Desperate, Erin had spoken urgent words of love and apology, of regret and promises, but her mother had drifted back to sleep without another word.
Erin stood, wincing at the twinge in her back. The metal and plastic chairs were not the most comfortable for sleeping, but she wasn’t about to complain. She forced a sleepy smile as she gathered up her purse and luggage.
Doug was propped up against the wall, an empty cup of coffee dangling from his fingertips. He straightened as she came out, rubbing his eyes.
“How is she?”
“I told you to go home and get some sleep,” she scolded softly. “But she seems well. Stable, they said. Right now it’s just the medicine keeping her sleepy, but they said it’s best she doesn’t move around too much anyway.”
His expression was sympathetic. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine.”
He studied her. “No offense, but you look awful.”
“Now why would that be offensive?” she asked, her voice dry.
“Sorry,” he said with a small, repentant grin that had gotten him out of so much trouble. It was what had endeared him to her once, a way of making light of life. She still appreciated the sentiment, the escape of it, even if it wouldn’t ever be real. Her life was about struggle and about courage—the same as Blake’s. Thinking of him made her heart clench.
“It’s okay.” She scrubbed at her face.
Surely he was right anyway. Worry and lack of sleep probably imprinted dark shadows under her eyes. Her hair felt unruly and knotted to the touch.
“You really should head home, though. I can take it from here. You don’t have to wait for me either. In town, I mean. You can get back to your friends in Tanglewood.”
“And leave you stranded? Again? Not likely.”
She waved a hand. “I’ll figure it out, now that I have time. I’m not sure how long I’ll need to stay here, so there’s no point in you hanging around for this. And wouldn’t you miss work? You’d better drive back today.”
Doug had sped on the open night roads, pulling into the hospital at four thirty in the morning. She glanced at the clock now, surprised to see it was already eight.
“No, I—” He paused, seeming at a loss for words and unusually sincere. “I want to be here. To help you, if I can. I’m not asking to start anything right now. I know it’s not the time. But if sometime in the future, you and I were to be together again…”
“Doug, what about the girl you were with?”
“She’s just a friend,” he said. When she raised an eyebrow, he amended, “With benefits.”
She shook her head. He would never change—not that she’d been waiting for that. She doubted they would have worked in the long term, even if there hadn’t been the horrible situation with her mother and his parents.
He seemed to follow her line of thinking. “I’m sorry about what happened when you came. I had no idea there was a connection. And then when I found out, I panicked.”
She stopped him with a hand on his forearm. “I understand. I did my share of panicking. It was a bad situation.”
He looked away. “I know your mom didn’t steal,” he said tightly.
It was as close to a confession as she would ever get, and more than she deserved, really. It wasn’t their fight. It never should have been their fight. It was their parents. His father and her mother. A terrible heritage that had been passed down.
Maybe they could fight it—fight the precedent, she thought, the way Blake taught in class—except they weren’t together anymore. Never would be again. What she had with Blake was so much deeper than anything she’d experienced before. Deeper than she knew was possible. She wanted Doug to find that with someone else.
Neither of them deserved to settle for each other.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “That won’t happen.”
; His expression was earnest. “You don’t have to decide now. I just wanted to tell you—”
Whatever he was going to tell her was cut off by sharp footfalls and a commanding masculine voice. She looked up at the counter, and like a dream, Blake was there. He spoke quickly to the nurse on duty, who pointed in Erin’s direction.