Page 18 of Insta-Love

NINE

Ava

“This was all they had.” Bowen holds up a short can of Pringles as he re-enters our curtained off bed space.

“Perfect. Thank you.” I accept the chips and pop the lid, passing them across to Lily. “Eat a few. Not too much in case they give you painkillers that upset your stomach, but you need something in you.”

“Thanks, Mum.” She takes out a short stack and proceeds to make a crumbed mess over the disposable sheet. Some things don’t change as they get older, then.

“What about you?” Bowen hesitates with his Snickers bar open. “Are you eating?”

“I’ll have what she doesn’t finish.” I thumb to Lily, sure she’ll probably polish off the can despite what I said.

“We can share?” He holds the chocolate bar toward me.

“You have it.” Hopefully this won’t take much longer anyway and we’ll be home to have the chicken and salad.

My stomach grumbles loudly at the thought of the crispy coating I was going to make. Damn it. His touch startles me as Bowen taps my elbow. I look back toward him to find half the Snickers held out toward me.

“Take it.”

I look between it and him, and he smiles.

“I don’t have any diseases if that’s what you’re worried about. Pretty sure you’re in the right place to get seen to if my boy germs become too much to handle.”

A soft laugh escapes before I have a chance to stop it. “Fine. Just to keep you happy.”

“Eat.”

I twist in my seat so I can down it without him watching, and scoff the last bite right as the doc returns.

“Maitland family,” he greets, looking at all three of us.

Oh. Oh no. “We’re just—”

“Were wondering how much longer Lily will be waiting,” Bowen interjects, brow firm.

The doc gives him the kind of look that reads, “Rudeness won’t speed things up,” and addresses me. “She’s on her way now.”

As though on cue, an orderly enters and starts clicking brakes off on the bed. “Hold on tight, and I promise I’ll do my best not to crash.” The orderly gives Lily a wink and she smiles.

I glance over to Bowen who blissfully ignores me as though he didn’t just insinuate that we are in fact a family.

Lily’s wheeled out the open curtain, and the doc gestures for me to follow. Bowen trails close behind, his huge frame an intimidating presence. As much as it pains me to admit it, I kind of like that right now. It’s nice to think that Lily has—even if he’s a relative stranger still—a man who clearly wants to protect her.

“You don’t have to come,” I say under my breath. “Mum and Dad are on their way, so we’re okay for a ride if you felt obligated to stay.”

“Nup. I’m all good.” He takes two longer strides to move up beside me and wiggles his fingers in a small wave when Lily looks over her shoulder to locate us.

Okay then? The same cologne that wrapped around me the first time we met envelops me. The scent is a comfort as we walk, something familiar, even if vaguely so, in uncharted territory. Lily’s never hurt herself this bad before. The worst she’s done in the past was cut her lip open when she tripped on the path. The blood seemed to flow for days, but after it settled down, the cut was so small she wasn’t fazed in the slightest by it.

But this? I’ve never felt so hopeless.

The doctor cuts between the bed and us as Lily’s wheeled further down the corridor. “You can wait in here while we take the x-rays, and then once we know how bad the break is we can decide if she needs to stay the night or not.”

“O-okay,” I murmur as he guides us into a small, square room. Stay the night?

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Bowen idly passes comment as he heads over to inspect a coffee machine that looks like it’s seen better days. “If she needed it pinned we probably would have known by now.” He screws his nose up at the state of the spout and turns back to where I stand semi-shocked in the middle of the room.

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