“You did good, amor.” I brushed my lips against the skin of his neck. “You did so good.”
Aaron melted a little more into me, into my touch. “They told me a few hours ago that he seems to be doing a bit better today. That he might get more time. They don’t know if it’s days, weeks, or months. But they are hopeful.” His chest deflated, the arms around me losing that desperate edge they’d had a while ago. “I am hopeful too.”
A voice coming from somewhere on the other side of the waiting room reached us. Bursting the bubble we had been in. “Mr. Blackford?”
We both turned and looked over. A nurse stood a few feet away, his smile trained to be polite and calming.
“Yes,” Aaron said, his back straightening in the chair.
“He’s finally awake. You can see him now.” The nurse slipped his hands in the pockets of his scrubs. “Only a few minutes, okay? He needs to rest.”
Disentangling my body from his, I placed both feet on the floor and stood in front of Aaron, making space for him to walk to the nurse. He followed suit, his head still turned toward the entrance of the waiting room.
“Okay, yeah,” he said almost absently. But before he even stepped away, he looked at me. “Come with me, please?”
My heart skipped a beat just then, the answer sounding loud and clear in my head. I’d go anywhere with you if you so much as asked. “Yes, of course I will.”
I didn’t wait for him to stretch out his hand and take mine. I did that myself. And I kept my hold tight and as reassuring as I possibly could as we followed the nurse to the room where Aaron’s dad waited. We stepped in, and I did not know what to expect. Perhaps I should have readied myself on the way to the room, and the realization that I hadn’t made a part of my bravado scatter away. This was the only living family Aaron had left, and I was about to meet him. And I … I suddenly tumbled a little under the importance of the moment. I wished it could have been under different circumstances, that there was more time, or that I was sure about what to say, how to handle this situation so everything went as well as it could.
But there wasn’t time. This was what we had. What Aaron and his dad had. And even if a little scared or uneasy, I was humbled that Aaron wanted to share it with me.
“There’s someone here to see you, Richard,” the nurse announced into the room and then looked over at us. His smile inched up. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”
Aaron took a step forward, and I remained a little behind him. Letting him have this moment to himself.
“Son,” the man perched on the bed said in a raspy voice.
I looked over at him and found the ghost of the features I knew so well. The hard jaw, the way both brows met, that intent and confidence about them. It was all there, although faded and worn.
“You are still here,” Aaron’s dad said. And I could hear the surprise in his tone.
“Dad,” I heard Aaron answer, and the grip of his hand on mine tightened. “Of course I’m still here. And there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
Blue eyes that looked in our direction from the bed trailed behind Aaron with curiosity.
“Hi, Mr. Blackford.” I smiled at him, feeling Aaron’s hand leave mine and fall on my shoulders. “I’m Catalina, and I’m happy to finally meet you.”
Aaron’s dad didn’t return the smile, not completely. But his eyes told a different story. Just like I had seen his son do so many times. All under lock and key. “Call me Richard, please.” His gaze searched my face, something akin to wonder slowly seeping in. “Is this her, son?”
The question caught me by surprise, and so I glanced back at Aaron. I found him staring at his dad with a mirroring expression. Then, his profile softened.
“I wasn’t sure you were listening,” he said almost absently. Then, his arm brought me closer to him, as if tucking me into him were nothing more than a reflex. “Yes, this is her,” he answered louder, and my breath hitched in my chest. “The woman I told you all about.”
Aaron looked down at me, his eyes shining under the fluorescent light of the room.
“Your Thea,” I heard Richard say, emotion coating his voice.
Thea. That had been his wife’s name. Aaron’s mom.
I peered in his direction, finding that smile he had hidden earlier. It was small and weak, but it was enough to make mine break free in return.
“Hold on to her, son. For as long as time lets you.”
“I will.” Aaron’s words brushed the skin on my temple.
I looked up at him, finding those blue eyes smiling down at me with a devotion I had never experienced or imagined being on the receiving end of. With a warmth that I could feel right in the middle of my chest, pounding and expanding with every passing second I spent under his gaze, by his side. Aaron looked at me with a world of possibilities shining bright and dazzling in his eyes. A promise.
“This is the woman I plan on spending the rest of my life with. I’m not letting go of her anytime soon.”