Page 45 of Skylar

“What’s wrong?” Skylar asked.

“Weallhave to hold hands.”

“Oh.” Skylar looked at Aiden again.

The man didn’t hesitate or blink an eye as he reached out to take Skylar’s hand. “You’re quite correct, Shiloh.”

The moment his fingers tightened around hers, Skylar was thrown back in time, and it was all she could do not to cling to his hand. She tried to focus instead on Shiloh as she prayed for their meal.

The prayer was actually short, but it felt like it had stretched on unreasonably long. When Shiloh ended her prayer with an amen, Skylar echoed it, then pulled her hand from Aiden’s. She waited until Shiloh released her hand, pulling it back to clasp it together with her other one.

Shiloh pulled a nugget from the container and took a small bite. Skylar felt a bit sad at the thought of how little Shiloh might eat of the meal Aiden had brought.

“We have some food too,” Aiden said as he went to sit at the table.

The room was small enough that they could still talk with Shiloh even when they were at the table. Skylar’s appetite had dipped, but she didn’t want the food to get cold. Or colder than it already was.

Shiloh took small bites of her nugget as they talked, and she ended up eating two of the four, plus half the fries. Skylar had no idea if that was good or bad considering her current circumstances, but she supposed that any amount of food that Shiloh took in was a good thing.

It appeared that Shiloh might be discharged in the next couple of days since her first round of treatments was almost done. It all depended on how she was doing after the final treatment.

It wasn’t long before the little girl started to fade again. Skylar got up to move the table out of the way. As she did that, Aiden approached with a decorative bag in his hand.

“My mom and Willow picked up a few more things for you,” he said as he set the bag on her lap.

Shiloh’s face lit up, and she reached out to tip the bag toward her. Aiden helped, holding it in position so she could reach into it with the hand that wasn’t currently hooked to an IV.

Over the next few minutes, she pulled out a selection of books, a thick coloring book, some colored pencils, and another small pink stuffed unicorn that looked like the baby of the one they’d given her previously.

“I love all of it,” Shiloh said as she smiled up at Aiden. “Thank them for me, please.”

“I will,” Aiden assured her as he reached out to rest his hand briefly on Shiloh’s shoulder.

In his words and actions, Skylar could hear love and affection for Shiloh. She still wasn’t sure that allowing Aiden into their lives—or her life—was a good thing. However, it was clear he did. And she was sure that Shiloh did too.

Watching them together was yet another harsh reminder of what had been lost. Even if Shiloh had still ended up with cancer, at least they would have been a family.

A nurse came into the room while Shiloh and Aiden were looking at the books. Shiloh greeted her by name, then showed her the items Aiden had brought her.

“You got another unicorn! What’s this one’s name?” the nurse asked as she stood at Shiloh’s bedside opposite Aiden.

“Rainbow?” Shiloh held the unicorn in front of her face. “Yep. Rainbow.”

“Rainbow the Unicorn,” the nurse said. “I like it.”

The nurse spent some time chatting with Shiloh, casually asking her questions that Skylar realized would help the woman gauge how Shiloh was doing without asking her directly. Soon, the nurse left, giving Skylar and Aiden a smile as she headed for the door.

“Did you want to nap a bit more?” Skylar asked Shiloh.

The little girl hesitated, then nodded. Aiden returned the books to the bag, then set it on the floor next to the table. He left the stuffed animal with Shiloh, as she didn’t seem inclined to let it or the other stuffed unicorn out of her sight.

“Will Momma and Daddy be back soon?” Shiloh asked.

When Aiden glanced at her, Skylar said, “I think they’ll probably be here not long after you wake up from your nap.”

Shiloh nodded, appearing fine with the news that her parents wouldn’t be back right away. The little girl shifted on the bed, then wrapped her arms around the stuffed animals.

Skylar stared at Shiloh as her eyes closed, wishing there was something she could do to take away everything Shiloh was struggling with physically. She imagined that Charli and Blake felt the same way.

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