Beau picked up the check after we had another beer, which I appreciated but didn't need. And then he took me back to the hospital. I assumed he'd drop me off at the front door, so when he pulled into the parking garage, I was a little confused. He'd been here all day, and he had shit to take care of at his house. He was starting a new job on Monday morning, and all of his crap had been moved while he was in Harden in anticipation of his returning from Paris tomorrow with his wife. He'd dodged that bullet. I chuckled, thinking of him in the Matrix because that's how it seemed. He'd defied fate in that twist of events, and I still wasn't sure how he'd managed to get out unscathed. "You know you don't have to come in, right?" I asked as the glass doors slid open and the medicinal smell of the hospital came barreling out. Nothing like the scent of cleanser and death to welcome you to a building.He leaned over and pressed the up button on the elevator. "How are you going to get to my

Beau acted like he had an assigned seat in the waiting room. He sat in the same chair each time we walked in. I glanced over my shoulder to see him staring at the screen on his phone, and for once, I wasn't irritated that it was in his face; I was grateful he had something to occupy him so, in turn, he would be here to occupy me. The nurse buzzed the doors open to allow me back into the ward, and I made the trip to my dad's room that seemed all too familiar. For the first time since I'd gotten here on Friday, when I'd held my dad's hand and sat next to his bed, I started talking. I had prayed, I had watched him breathe, I had paced the room, but what I'd yet to do was let him know I was here. I probably should have told him about Beau's wedding catastrophe, or that I'd had a new liner put in the pool, or hell, even told him that I cut my hand. I didn't do any of those things. He would have given Beau shit for getting wrapped up with a girl like Felicity in the first place, scolded m

Each time the electronic doors clicked and swooshed with the arrival of anyone entering the waiting area, Beau and I stopped whatever we were doing-talking, resting, playing on our phones-to look up. I couldn't speak for him, but I kept hoping someone would come out to tell me there'd been some sort of change in my dad's condition. When Masyn came through the double doors twenty minutes later, looking worse than when she went in, my heart hammered in my chest and I feared the worst.I stood and met her in the middle of the waiting room. Her thin arms circled my waist, and she pressed her cheek against my chest. There she released the emotion of the last two days, soaking my shirt. I stroked her hair and cradled her tightly, waiting for a sign that she could hold herself up. The doors opened and closed twice more before she pushed back and patted me on the chest as though I'd been the one who needed comforting. "You want to sit down?" I tried to lean over to whisper in her ear, whi

After I showed Masyn where our room was and got her towels so she could shower, I traversed the mile across the house to Beau's bedroom. The lights were on, so he was either still up and ignoring me, or passed out and unable to hear me. When I knocked and he didn't answer, I ventured in to the second set of doors and tried again."Yeah?" So, he was up."Can I come in?""Depends. You going to keep kicking me while I'm down? Beating me like a dead horse?" he pouted.That was the closest thing I'd get to an invitation, so I took it. "You know that's not my goal.""Then what is? I'm not going to cry if that's what you're hoping for." The sounds of my chuckling weren't what he wanted to hear, either, so I stopped. "All bullshit aside, it's like you flipped a switch this afternoon. I'm just trying to understand where you're coming from.""She drove three hours not knowing what she'd find or if she'd even be able to get to you.""Masyn?" My voice rose with surprise when I sai

By the time we crawled out of bed the next morning, the house was quiet and we were alone. Beau had left a note on the counter that he'd gone to work and would call later. I wasn't sure if anything I'd said sunk in or made sense, however, I was glad to know he'd heeded my advice not to just bail but, at the very least, to figure out a plan. Even with GPS, I had to turn around twice while navigating the streets of Atlanta to get to the hospital. The same roads we'd traveled last night were quite different when they were bogged down with traffic and people driving like maniacs. Normally, it would have gotten under my skin, and I'd be hollering out the window at the morons causing problems, yet today, with Masyn next to me, it didn't seem all that important. It gave me a little extra time alone with her before I had to face whatever happened in the CICU. She took my hand when I clicked the button to set the alarm on the truck, as if we'd been doing this since the dawn of time. I had