Page 9 of Hush

A man and a woman dressed in surgical scrubs entered the room.

“Okay,” Dr. Parker said, smiling. “I’ll see you down there.”

Moving efficiently, the woman in scrubs checked Jaden’s wristband against her paperwork while the man moved Jaden’s IV to the pole attached to his bed. Elise stood, feeling the tears prick at the corners of her eyes, and squeezed Jaden’s hand one last time. The woman slipped Jaden’s spare glasses from his face and handed them to Elise, and she had to fight the urge to protest. Without his glasses, he wouldn’t be able to see Dr. Parker, or where he was going. Instead, she folded up the frames and tucked them into her palm. Garrett flanked the bed’s other side. “Knock ‘em dead, J.J.,” he said, rubbing the top of Jaden’s head. The woman unlocked the wheels of the bed, and Elise stood aside as they pushed him toward the door.

Elise sat in the darkened room, her chair parked next to Jaden’s bed. Outside, the bright lights of the parking lot illuminated the gentle snowflakes falling, creating a layer of soft white and muffling the sounds of the passing cars. It wasn’t the season’s first snowfall, but the weather report predicted six inches and colder temperatures, meaning winter had officially begun. Until spring, all precipitation would arrive in the form of snow.

Winter had always been her favorite season, especially so with Garrett because it meant the harvest ended, the tasting room shut down, and their lives quieted. When she met Garrett, he had just begun the winery business, inspired by a trip to Italy from an exchange program during college. He’d left his sales job with John Deere for a “life closer to the land,” he liked to say, despite having no experience with farming. But his passion made up for his lack of knowledge, it seemed, because, within a few years, he had transformed the neglected vineyard into an award-winning winery.

Elise knew she had been caught up in the romance of it all, participating in tastings alongside Garrett and his winemaker, helping run the tasting room, celebrating what people were calling “the valley’s most charming boutique winery,” and the attention gained from their vineyard wedding that made the pages of the local paper. For a while, she had felt like royalty, buzzing around the humid tasting room in her Gore-Tex and muck boots, playing the part of the farmer’s wife.

In letting herself relish this small-town celebrity status, she knew she had lost a part of herself. Almost two years later, she was just now able to feel strong enough to get it back. Partly this was due to the revival of her career, which she had put on hold—a temporary suspension that had extended into years—and part was due to her role as a mother that, without Garrett’s constant influence, had flourished. And her dancing, a passion she had reconnected with during her darkest hours of the divorce. Dancing made her feel free and connected to her body—something she hadn’t felt in ages.

The door opened. Dr. Parker moved swiftly into the room, his white coattails billowing behind him. He flashed his confident smile as he approached Jaden’s bed.

“How’s he doing?” Dr. Parker said in a soft voice.

“He ate about a gallon of ice cream,” Elise said.

Dr. Parker nodded. “Good.”

After the surgery, Dr. Parker had assured her the procedure had gone well and he would be drowsy for a few hours. After eating his weight in ice cream, Jaden had fallen asleep.

“We’ll be able to send you two home in the morning,” he said, eyeing the monitor showing a constant stream of Jaden’s vital signs. “You staying the night?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at Elise.

Elise nodded.

“I’ll have the nurses bring you some extra pillows.” He nodded to the recliner chair in the corner. “They’re not all that uncomfortable, actually.”

“Sounds like you have some experience with it,” she said.

Dr. Parker’s face softened. “My mom has M.S., so yeah, I do.”

“I’m sorry,” Elise said.

Dr. Parker shrugged, his confident smile returning. “I have his meds ordered so you can pick those up on your way home tomorrow. I won’t be here, but I’ll see you back in ten days to remove the stitches and check on his progress.”

Elise’s felt so full of gratitude. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. “Thank you, Dr. Parker,” she said.

“Please, call me Ben,” he said.

Elise felt something shift inside her. “Okay, thank you, Ben.”

Chapter 6

Ben

“So come anyway,” Kelly said with a shrug as they exited the locker room. He, Kelly and their third teammate Mark had signed up for a three-on-three tournament for local teams. It was the perfect distraction to the emotions running through his veins like poison. He hadn’t found a date for the party—not that he’d really tried.

“Maybe,” Ben said, though the prospect of attending the party unaccompanied made his stomach seize up.

“It’s seriously no big deal,” Mark added. “Who knows, maybe there’ll be someone there for you to meet?”

“Doubtful,” Ben replied, though the idea of connecting with someone on neutral territory was appealing.

They warmed up and faced off against their first opponent, a group of older guys. They played well, but Ben’s team—the Hornets—were faster, and Mark’s three-pointer was spot on. After winning, they sprawled out on the bleachers, waiting for their next match. Ben watched the two first-round games being played simultaneously on opposite sides of the gym while Mark and Kelly chatted next to him.

“Hey, what about this one?” Kelly asked, nudging his shoulder.

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