Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“No,” I cut her off. “I’m not leaving.”
She gave me a sad smile. “I didn’t figure you would,” she said, and then she sat down beside me, didn’t say another word, but leaned over and leaned her head against my shoulder. I tensed up for a moment and then relaxed.
“He’ll be okay,” she told me. “He has to.”
But we both knew people didn’t have to be okay. Brady hadn’t. My parents hadn’t either.
I sat in Sean’s room, holding his good hand. One arm ended up broken. Machines beeped. IVs and tubes were plugged in all over him. We were just waiting now. Waiting for him to wake up. Pleading for him to.
Barbara sat in a chair on the other side of the bed. Johnnie was downstairs having a coffee and a breather. The three of us had taken up vigil here the past two days. Sadie and Owen had come and sat with me for a little while too.
There was a knock on the door. Barbara looked up but I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Sean and the machines that were helping him breathe.
“Hi.” Barbara stood and wiped her eyes.
“Hi. I’m sorry to bother you. My name is Mary and this is Twila. Your son, Sean…he saved my little girl’s life. Can we come in a moment?”
“Yes. Please do,” Barbara told them. I stood too, looked at the little girl who Sean had saved and as angry as I was…I understood it. It was who he was. It was who I’d fallen in love with. He couldn’t see someone in trouble and not do everything in his power to save them.
“I was having such a hard day,” Mary said. “My sister was late. The kids were fussy—Twila upset because she’d left her teddy at home and he swooped in like some knight in shining armor and talked to us. Helped distract her. When Twila ran off for ice cream, he didn’t hesitate to save her. You should be very proud of your son,” she told Barbara and then turned to me. “You should be proud of him too. He mentioned you. I could tell how much he loved you by looking at him.”
Those words both helped soothe and made the pain in my chest multiply.
It was incredible that someone like Sean could love me.
And now I could lose him.
I cleared my throat. “Thank you.”
“I spoke to the police and told them what happened. The driver was going much too fast.”
Barbara nodded. “Yes, they stopped by. They’re going to want to speak with Sean when he wakes up too.”
When he wakes up. He had to wake up.
“We don’t want to intrude,” Mary said. “I just…Twila wanted to know if she could leave her teddy bear with Sean?”
“He helps me feel better. He’ll help Sean too,” the little girl said.
I couldn’t bring myself to speak. I know it made me an asshole, but I didn’t know what to say.
“That’s so sweet of you,” Barbara said. “I know Sean will be very thankful when he wakes up.” She walked over and took the bear from the little girl’s arms before setting it next to Sean in bed. “Maybe you can leave your phone number with the nurse? I know Sean will want to thank you properly.”
She sounded so secure in the fact that he would wake up and I didn’t know how. I was sure we’d lose him. That I’d lose him.
Mary nodded, then turned and left. She wasn’t gone but a few moments when Barbara started to cry. It wasn’t quiet and hidden the way she’d done up until this moment. I could hear the pain in the deep breaths she took. Feel it radiate from her and meet with mine.
She stepped out of the room and I followed her, pulled her into my arms and held her.
“We can’t lose him like we did Brady. I don’t think we can handle it if we lose him.”
She cried into my neck. I wanted to tell her I couldn’t lose him either. That he’d reminded me what it felt like to love but what real place did I have? This was her son. Her pain should be what mattered.
“You won’t,” I told her even though I didn’t believe it.
“Part of me wants to be so angry at him for putting himself in harm’s way. For doing exactly what his brother had done, but Christ, can I blame them? Brady was a good man. Sean is a good man. How can I be angry at them for that?”
“I’m sorry,” I told her. “If I had been there…if I hadn’t been late…” I shook my head. “I’d trade places with him in a second.”
She leaned back, her eyes full of sorrow and with more wrinkles around them than she’d had the day before. “You’re a good man too, Ethan. Somehow, I’m not sure if you know that. If you don’t believe it for yourself, believe it because I can promise you, my son wouldn’t fall in love with someone who wasn’t.”