Page 153 of Altered

"I called your grandma Tracy a few weeks ago," he said instead. "I think you should go and stay with her in Louisiana for a while."

"Am I running?" I choked out. "If I leave, am I failing him?"

"No, Angel, you're not running," he promised, voice thick with emotion. "You're surviving."

****

Chapter Sixty-One

Hope

I had a bag packed in the trunk of his Explorer, ready to leave.

I pulled up outside the hospital and took a few minutes to compose myself before unbuckling my seatbelt and getting out.

A second layer of heavy snow had started to fall, joining an already thick blanket of snow on the ground.

Carefully, I made my way across the parking lot towards the main entrance of the hospital.

Coming here tonight was the very last thing I wanted to do, but I had to.

I had to see Teagan.

She'd given birth three days ago and was recovering from a cesarean section.

And I was the shittiest friend in the world because I didn’t call.

I traveled up in the elevator to the sixth floor, the maternity ward, and then I walked down the sterilized corridor to room 26B.

When I reached the room, I looked in the glass section of the door and my heart seized in my chest.

Teagan was sitting up in her bed with a tiny blue bundle cradled to her chest.

Noah was sitting on the edge of her bed, watching his wife and son.

Tears filled my eyes at the sight of their little family – finally completed with the baby they so desperately wanted, but in no way replaced his sister.

The happiness I felt for my best friend was sudden, and it threatened to overwhelm me.

Teagan would be a fantastic mother.

Noah would be a terrific father.

And then the pain flooded back in.

My baby would never have this.

My son or daughter would never have their father smile down at them like Noah was smiling down at his son.

When it was my turn to do this in five months, I would be doing it alone.

Fighting down the swirl of emotions twisting around in my heart, I tapped gently on the window before walking into the room.

Teagan looked up at me and smiled a huge, megawatt smile.

Noah looked at me like I was a pained memory for him, but he forced a smile.

"You came," Teagan said softly. "I wasn’t sure if you would."

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