Talking to her while we ate was easy. Fun. Fulfilling. She truly was the perfect woman. Kind, intelligent, but not a show-off about it. She surprised me by saying a few things that made me laugh.
She was the woman for me. I knew it in my bones. I just hoped she felt it too.
I was trying to convince her to order desert a little while later when her phone rang. I could tell from the look on her face that it wasn’t good news.
“I’ll be right there. No, I will meet you at the hospital. Thank you!”
She hung up the phone and looked at me, clothing it like it was a life preserver.
“Penny. Something wrong. They said she’s burning up and saying her belly hurts.”
“Let’s go,” I saids standing and throwing an absurd amount of money on the table. “I’ll take you to the hospital. Do you know which one?”
She was staring straight ahead as I bundled into the car. She looked like she was in shock. I couldn’t blame her. I knew if I would have done anything to protect my little brother, too.
And I had.
“Try not to project. You don’t know yet,” I said as I helped her with her seatbelt. She nodded, making brief, panicked eye contact with me. “You okay?”
She gave me a helpless little smile.
“Not remotely.”
“I know. Okay, I will drive as fast as I can without getting pulled over.”
I felt her hand on mine as I reached for the steering wheel.
“Thank you, Jaken.”
* * *
It was five hours later, well after midnight, and we still had no idea what was happening with Penny. I was in the waiting room with Colleen. Thankfully Mason and Michelle had been babysitting and offered to stay the night with the kids. They were bunking down on the couch.
I looked over and noticed Colleen was white knuckling a cup of coffee. I gently removed it from her hand and set it on a side table. Then I put my arm around her and guided us both back against the low, barely cushioned couch we were sitting on.
“Shut your eyes for a few minutes. You are exhausted,” I said, pressing my lips against her hair.
“I can’t rest until I know.”
“It feels like you can’t. It feels like if you close your eyes something bad will happen.”
“How did you know?” She asked breathily, her eyes lifting to mine.
“Because I’ve been there,” I said with a warm smile. The girl was beside herself. I would have done anything to make her feel better. “You can’t keep the plane in the air with your mind.”
She let out a sharp laugh and slapped her hand over her mouth.
“Oh my god. I’m a monster. How can I laugh at a time like this?”
“It’s called gallows humor and it is incredibly necessary at times like this. Now, close your eyes for a few minutes. I promise to wake you if there is any news.”
“I won’t fall asleep,” she warned.
“Doesn’t matter. Just give your brain a break.”
“Okay,” she said as I rubbed her arms slowly and gently. Warming her. Soothing her. “Just for a few minutes…”
A moment later and she was asleep.
Chapter Ten
Colleen
“Miss?”
“Colleen, the doctor is here to speak to you.”
My eyes snapped open and my back straightened. I stood up. Jaken stood up beside me. I barely noticed that he had his hand against my lower back.
He probably thought I might be on the verge of falling over.
He was kind of right.
“Your sister is stable.”
“She’s out of danger?”
“Yes, for the most part. But we are going to have to remove her appendix. It is a low risk procedure,” he added when I opened my mouth. I shut it again. I must have looked alarmed. I was alarmed.
“When will you do it?”
“First thing in the morning. Six am. Can you go home and be back by then?”
I glanced at Jaken and bit my lip. The kids were with his boss and wife. It was too much for me to ask anyone to do that. It was too much to ask him to stay here another minute.
“I can ask our neighbor Mrs. Johnson to sit the kids. I’ll stay.”
“Me too,” Jaken said firmly. I shook my head at him and he frowned.
“You don’t have to do that. You’ve already done too much.”
“I haven’t done a damned thing,” he argued.
“And I can’t ask your boss to stay there all night!”
“They are already asleep. Calling them now and waking up the old lady who lives next door is unnecessary. And I’m not going anywhere,” he added, squeezing my hand. “I’m not.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek, not knowing what to do. I felt vulnerable and overexposed. I was afraid to ask for what I wanted. I was afraid to count on him. I was afraid to scare him away.