Page 51 of Letters to Lily

Chapter 21

Oct. 31

My phone dinged that I had an incoming text, and I leaned forward to snatch it up off the rolling tray table the nurse pushed over with my breakfast this morning.

Brad: Hey preggers, finally got phone back in hand. Sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me, everything good?

Sasha: Not really. In hospital now.

My cell rang immediately. “Are you okay? Is it the baby?” Brad asked in rapid succession.

“Baby’s fine. I got knocked down the small flight of stairs at the student union. I hit my head on the railing, got a couple of staples for that. And I slid down a few steps on my butt, so my tailbone and right hip are bruised pretty bad. X-rays showed all was good. The baby and I have been on monitors all night. No problems.”

“X-rays on a pregnant woman?” He asked.

“The doctor didn’t want to chance something being wrong with my spine and aggravated by my being pregnant. He said it was safe enough.”

“Okay, how long are you going to be there? I’m on my way back now. When did this happen?”

“Yesterday, and I will probably be here until late this afternoon sometime. At least, I’m pretty sure they’re going to release me. I was slightly dilated, but the doctor didn’t think that was anything to worry about. They’ll check me again before they agree to discharge me.”

“Okay, good. I’ll stop by the hospital as soon as I get in. Wait, you said this happened yesterday? You left a message about an emergency two days ago. What was up with that?”

I groaned then. “I’m not sure I’m up for that talk right now. If I throw up, the nurses might think something’s wrong and keep me here longer.”

“And what exactly would the vomit be from?”

“My broken heart,” I muttered. My phone is making a weird beeping noise, so I move it to see if there’s an alert. There was a low battery alert flashing on the screen. Figures.

“I think I’m missing something sweetheart.”

“You never told me your brother’s name,” I tried to ease him into this with hints, because I honestly needed to be eased into talking about it again myself.

“Funny you should ask, I got 9-1-1 messages from him too. I wanted to call you first though.”

“Brad?” My phone beeped again. I really needed him to answer my damn question. Maybe, then it would sink in for him.

“Yeah, sweetheart?” I cringed at his use of the endearment again.

“Your brother’s name?” I hesitated a minute. “Is it Kade?”

Brad chuckled. “Hmm, yeah, have I never mentioned his name before? Wait, don’t tell me we’ve had the worst timing ever with me trying to introduce you guys, and you finally meet him while I’m away?”

“Well…” All the background noise, static, and Brad’s voice drop away as my phone dies a final death, and I didn’t have a charger here at the hospital with me.

My little heart was suddenly hammering away inside my chest, which caused a nurse to poke her head in and check on me. “Everything okay in here?” She walked over and started tinkering with the machines. I guess I had set an alarm off and hadn’t even noticed. Kade tended to do that to me whether he was in the room or just my thoughts. Then again, part of the problem was wondering how Brad would react to the news that his brother was my ex-boyfriend and Lily’s father. The crazy thing was, I worried for both Brad and Kade, because I didn’t want to be something that came between them when they were just forming a relationship with one another. “I’m fine. Sorry, I got a little excited about a phone call I just had and then my phone died on me.”

She smiled knowingly, “Men are always at the root of the problem, aren’t they?”

“You could say that again,” I huffed out.

“Okay, well try to relax. The doctor is making his rounds on the hall today, and we got a call from Dr. Marsh letting us know she was going to come check you out herself before your release. She’s actually in surgery right now, so it might be a little while, but she wants to be the one to re-check your dilation since she’s most familiar with you.” The nurse, who was a pretty young girl with red curly hair and a sweet smile, patted my leg reassuringly. “I imagine they’ll have you out of here before dinner time, so you won’t have to eat our five-star cuisine again.” I giggled along with her then.

Chapter 22

Oct. 31

My mom showed up just as I was about to leave the house and head for the hospital, because that’s how my life with Sasha had been rolling for months. Every time I got close to getting back to her, someone popped up to get in the way. “Kade, I just got back from meeting with Mick.”

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