He heard Aubrey moving, and he turned for a moment to make sure she wasn’t doing something crazy like trying to get out of bed, but she was rearranging the blanket draped over her lap.
“Easy for who? You?” she asked. “That’s ridiculous. If you stopped seeing Jenny because of me you’d be miserable all the time, and that’s not easy for anyone, especially me, because I know how you are when you’re moody.”
Her response made him smile, but he kept staring out the window so she wouldn’t see it. He had to stick to his guns where Aubrey was concerned because she knew what to say and how to work his emotions to make him give in, and he couldn’t allow that to happen. “Aubrey, if something ever happened to you… if I lost you because of my own selfishness, I would never forgive myself. You’re my little sister and the only family I have left. I can’t lose you too.”
She didn’t respond right away, and the room was still and quiet for a while, except for the occasional beep from Aubrey’s monitors and the faint voices of people passing by the door.
“Clay, please come sit with me.”
He did as she requested, and when he returned to sit with her on the bed, he could tell by the look on her face that she was tired, and he felt bad for disagreeing with her. There were dark circles under her eyes like she hadn’t slept in weeks, and when he stopped and considered what she went through on a daily basis with her disease, he felt convicted over complaining about his insignificant problems.
“Clay, I try so hard to have a positive outlook despite what’s going on in my life, and that’s not an easy thing to do sometimes. I know I’ll be okay, and the one thing that keeps me going is seeing you happy. When you first moved here, I rarely saw you smile, but since you met Jenny, it’s like you’ve become this totally different person, and I don’t want you to lose that—ever. So for my sake, please don’t give up on her. I need this. I need to see you happy and content, and I need another female in my life to help me put up with you.”
Clay laughed out loud, but he didn’t have the opportunity to respond because someone knocked on the door and seconds later, Dr. Harding appeared in the doorway.
“What’s so funny in here?” she asked with a smile.
Clay moved to the chair beside Aubrey’s bed so Dr. Harding would have room to talk to Aubrey and examine her if she needed to. “Aubrey was trying to make me believe I’m hard to live with.”
Dr. Harding’s feigned look of surprise made him laugh, and Aubrey stuck her tongue out at him. The doctor removed a stethoscope from a pocket of her white coat and used it to listen to Aubrey’s heartbeat. “I would like to feel bad for you,” she said. “But I have four brothers, and you only have one, so I can’t sympathize with you. Would you like to trade?”
Aubrey furiously shook her head, and the three of them laughed. The past few hours were so stressful, and it was nice being able to smile for a change.
“Your heart sounds good, and your vitals have improved some since last night. I know being here isn’t fun for either of you, but I’d rather be safe than sorry, and if we can keep your pain under control, I promise I’ll have you discharged first thing Monday morning.”
Clay expelled a long, weary breath. He felt relieved.
“That’s great,” Aubrey replied. “Now will you please tell Clay that he needs to go home and get some sleep? He’s been here all night, and I doubt he’s slept a wink.”
Clay gave her an eye roll.
“I’m not trying to play devil’s advocate or anything, Clay, but you do need to get some sleep, not only for Aubrey but for when you go back to work too. We’ll take care of her. I give you my word.”
He knew he was outnumbered, so Clay gave in. A few hours sleep would be nice, and he did need to be awake and alert so he could face work and get Aubrey home. He stood and leaned over the bed and kissed her forehead. “All right, but you call me if you need me for anything at all. I’ll get here as fast as I can.”
Aubrey held his hand and squeezed it. “I’ll be fine. Get some sleep, and don’t come back here until you’re fully rested.”
He gave her a tiny salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
Clay shook Dr. Harding’s hand and said his goodbyes. Every muscle in his body ached, and although he didn’t want to leave Aubrey alone at the hospital, he knew it was for the best.
He needed sleep.
Chapter 20
Jenny
The ambulance was the first thing Jenny spotted when she rolled into the hospital parking lot Sunday morning for her shift. Her pulse raced hard and fast when she parked the car and reached for her purse. She still hadn’t seen or heard a peep out of Clay since his text the previous morning, but she knew Aubrey was still in the hospital, thanks to Kelly, who called the front desk to get the information.
Jenny locked her car and walked quickly through the lot to the emergency room exit. She didn’t notice anyone sitting in the ambulance, and as the double doors to the ER slid open, she thought for certain her heart would pound right out of her chest. As soon as she stepped inside, she spotted two paramedic uniforms in the middle of a crowd of people, but she was disappointed when she got closer and discovered it was Clay’s partner, Ken, and some other paramedic. Clay was nowhere to be seen.
She wanted to ask Ken where he was but decided against it. The walk to the elevator seemed to take longer than usual, and she didn’t really feel like working, but there was no way around it. She still had a job to do whether Clay wanted to speak to her again or not. When the third-floor button lit up inside the elevator on her way up, she contemplated stopping it to seek out Aubrey, who was supposedly in room number 342, but she decided against that too.
The corridor outside the elevator was crowded when she reached the fourth floor, but she managed to sneak past everyone and avoid being seen while walking to the nurse’s station. The last thing she needed was for someone to drag her into a long, drawn-out conversation when all she really wanted was to be left alone.
“You look like someone who lost their best friend. Oh, wait. No, you haven’t. I’m right here.”
She peeked over the long counter and found Kelly kneeling behind it, sorting through a stack of papers inside a filing cabinet. Kelly gave her a playful wink, and Jenny wheeled a chair over so she could sit beside her. “Why is it more chaotic than usual in here today?”
Several people—mostly nurses—scurried past the counter, and she closed her eyes and cringed when one of them bumped into a worker carrying a breakfast tray to a patient’s room. The tray flew through the air and sent scrambled eggs and grits flying in every direction, but the others around them kept on walking while they stooped to clean up the mess.
“There was a bus accident over the weekend, so we’re maxed out again. They had to reroute some of the patients to the third floor,” Kelly explained. “Oh, that reminds me, have you talked to Aubrey yet?”
Jenny pulled her stethoscope, pen, notepad, and cell phone from her purse before storing it inside a drawer for safekeeping. “Not yet. I plan on visiting her during my lunch hour.”
Kelly stood and put the patient files on top of the counter. “Still no word from Clay?”
Just hearing his name made her insides twist into a painful knot. “No.”
Kelly gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Well, maybe Aubrey will have some answers for you. Now, let’s get to work. Maybe that will help keep your mind occupied until then.”
Jenny hoped that would be the case. After checking in with the head nurse, she started her rounds, and the rooms being filled to capacity did make the time pass more quickly. She and Kelly were on opposing ends of the floor, so they weren’t able to talk much, but her patients more than made up for the lack of conversation. By the time her lunch hour rolled around, she was ready to hightail it to the third floor so she could catch a break.
Jenny used the stairway since the elevator was too crowded for her liking, and when she finally stood at the door to room 342, she took one last deep breath before knocki
ng. Aubrey called for her to enter, and when she walked inside, Aubrey’s face lit up and she clapped her hands excitedly. Jenny glanced around the room and sighed. No Clay.
“I was hoping you’d come to see me today!” Aubrey exclaimed.
Jenny went to her and gave her a big hug. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here sooner. Clay said you needed your rest, so I didn’t want to bother you. How are you feeling?”
Aubrey scooted over so Jenny could sit on the bed. She looked a million times better and healthier than the last time Jenny saw her, and she was so relieved.
“Don’t listen to Clay. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about half the time,” Aubrey joked. “The pain was horrible at first, but Dr. Harding got it regulated, and I had my first infusion treatment this morning.”
Jenny was pleasantly surprised. “I know you’ve been leery about trying the infusions, but I promise you’ll be glad you went through with it.”
Aubrey pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Jenny was a year older than her, but Aubrey was so small, she resembled a teenager instead of a woman nearing thirty. She’d lost weight since their reintroduction two months prior, and even though Jenny knew she’d regain it once her MS symptoms were under control, seeing her so fragile made her heart ache.
“It will take some getting used to, but I trust you and Dr. Harding, so I’m going to stay positive.”
Jenny smiled. “I’ve never known you to be otherwise. I admire your upbeat attitude, and I have no doubt you’ll be just fine.”
Aubrey didn’t reply, and they were quiet for a while, but Jenny could sense something was on her mind. She was bursting at the seams to ask about Clay, but she didn’t want to impose, so she decided it would be best to just let it go. “Did Dr. Harding say how long you’ll be here?”
Aubrey stretched out her legs in front of her and raised the head of the bed so she was sitting in an upright position. “She’s discharging me first thing tomorrow morning—as long as my pain doesn’t return, that is. I’m keeping my fingers crossed because I’ve been craving a cheeseburger and fries from the diner across the street. I love this hospital, and everyone here has been so nice, but the food is kind of icky.”
Jenny grinned. “I agree with you. Why didn’t you let me know about the cheeseburger and fries? I could’ve snuck them in here for you.”
Aubrey laughed. “I did think about calling you, but I didn’t want to be a bother.”
Jenny shook her head. “You couldn’t bother me if you tried. I’m happy to help any way I can. I mean that.”
Aubrey caught her off guard when she suddenly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for another hug. “Thank you so much, Jenny. You’re like a sister to me, and Clay’s been acting so dumb over everything that’s happened this weekend. I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again.”
Her words were like a dagger to the heart, and when Aubrey released her and leaned back against the pillow, she looked down at the floor and tried to keep the tears in the corners of her eyes from flowing over. “So, he is mad at me.”
She heard Aubrey sigh.
“Jenny, I hope you don’t think this is your fault because it’s not. It’s no one’s fault. I’m the only family Clay has left, and that makes him too overprotective for his own good sometimes. He isn’t thinking straight right now.”
Jenny stood and walked to the window. She’d heard on the radio during her commute to work that morning there was a chance for rain and thunderstorms, and she noticed there were dark clouds hovering to the east. Not that it mattered. She loved rainy days, but when she didn’t have anyone to share them with, they were just like every other day.
“Do you love him, Jenny?”
Aubrey’s question didn’t come as a surprise, and she didn’t have to mull it over for a second. “Yes.”
She heard Aubrey clap again, and when she turned to look at her, Jenny’s sullen mood lifted when she saw how excited she was.
“Then you should tell him!” Aubrey replied. “He hasn’t admitted it to me yet, but I can tell by the way he acts that he’s head-over-heels in love with you too.”
Her words were music to her ears, and she felt like jumping for joy, but she didn’t want to get ahead of herself before she heard it from Clay.
“You should go straight to the house when you get off work and let him know how you feel,” Aubrey continued. “I love him to death, but he’s being dumb, and he needs some sense knocked into him. He wouldn’t listen to me, but he’ll listen to you.”
Jenny’s heart thumped erratically as Aubrey’s words sunk in, and she started mentally rehearsing a speech before she even made up her mind to go to his house. She wished it was closer to the end of her shift, but she still had six long hours to go, and she worried she might lose her nerve.
Jenny squared her shoulders and stood up straight. No, she would go through with it, no matter what, and even if Clay chose to reject her, at least he would know how she felt once and for all. If Aubrey was right, and he did love her, then there was a chance it would turn out the way she hoped, but she wasn’t going to get too excited just yet. Right now, she needed to focus on not chickening out. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll go see him as soon as my shift ends.”
Aubrey smiled big as she motioned for Jenny to come closer, and when she returned to her bedside, Aubrey reached for her hands and held them tight. “I wish my parents could’ve met you. I know they would’ve loved you. I couldn’t handpick a woman who’s better suited for my brother than you, and I’m not just saying that either. It’s the truth.”
Aubrey’s eyes glazed with tears, and they hugged one last time before Jenny glanced at the clock on the wall and discovered it was almost time to go back to work. “Thank you. I’ll call you when I get home later tonight and let you know how it went. Wish me luck!”
Aubrey laughed. “You don’t need it. You two were destined to be together. I’m as certain of that fact as I am the diner across the street has the best cheeseburger and fries in town.”
Her comment made Jenny smile. “I hope you’re right.”
Chapter 21
Clay
No amount of pacing would make Clay worry less. He’d tried everything from watching television to changing the oil in his truck to rearranging the furniture in his bedroom, and still all he could think about was how he should be at the hospital with Aubrey. He knew she was tired of him worrying and hovering, but he couldn’t turn it off. He took care of people. It was his calling in life and what he loved doing, and that would never change.
He groaned when he heard a knock on his front door. He didn’t feel like having company or entertaining, and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with a salesman of any kind. He swung the door open, ready to chase away whoever was on his threshold, but he never expected to find Jenny standing there. His temper fizzled immediately, and he swallowed past the lump in his throat, unsure of what to do or say.
“I’m sorry for showing up unexpectedly,” she said. “But I need to talk to you if that’s okay.”
Her voice was low and tinged with a bit of apprehension. As always, his heartbeat escalated when he saw her, but he also remembered what happened the last time they were together, and so he kept his emotions under control. “Sure. Come on in.”
When he moved to the side so she could enter, he caught the telltale scent of her soft, floral perfume, and he gripped the doorknob hard to keep from wrapping her in his arms and holding her close.
So much for taming his emotions.
He shut the door, and they walked to the den together. She sat on the sofa while he sat on the loveseat across from her, and he didn’t miss the disappointed expression on her beautiful face. He wanted more than anything to sit next to her, but he needed to keep a level head, and that wasn’t possible with her so close.
“I saw Aubrey while I was at work today. She’s excited about coming home tomorrow morning.”
He smiled and nodded. He already knew from talking t
o Aubrey on the phone that Jenny stopped by to see her, and it pained him remembering how happy she sounded. She didn’t mention anything about Jenny coming to visit him though, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she knew about it. “I called to check on her this afternoon, and she said you came by.”
Their conversation was stilted and awkward and so different from their talks before Aubrey’s incident. It made his heart hurt, but he knew it was for the best.
“Clay, I can tell you don’t want me here. Something’s changed. I saw it in your eyes Friday night when I left the hospital, and I see it now. I hope you know that what happened with Aubrey isn’t your fault—or mine—even though I feel in my heart that you blame me for it.”
Clay scooted to the edge of the seat and propped his elbows on his knees. There was so much he wanted to say, but he didn’t know where to start. “Jenny, I don’t blame you, but no matter how much you try to convince me otherwise, I will always believe I could’ve kept it from happening. I let my guard down, and I shouldn’t have. Aubrey is my responsibility, and I failed her when I started putting my needs first.”
He saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes, and it took every bit of strength he had not to go to her. She avoided his gaze by turning her head and staring out the large bay window overlooking the backyard.
“What I hear in that statement is that you failed her because you fell in love with me,” she replied. “I know it won’t change how you feel, but you should know that I fell in love with you too.”
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