And then this ring.
I kept it on my thumb, too big to wear anywhere else. I had no idea what this meant or why he gave it to me. I assumed maybe good luck to get me through this, but shouldn’t he have it?
I just wanted to talk to him.
I continued to worry, and my parents kept me more distracted than I liked. They also kept bringing people in to see me.
The greatest shock of all had been my biological father.
He’d looked so good, cleaned up and solid on his feet. He came all the way here to see me when I knew he lived several states over.
“Ninety days sober,” he’d said to me, and so happy. I hadn’t seen him in years, and though he hadn’t been able to stay long, had to get back to his life and work, it’d been good to see him. He’d said he had even wanted to donate to me himself.
It’d been truly crazy.
So many people came through my room, and I appreciated them all, but they weren’t the person I found myself wondering the most about. I still had few updates from my parents about Jaxen’s state. Like they were keeping things from me on purpose, and I didn’t like that. It’d been almost four days now and still no word.
“I want to see him,” I urged to my adoptive father one day. My mom had gone out for coffee, basically here around the clock. Dad had been a frequently flier, of course, too, but had to leave a time or two for a few hours to tend to some things surrounding his work. He’d also arranged for the university to allow me to do e-learning while I was in the hospital.
Dad frowned at me. “You know you can’t move yet, sweetheart. Just be patient. I’m sure once Jaxen is up and moving again, he will come see you.”
But why hadn’t I heard something already? Something good when the internet said he should be coming around? Obviously, a mere Google search wasn’t always reliable, but something just felt wrong here and as it did, a new form of dread surfaced.
I wondered if he actually wanted to see me, or he changed his mind about, well, everything.
“Dad, you don’t understand,” I whispered, my mouth dry again. “I need to see him. He doesn’t know.”
My thumb played with the ring gracing my other hand. I hadn’t been able to tell Jaxen my feelings, and if his had changed, I at least wanted to thank him. I needed to.
He’d saved my life.
In so many ways, and Dad touched my shoulder.
“What doesn’t he know?” he asked, and I said nothing. I mean, what could I say? That I loved his son? Would he understand? Mom hadn’t loved that when I told her, and though it hadn’t come up again, I had no idea her feelings surrounding it. I hadn’t even gotten to talk to my adoptive father about the situation.
“I just need to ask him about this,” I stated, pulling the ring off. “Can you figure something out? Please. I need to see him.”
I’d literally never asked for anything from him. I’d never needed to. Rick Fairchild had always been there and ahead of anything I’d ever asked or wanted. He’d always been my dad.
He touched my cheek, the swelling down now. He told me to give him two seconds, then he left the room. I felt like I waited all day before he came back, but once he had, he appeared with a team.
There were literally half a dozen nurses and hospital staff, and when Dr. Fieldhouse herself showed up, I was more than confused.
“You’re being moved, Cleo,” she said, smiling. “I hope you don’t mind, but I put in a request for a better room for you.”
“Better room?” I asked, looking around. Her team got my pain meds and stuff, then literally wheeled my whole bed forward.
“Yes, and I think you’ll like the change. It has a view,” she said, winking at my adoptive father before leaving the room. I thought he’d follow me, but he stayed at the door.
“I’m going to go find your mother and let her know about your room change,” he said, his eyes creasing hard in the corners. “We might get a little lost on the way up, so don’t expect us right away, all right?”
He flashed me a wink after that, so much behind it. Of course, he’d done this, the room change.
And that told me everything I needed to know about how he felt regarding who I was clearly about to see.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Cleo