked out — at least for the baby’s sake, if not my own — and honestly this might be the only way.

EIGHT
    I'm brought out of my reverie when I hear Mikah shift in his seat. I look out the window and see the hospital as we pull into the parking lot. He leans forward and grabs my hand. This time I don't flinch away from him; I let his fingers slide in between mine.  
    "Come on. Let’s go have you checked out." He smiles at me as the car comes to a stop. Tiny crinkles appear at the corners of his eyes, and I can tell that the smile is genuine.  
    "So can I say now that hospitals terrify me?"  
    His door opens and he starts to climb out. "Yes, you can tell me. But one of the biggest differences between your other trips here and this one is that you're not alone."  
    I can’t believe I've agreed to let him take care of me. I'm not entirely sure what this is all going to imply, and it scares the hell out of me. I've taken care of myself since I was about six and my mother could no longer care for me.
    When we enter, Mikah walks straight up to the nurse at the emergency care registration desk. "Mr. Blake. What can we do for you today?"  
    My heart sinks. They know him? How many other girls has he brought here?  
    "It's not me. Ms. Callahan is in need of some medical attention. She fainted last night." I roll my eyes. "Can we have her checked out?"  
    "Certainly. Ms. Callahan, why don't you follow me?" I look at Mikah, who is smiling reassuringly at me. I glare at him.  
    "What?" he mouths.  
    "Have you done this before?" I hiss.  
    “Done what? Come to this hospital?”
    "Brought some lonely, practically homeless chick here?"
    The shock that crosses his face tells me that I've said something offensive to him. "No, Vivienne, I don't go around preying on fainting, helpless women. I am the majority