CHAPTER 154: DNA

It's been two days since Paul and Gladys visited about the DNA stuff, and Mike and I are finally going to get our samples taken. Paul will be there too.

I feel like it's a disaster waiting to happen.

The morning sun hangs low, casting the world in a clinical light that feels eerily appropriate as Mike and I drive toward the hospital. The air between us is thick with unspoken words and half-formed thoughts, each mile adding to the weight of everything unsaid.

Mike stares out the window, jaw clenched. He hasn’t said a word since we left the house, but I can feel the tension radiating off him. Every so often, he drums his fingers against his knee, as if he’s itching to say something but can’t quite muster the words. I’m not sure I can either. I keep my focus on the road, hands gripping the steering wheel a bit too tightly, because I know as soon as I let go, I’ll be forced to acknowledge what we’re doing—what this test might mean.

As we pull into the hospital parking lot, I spot Paul le